First off…I wrote a lot of this on Friday night….but fell asleep at the computer after a day of Christmas “shopping” all day. I’m finishing it today…after Boston College lost to Syracuse which cause a beautiful mess.
I’m sorry to be a broken record…but I hate the BCS system. YES IT IS BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAD BEFORE. That doesn’t mean that it is good. I mean, horse-and-buggies are better than walking….but we seemed to improve on that and drive around in cars now. And that wasn’t “tinkering” with the buggy like they “tinker” with the BCS. The system isn’t any good. In fact, it is just as faulty as the old system….except under the old system we all knew that’s just the way it was and at least schools that deserve to get into major bowl games deserved to get there. Not anymore.
With Syracuse pummeling Boston College atop Chestnut Hill….the Big East part of the BCS is completely absurd. Now, neither BC or the early favorite West Virginia will get a BCS game. Instead, it is a 7-3 Pittsburgh team that has South Florida next week….or a 6-5 Syracuse team…that will get the nod. The BCS bid will go to the team ranked higher in the final BCS rankings. Neither team is in the Top 25 BCS rankings. So, it could mean that if Pitt’s head coach puts the Panthers in the Coaches poll which Syracuse’s head coach has no vote…than he could elect his own team to the BCS game by recording a vote that could be tabulated in the rankings. Complete garbage!!! We all were afraid this could happen since the Big East lost Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC.
I know, the BCS will be around for a while. Fox just overpaid for it…meaning they have the NFL, MLB, NASCAR and the BCS. Wait….won’t they need to hire some people to….oh never mind.
Back on task. The BCS. There is nothing wrong with trying to get the top two teams matched up and playing in a bowl game. The problem I have is the audacity that it means we have a “National Championship game“. We all saw last year that USC and LSU split the National Championship. Wasn’t the BCS designed to keep crap like that from happening?? How fair is it that Auburn may not have a chance to play for the National Championship?? Or even Utah.
Of course, the BCS’s job isn’t only to determine the National Championship Game. The BCS is also designed to figure out what conference get huge paydays by having a school in one of the four BCS games. And as much controversy as the USC/Oklahoma/Auburn situation could be…..what about the California/Utah/Texas/Louisville/Boise State situation?? I mean….will the Pac-10 or Big XII get a second team in the BCS?? Or will the WAC, C-USA or MWC come in there for the treasure??
And that brings me back to Pitt or Syracuse. Why do they deserve to get a $13M payday for winning a conference that is on the same tier as the MAC or WAC??? Yet Cal, Texas, Georgia, Louisville, Miami or Boise State could be left out. Who is clamoring for a Pittsburgh-Utah Fiesta Bowl???
Screw it. Have a freaking playoff!!! All the other levels of college and high school football league can pull it off….so why can’t the biggest division??? Finals?? Doesn’t those Division II schools and high schools have finals?? And most of them need those test since they aren’t realistically going into the NFL. I know holes can be shot thru my proposal….but this is what I’d love to see:
A 14 TEAM PLAYOFF BRACKET. Yep….14 teams. Use the BCS formula to determine seeding. The top 2 teams get a first round bye. So…as of now, Oklahoma and USC get that bye with Auburn as the #3 seed. Invite the champions of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Pac-10, SEC, MAC, MWC, C-USA and WAC…..plus the top 4 at large teams [as determined by that darn BCS system]. I know someone will be angry that they were left out. I mean, you could have a 100-team playoff system but team #101 would complain about being left out. So….imagine that Virginia Tech [ACC}, Oklahoma [Big XII], Michigan [Big Ten], Auburn [SEC], Pittsburgh [Big East], Louisville [CUSA], Miami-OH [MAC], Utah [MWC], USC [Pac-10] and Boise State [WAC] all won their conferences and would be in the Playoff. Going by the BCS rankings…California, Texas, Georgia and Miami-FL would be the at large teams….with Iowa, LSU and Tennessee crying that they were left out. So…there is your 14 team field.
SEED BY BCS RANKINGS. Again…there will be crying. But…seed the playoffs using this ranking. #1 USC and #2 Oklahoma get byes. So, #14 Miami-OH at #3 Auburn.….#13 Pittsburgh at #4 California.….#12 Virginia Tech at #5 Texas.….#11 Michigan at #6 Utah.….#10 Louisville at #7 Boise State.….#9 Miami-FL at #8 Georgia. The quarterfinals would be USC vs. Mia/Ga, Oklahoma vs. Louis/BSU, Mia-OH/Aub vs. Mich/Utah, BC.Cal vs. VT/Tex.
SUPER BOWL JUNIOR. Of course, the beauty of having a playoff means that you get a championship game…a “Super Bowl Jr,” if you will. All the pageantry that goes into these bowl games and the Super Bowl would be there for this game. They could pimp the game well…as evidenced by the Final Four. Cities like Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, Tempe, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Pasadena-Los Angeles…..and possibly Charlotte, Nashville, Washington or Detroit. St. Louis would be an ideal spot….since it is smack dab in the middle of the country and in a domed stadium. If Indianapolis got a bigger dome….the NCAA loves to hold title tilts in their headquartered city.
STILL HAVE THOSE BOWL GAMES. Hey…have those bowl games. I mean, they still hold the NIT tournament in basketball, don’t they?? If you are expecting people to go to San Antonio for an Ohio State-Oklahoma State game…then why not let ‘em play in Miami or New Orleans?? Heck….14 playoff teams means we could cut out 7 bowl games. Let’s see….the New Orleans, GMAC, Champs Sports, Emerald, Ft Worth, MPC Computers and Silicon Valley bowls can all go away. There…56 schools still see postseason play…they just get out of those dingy bowls and into real ones. I mean, why not move the Florida State-West Virginia game from the Gator Bowl to the Orange Bowl?? It’s the same game…it still means nothing…put it on that bigger stage. Note my melodramatic tone.
Again…I’ve wasted my time and Journal space with this. None of this will happen. The BCS has brought big money into these conferences. Not only that…but the BCS brings controversy. And wherever there is controversy …there is talk. And talk means that college football is discussed all year long…and the NCAA loves that.
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