Monday, December 03, 2007

The Obligatory Anti-BCS Rant


This season was the best in the history of college football. There was no dominant team. Every week brought upsets and unpredictability. Thirteen teams ranked in the top 5 were subsequently beaten by unranked teams. There was never a dull moment.

This awesome regular season is about to be followed by a dud of a post-season. That post-season structure is called the bowl system. Instead of qualifying for a playoff, big-time college football teams subject themselves to the whims of computer geeks, coaches, retired coaches, and Chamber of Commerce guys in setting up their post-season. The result is one really big game, four big-name, high-paying games, and a bunch of meaningless exhibitions created to fill hotel rooms in the winter season.

One can argue that the lack of a playoff legitimizes the regular season, and makes every week and every game important. The current structure is like survival football, only a team can lose, fall, and climb back up in the standings if enough other teams lose. This season has resembled a big game of musical chairs, only teams are allowed to re-enter the circle. LSU has been #1 twice this season, lost, and still made the championship game.

The BCS was created to put #1 and #2 in the same bowl game, to preserve big-time bowl games, and to channel a ton of money into six major conferences. The system has served its purpose too well. The major conferences have seized control of big-time college football. The bowls have survived, in spite of thrilling matchups like last year’s Orange Bowl between Louisville and Wake Forest. What the BCS system really tells us, though, is that it’s more important to have controversy and make a whole ton of money for a handful of schools than to crown a legitimate national champion like every other collegiate sport.

A 16-team playoff would generate more money for all the schools, including those in BCS conferences. The biggest difference, though, is that the money would be controlled and distributed by the NCAA instead of the individual conferences. I have to admit that I cringe at the thought of the NCAA controlling that much more money and structure. The current administration of the NCAA lets off the biggest stench of academic elitism in its promotion and operation of college athletics. That’s what happens when you have an organization run by pointy-headed university presidents. If I have to choose between college athletic directors and college presidents, give me the A.D.’s any time. The A.D.’s are a lot more in touch with reality.

The purposes of college athletics are two-fold: to provide an opportunity for students to receive an education, and to promote the university among the general public. Fundraising is an outgrowth of both of those. A college football playoff would only enhance those purposes and help to provide more opportunities for athletes. Imagine how many more women’s and men’s sports a school could add with the extra money generated by a playoff.

The BCS is a barely-legal cartel. Remove the C, and you have the smell of the current college football post-season.

2 comments:

Zee said...

The BCS is a barely-legal cartel. Remove the C, and you have the smell of the current college football post-season.

Amen, and amen, bruthah!

John said...

A playoff makes way too much sense.