Nearly 2/3 of college football fans want a playoff for the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS-formerly Division 1A). I would surmise that the following bit of literary genius will explain why. The irony here is that the former Division 1-AA is now referred to as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), which crowns its champion via a playoff system. The aforementioned FBS sort of, kind of, subjectively selects two teams to compete for its BCS "title." Let's take a look at some of the major gaffes with this system.
1998-1999: Kansas State Gets Hosed
This is the debut of the BCS. Let us not forget, the BCS system was created to match up the two best football teams of the season for a National Championship Game. I and others have long referred to this game as the MNC, or Mythical National Championship. It should be noted that beyond the MNC, the BCS system fills the slots of the four major bowl game participants: Orange, Rose, Fiesta, and Sugar. The MNC game rotates every four years amongst these venues. This season, Kansas State endured one loss to Texas A&M in the Big XII Conference Championship Game. Kansas State was ranked 3rd in the nation and was anticipating an invitation to a major BCS bowl game. Instead, they were passed over in favor of 4th ranked Ohio State and the 8th ranked,
2000-2001: CSI Miami Hurricanes
It is October 7, 2000 and Miami has just defeated Florida State 27-24. Each team finishes the season with one loss. This should be a slam dunk, right? They own the tiebreaker for beating FSU "heads up." Miami is in, FSU is out. Not so fast my friend. Oklahoma was the lone undefeated team in the Final BCS Rankings. Matter of fact, it was OU and 5 one loss teams. How does a system decide who is
2001-2002: Children of the Corn Nation Rejoice
How often does the #4 ranked team in each of the human polls play for the MNC? Well, it happened this season. Nebraska waltzed into Boulder, CO for the final game of the regular season, undefeated, and needing only a win to secure a place in the Big XII Championship Game. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. Corn Nation got their asses handed to them 62-36. No shot at the MNC now, right? Wrong. The BCS computer programmers, geniuses that they are, did not take into account the timing of the loss. To make matters worse, Colorado went on to win the Big XII CCG (Conference Championship Game), and having beaten Nebraska, had to endure watching the Huskers receive the invite to play for the MNC over the consensus #2 Oregon Ducks. Colorado ended up going to the Fiesta Bowl where they were trampled by one pissed off Oregon team. Meanwhile, the Huskers got trounced by Miami in the MNC. More tweaking necessary. OK. Timing of loss factor initiated. There we go. Now, we got this fixed.
2003-2004: What A Bunch of Freaking Losers
For the first time since 1996, there were no unbeaten teams at season's end going into the bowl games. What we did have were 3 teams with one loss: USC, OU, and LSU. What is a BCS Bowl Committee to do? We are just gonna have to pick two of 'em. Somebody's gettin' hosed Ellie Mae! Somebody was gettin' hosed. USC was a unanimous #1 in both polls (AP and ESPN). The uber-intelligent BCS computers determined that USC's strength of schedule was
2004-2005: What A Bunch of Freaking Winners
What is a manipulative, money grubbing system to do when there are 5 teams which are undefeated at season's end? Well, remember that vaunted SEC affiliation? Scratch that. Sucks for you Auburn. Yes, we know that you ran the table in the toughest football conference on the planet. But, you see, we have 4 other teams that are unbeaten. Two of these, Utah and Boise State, they literally do not matter. They don't play anyone worthy of national television production efforts all season, thus, we will treat these kids and their respective universities as if they do not matter...because they don't. Heretofore, it shall be noted that Oklahoma and USC were anointed as "worthy MNC participants." USC destroyed OU in the MNC 55-19, while Auburn and Utah won their respective bowl games, leaving us with 3 unbeaten teams at the "conclusion" of the season. My guess is Auburn does not recognize USC as the undisputed national champion. Would have been nice for them to lace 'em up the following week, right? Sure, we'd still screw Utah, but they don't play anybody anyway. Ain't that right, BCS honks?
2006-2007: Are You Kidding Me?
How are we supposed to make any sense of this? Follow closely: Ohio State was the consensus #1 prior to the bowl season. The challenge was figuring out (no reason to settle this on the field...let's just pick a school for them to play) who the Buckeyes were going to square off against in the MNC. Once again, Boise State was undefeated and unworthy of BCS MNC pedigree so they were told to go pound sand. Four teams had one loss: Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Louisville. Hey Louisville, your schedule is abysmal, and unless you are Joey Tribiani, that means it is horrid. You are out. Um, Michigan? Yeah, you already faced Ohio State this season, so we are going to have to ask you to go down and move to Storage B. Hmmm, Florida or Wisconsin. Yeah, Wisconsin, even though you did not play Ohio State this season, you lost to Michigan, who in turn lost to Ohio State, so you are toast. You know something, that mighty SEC juggernaut Florida is the only worthy candidate to face Ohio State. I bet they beat 'em. Yep, they did just that. At the conclusion of the season, two other one loss teams were denied the opportunity to play Florida and settle it on the field. Wisconsin and Louisville ended the season with only one loss along with Florida and Ohio State. Boise State was the lone unbeaten, but alas, they still do not matter. Oh, and 4 one-loss teams...yep, that is clarity alright. Ain't that right BCS honks? Wait it gets better...
