IT IS TIME FOR A PLAYOFF - Chapter 9 - As I See It

It may surprise you to hear me say "I hate the BCS. It is past time for a playoff system." I have been involved in this debate on several message boards for the last few years. This is the last you will hear from me on this subject for this year (maybe).

The current system is way better than the system we had before the BCS where all the bowl games were played based on conference alignments and the media declared a National Champion based on a totally subjective call. Teams would get the title because of their historic reputation and tradition even though they didn't play a single team that finished in the top ten.

We have seen teams like Auburn in 2004 have an undefeated season playing an excruciating schedule and not even get the chance to play for all the marbles, just because the pundits pre-season rankings had Auburn behind Oklahoma and USC, despite the fact that both of those teams did not play nearly as tough a schedule as the SEC.

The number of people supporting a playoff is growing and the number of opponents are dwindling. I read issues on both sides of the issue. They number about 15 to 1 in favor of a playoff. Just about the only supporters of the current system are the BCS organization (duh...), university presidents (especially the BIG 10 and PAC 10) and, of course the bowl committees and sponsors. President Elect Obama wants a playoff and congressmen from Illinois and Texas have sponsored a bill insisting that the BCS no longer advertise their big game as a championship without a playoff. And to add more more fuel to the fire we also have a new BCS Watchdog group that has formed, is gathering contributions for a legal fund and intends to push the issue until it happens. Has America truly had enough? Is the new battle cry "No Champion Designation Without Playoff Representation?" Are we like the old world where a ruler is deigned by some watery tart rising from the lake and presenting a sword to the chosen one? Well, that's kind of what we have now. It's like figure skating, where the scoring is subjective. A major component in the human polls that make up 2/3' of the BCS score is "style points" - a totally subjective score akin to "artistic impression" in figure skating scoring. That's not good enough for me... I say settle it on the field with a playoff with the totally objective criteria of points on the scoreboard.

Despite the claims of the proponents of the bowl system, the bowls don't hold the excitement and tradition they once did. This is for several reasons:

• The increase in the number of bowls such that 9 teams that ended their seasons with a 6-6 record are going to bowl games. Instead of only honoring teams that had a great season, we are now honoring mediocrity as well.
  
• Almost all of the bowls have been taken over by corporate sponsors. Long gone are the Peach Bowl and the Citrus Bowl - at least in name..


• Have you watched a lot of the minor bowls the last few years? The stands are not full and the matchups are not compelling.

Of course, if we beat Oklahoma on January 8, we will be crowned National Champion, but will we really be playing the best team? Oklahoma has a key player injured. It would mean much more to me to win it honestly, like we did in back-to-back years in the final four against UCLA and Ohio State in basketball. Perhaps we should be playing Texas, Texas Tech, USC or even Utah, Boise State, or Penn State. But we will never know. Because the #1 vs #2 matchup is determined by a Coach's poll (where the coaches don't have the time to watch all the games, the Harris poll, where the voters don't have time to watch all the games --- they watch ESPN SportsCenter) and several computers where the programming algorithms are influenced by the BCS organization.

Every other sport, including the other division of college football, determines the champion via a playoff. Why? Because it is the only way to determine a champion.

A four team playoff wouldn't add any games at all - Have the top four play on New Year's Day and the winners play for the championship a week later. It is a tiny change that would be infinitely better than what we have now. However, just look at the final standings. Are those really the four teams that should be in it? What about USC, Texas Tech, Utah, Penn State, Boise State, Ohio State, TCU, or even Cincinnati?

Eight teams - Similar problems. The benefit, of course, is that the season is only extended one round, and the way bowls are starting earlier and earlier, games are scheduled that can be used for this round of playoffs. We would get a compelling set of games, much better than the minor who-cares bowls we have now. The main problem is that if you take the 6 BCS conference champs plus 2 based on BCS standings you probably don't give any non-BCS schools a chance. This year, if you wanted to add one or two non-BCS schools then you would have to eliminate Texas and/or Alabama to put in Utah and/or Boise State. Doesn't really work. The other scenario that has been suggested is just use the top eight in the BCS standings, but now you are probably leaving out one or more BCS conference champion. You would be this year for sure, Statistically, you just can not evaluate the strength of one conference versus another because the season is too short and there is not enough interconference play to provide meaningful results. BUT, any eight team scenario is light years better than what we have now.

If you want to have a real meaningful playoff, without lengthening the season too much, we need to go to a 12 or 16 team scenario, as discussed in other articles in this series. As has been shown by others, we can easily replace existing bowl games with playoff games, or even better, play the first two rounds at the highest ranked teams' home stadiums with the first two rounds being on Friday and Saturday before Christmas. The two semifinal games would be played January 1 and the final on January 8, using three of the major BCS bowls. Personally, I like the 16 team scenario with all conference winners in the top 25 getting into the tournament, but only if they are ranked in the top 25, with the remaining teams seeded by the final BCS rankings, with possibly a limit of three teams from one conference.

Enough said... Maybe... For now...

Gator Duck

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