IT IS TIME FOR A PLAYOFF - Chapter 8 - And More...

Tired of hearing about it yet? BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Link to article>> bcswatdchdog.com [editor's note: Perhaps this was inspired by FireRonZook.com]

bcswatchdog.com to Replace BCS with Playoff

PHOENIX, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/

bcswatchdog.com was launched on December 7, 2008 with the goal to replace the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) with a fair, inclusive playoff. bcswatchdog.com's objective is to collect donations totaling $3 million for a Fans' Grassroots Legal Fund. Many legal experts (and political leaders) believe that the BCS violates federal Sherman Antitrust Act regulations.

bcswatchdog.com has already collected over $7,000 in donations from 175 donors representing all 11 Division 1-A / Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences nationwide.

The website, bcswatchdog.com, has many interesting features:

• a DO YOU KNOW? section with questions/answers to many interesting, little-known facts about the BCS [e.g., 92% or 110 teams of all 120 Division 1A/FBS teams are realistically eliminated as BCS National Champion before a single regular season game is played (based on the BCS' 11-year history)];
  
• a Message Board where the merits of a playoff versus the BCS can be debated;
  
• a BCS Watchdog User Poll;
  
• a proposed solution of a fair, inclusive playoff;
  
• rebuttals against arguments for the BCS; and
  
• the "star feature" of the website is the National Fan Contribution List. Each fan that makes a tax-deductible donation of $3.00 (or more) to the Fans' Grassroots Legal Fund will have his/her name added to the National Fan Contribution List under his/her favorite college football team/conference (for example, Fred S./Texas).

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violates its own Mission Statement/Brand by supporting the BCS. The NCCA should maximize revenue (potentially billions of dollars) for its 1,200 member institutions by requesting competitive bids from broadcast networks for a combined Division 1-A/FBS college football/basketball playoffs package deal.

bcswatchdog.com is the first initiative of the non-profit organization, American Amateur Athletics Watchdog (AAAW). The temporary bcswatchdog.com website (final design phase in progress) serves as a centralized location where 200 million frustrated college football fans favoring a fair, inclusive playoff over the BCS can unite and make change happen. For further information, contact bcswatchdog@cox.net.

For whatever reason, it is often the fans of the game, not the media, that make the most sense. This one comes from "The Bleacher Report" where fans write their own articles and publish via their own blogs. This one comes from Chip Minnich from Ohio. Link to article...

BCS Football: Festivus & the Airing of Grievances

I have long opposed the BCS. The foolish idea that college football could determine a national champion by voting is laughable. Even more absurd is having groups such as coaches and media members determine the national champion participants.

The coaches truly do not have time to watch all games, as well as have a vested interest in the outcome (see Bob Stoops). The media do not watch all games, and rely on highlights from ESPN to help them with their ballot. What a joke of a system.

If you have not yet done so, please do yourself a favor and read Stewart Mandel’s Bowls, Polls, & Tattered Souls. There are so many quotes throughout the book detailing the idiocy of how college football determines its national champion, but here are two that I believe sum up why the current system is a sham:

Why not the coaches, you ask? Read what longtime playoff advocate Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said , after his Penn State team was defeated by undefeated Michigan in 1997. “I have somebody who helps me with the voting, and we didn’t vote Michigan No.1…that bothered me.” (page 44 of the hardcover edition). I have a feeling you can now count on Texas' Mack Brown, as well as USC's Pete Carroll, as being in the playoff crowd.

Why not the media, you ask? Read what Daily Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson wrote regarding the impact the media has on college football, in comparison to other sports: “In no other sport do media types have say or sway. Not basketball, not baseball, not softball, not anything.” (page 48 of the hardcover edition).

While President-Elect Obama has admiringly called for an eight-team playoff, the eight-team model would not properly include all conference champions (there are 11 conferences in Division 1 football).

For the Plus-1 advocates, such as ESPN's Beano Cook: How do you determine the top four? Under that system, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, and Alabama would be the qualifiers. What about USC? Penn State? Utah? Boise State? Texas Tech? As you can see, there's no fair way to determine who the top four teams would be in that scenario.

Under my scenario, a 16-team playoff would be the fairest method to determine a true national champion in Division 1 football. What are the benefits to this system?

A traditional argument is, "The regular season would be rendered meaningless with a playoff system". If the only sure way to get in to the playoffs was winning your conference, that makes those regular season games very meaningful, wouldn’t you say? And under my system, not just one non-BCS conference (such as Utah this year), but all conference champions would get a shot at the title. My system is far more inclusive.

OK, so you have 11 conference champions. What about the next five? Using the average of the BCS computer rankings, five at-large teams could be seeded.

IT IS TIME FOR A PLAYOFF - List of Articles (with links)

Chapter 1 - Background
Chapter 1A - Background, Part 2
Chapter 2 - Example of Problem
Chapter 3 - Jim Ruppert’s Bowl Schedule
Chapter 4 - Another Point of View
Chapter 5 - Case Against 8 or 16 teams
Chapter 6 - Congress Gets Involved
Chapter 7 - Alternative 16 Team Plan
Chapter 8 - And More…
Chapter 9 - As I See It