2007-2008: Utter Chaos Theory
"Gee Daddy, look at the big, ugly alligator."..."That reminds me, I've got to call yo momma tonight." If there ever was a big, ugly BCS season, this is one of notoriety. What this season produced was the first and only 2 loss BCS MNC in the history of this moronic crowning-fest. The top team players are LSU, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Georgia. Look at this poll and honestly tell me how we work with the hideousness that is the BCS system? How did we get here? LSU lost in triple OT to Arkansas, their second triple OT loss of the season...#2 Missouri beat #4 Kansas the following day which then earned the right to get pummeled by Oklahoma in the Big XII CCG...Then #2 West Virginia was stunned at home by unranked Pittsburgh...Ohio State was idle for two weeks, climbed the ranking from #5 to #1, thus securing a spot in the BCS MNC. You'll also note that Hawaii finished the season unbeaten and earned a trip to the Sugar Bowl where they were waxed by Georgia. Like Boise, Hawaii was irrelevant. So, who did Ohio State end up squaring off against? Well, that would be the mighty LSU Tigers, who beat the Buckeyes, giving them two losses as well to end their campaign. Now this is clarity. A bunch of TWO loss teams at season's end. Ain't that right, BCS honks?
2008-2009: It's Texas' Turn
Are you seeing a pattern yet? One of how this system takes it sweet time with screwing over various schools annually? This is the season that will be etched in the memory of the Longhorn faithful. The Big XII South ended with a three way tie between Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. OU destroyed TT, Texas beat then #1 ranked OU in October, and TT beat then #1 ranked Texas in November with one second left in the game on Michael Crabtree's miraculous reception. All of this was made possible by a dropped interception by Texas freshman saftey, Blake Gideon, a few plays earlier. If Gideon would have secured the pick, this season would not be included in the BCS garbage truck. In hugely controversial fashion, the Big XII's own tiebreaker of a system prevented Texas from playing in its own CCG. Oddly enough, had this been the SEC, Texas would have been granted the spot by eliminating the lowest ranked team of the three, TT, and utilizing the head to head between the remaining two teams, thus essentially eliminating OU from consideration. But, this ain't the SEC and OU was given the nod to play for the Big XII CCG and they defeated Missouri and squared off against Florida for the MNC as they defeated then unbeaten Alabama in the SEC CCG. Thankfully, Florida defeated OU in the MNC so as not to rub salt in Texas' wound. I could not imagine how Texas would have taken that after they defeated Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl had OU beaten Florida. This season ended with a lone unbeaten in Utah having soundly defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, clamoring for their shot at Florida. Texas and USC felt the same way as all of these schools only endured one loss on the season. After the season, the Mountain West Conference (Utah's conference) made a proposal to the BCS Committee for an 8 team playoff which would surely provide closure to season's such as this one. It was soundly rejected as the BCS honks only care about their preconceived notion of nostalgia associated with the bowl system. Ain't that right BCS honks? Who cares about the kids who deserve a shot at earning a legitimate national championship? They're just pawns to you fossils.
2009-2010: 5 Unbeaten Teams Remain:
Alabama, Texas, Boise State, TCU, and Cincinnati. Determining who is worthy to play for it all is becoming an annual fiasco. It was believed by many that Alabama was the class of the season all along followed by Texas. In the end, it was those two teams who squared off against one another. However, there is bias run amok with respect to the smaller, less than stellar programs getting jobbed when it comes to BCS riches and opportunities. Who is to say that Texas and Alabama were the most worthy last season? Why, because they play in the Big XII and SEC? Because they were beneficiaries of high early season rankings of #1 and #2 respectively? Cincy, TCU, and Boise State each did all they could do and that is win all of their games. Still, it was not good enough to warrant an opportunity, a chance if you will, to play for a True National Championship. You don't care about observing an undisputed national champion. Ain't that right BCS honks?
How hard would a playoff be to implement? Not hard whatsoever. There are three options: an 8 team playoff (seems light), a 16 team playoff (seems a bit heavy), and a 12 team playoff (seems just right). I'm a proponent of the 12 team variety for two reasons: first, it maintains the importance of the regular season (a common theme of BCS apologists), as finishing in the top 4 seeds guarantees you a bye week and one less chance of being upset by a lower seeded team. Secondly, it would eliminate virtually every single controversy mentioned above. This level of college football is the only sport at any level that I am aware of where crowning an objective and undisputed champion is not only not a priority, but an afterthought. It is time to end the manipulation and the oligopoly which has enjoyed a stranglehold over college football for the better part of 15 years.
In conclusion, the BCS is not about crowning the best team of the season with the title of national champion. If that happens as a sidebar, so be it. No, the BCS is designed to generate money, entertain, and keep college football a topic week in and week out. In that respect, it works marvelously. Unfortunately, the BCS leaves a path of disappointment, inconclusiveness, subjectivity, and utter bias in its wake more seasons than not. We as fans deserve better. The kids and coaches deserve better. It's time we restored honor and transparency to college football.
i so did not understand what the hell the folks behind bcs were thinking regarding the "it's texas' turn" bit. i'm NOT a longhorn fan at all, but they had a damned fine season then. so did o.u. so did tech. (i totally disagree with you about the gideon thing. tech just looked awesome that game. it was beautiful!) and as for thankfully florida beat o.u.? not so much. i HATE tim tebow. the only time i'd've rooted for the horns would've been if they'd played the gators.
ReplyDeletebut i seem to recall utah and boise state and tcu having some pretty jazzy seasons of late, and they don't get much recognition for that (as you'd mentioned).
and the system sounds like the worst edition ever of pop-up rules meets politics. on top of all that, it's CRAZY CONFUSING. i HATE it.