First - an opinion piece from
Terry Bowden on Yahoo about his preference for a playoff.
Two slugs from the article -
BCS Still a Bust: Slug One - The other BCS games play a poor second fiddle to the BCS Championship game.
We have been through all the bowls and we are now ready for the national championship game. However, something just doesn't seem right. Something doesn't add up. Everything we have seen so far was supposed to lead up to a final showdown. We were supposed to be taken on an exhilarating ride of excitement and emotion that built up into a magnificent college football finale.
But that didn't happen. We saw some good games and we saw some bad games. We even saw a few great ones. What we didn't see was anything that in any way led up to the national championship game. Everything that happened before has nothing to do with what is going to happen now.
Bowden goes on to whimsically recall the magic that would occur when #2 played #5 in one bowl, #1 vs. #6 in another etc. Never mind that such a magical alignment very rarely took place. Never mind that the mythical NC that resulted from these match-ups lead to debate, not resolution.
Slug Two - The solution is a playoff
Nothing that happens prior to Jan. 7 has any impact whatsoever on what happens on Jan. 7. It was a lot better back when, for example, No. 1 played No. 6 in the Orange Bowl and No. 2 played No. 5 in the Sugar Bowl and No. 3 played No. 4 in the Rose Bowl and the national champion could come from any one of those matchups. At least there was some drama to the consequences. Am I the only one, or are the Jan. 1 (2 and 3) games a lot less interesting to watch now than they used to be? If you agree, then tell me if that is progress.
Yes, I know this is a masked argument for a playoff system but the entire postseason is such a disappointment. And, it is not disappointing because of what it is, but because of what it isn't. It isn't a system that brings out the best of the existing bowl structure and it isn't a system that brings out the best in the championship game. Most importantly, it isn't a system that ties these two very important factors together into one coordinated postseason plan.
That would be a playoff.
So, I am going to say this one more time – for this year at least – and then I am going to enjoy the BCS championship game.
We need an eight-team playoff.
Second - my personal take on matters as they are, and as I'd like to see them.
As They Are
If I have one major gripe with the present arrangement is it is about the timing and broadcasts, then with the match-ups.
The present has several January 1st bowls - only two of which this year were part of the BCS quartet, the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The others strung themselves out into what is, for most people, the work week. The Championship game itself is one week after the New Year's holiday weekend. There is only one convincing argument for why this is done.
Money.
Some claim this was done to help boost ratings, if so, I argue that it is counter productive. It certainly doesn't help the average college football fan - in fact it sets up scenarios which favor domestic discontent in households that feel they have had a full plate of games over the holidays. (Full disclosure - I am not affected by such issues, College Football is a preferred staple TV diet, but I recognize that tension happens in many households around the nation).
Further to the above, it doesn't help that the BCS sold the broadcast rights for most of these games (exception The Rose Bowl) to FOX - who has in successive years demonstrated their ability to completely louse up a golden opportunity.
What about the match-ups?
This was discussed in the thread concerning the OU / VT / UGA / Hawaii match-ups. But it is worth addressing here, at least to respond to the secondary premise in Bowden's article - diminished match-ups in the BCS Bowl Games are less exciting than the (rarely seen) magical alignment of old.
It is true that the match-ups in the BCS Bowl Games were less compelling than those we have seen on occasion in the past, whether in BCS or in Bowl Games before Bowl Alliance / BCS. It does not follow that the first solution is to implement a playoff. There are other options.
First option that the BCS should look at is to allow greater latitude to the participating Bowls, so that compelling matchups (#3 vs #5, #4 vs #8) can be constructed. Secondly, I believe the BCS should stop writing so many what-if scenario rules concerning the admission of non-BCS teams into a BCS Bowl game. (Yes, this is also about Hawaii - whose bowl placement, whether BCS or other would have been better handled by the Bowls if they were not hamstrung by the rules taking other teams out of contention). Notably, my preference here would not demand that the Rose Bowl think first of taking a Big 10 #2, when the Big 10 number 1 is headed to the BCS Championship game. Instead, afford the Rose Bowl the freedom to take a Missouri should they so wish.
Implementing those relatively minor changes would limit the likelihood of the less compelling match-ups we saw this year.
How I'd Like to See Things
Tweaking the Current System
Part of how I'd like to see the BCS adjusted is presented above. But, that is merely about tweaking the current system.
On that topic though, without doubt, if the BCS continues in it's present or adjusted (plus-one) form I definitely do not want to see FOX ever have the games again. They are thoroughly inept. They have no feel for how to punctuate games, nor do I think they care about their many, lengthy, interruptions. No, not as long as they sell Ad Space. It is, as I said earlier, all about the money. FOX should, for the betterment of the sport and to help college football fans retain their sanity, be excluded from bidding the next time around. Better yet, the BCS should tear up the present contract and put it out for re-bid.
Bold But Traditional
A traditional but bold approach would be to revert to the old bowl structure and ditch the BCS as failed but interesting experiment. Never, ever going to happen now that the College Presidents have seen the serious moolah that is out there for the asking. But, there were those once in a blue moon cascade of games where everything still hung in the balance for a top-notch Orange Bowl contest to overcome a great showing by another team in the Rose Bowl.
If There Must Be a Playoff
My least favorite option is a playoff. I like the mythical nature of a national championship. The fact that there remains some debate about the worthiness of a BCS National Championship game winner as the best team at the end of the season does not diminish anything in my view. It certainly does not argue eloquently for a playoff.
But, what about having a playoff - doesn't that answer all the earlier criticisms of validity, compelling games, certainty, fan involvement and viewership? Well, no, it doesn't. Still, if we are to have a playoff, how should it be constructed?
Should we use the Polls to determine the participants? Not directly in my view, I'd prefer to see the conference winners taken first - then look to the Polls for the rest of Field.
Should we use the present Bowl structure? No, I'd favor using home-field advantage - even if it is only limited to the early rounds. This eliminates at least 50% of the logistical burden when the pool of playing teams is at it's largest.
How would I propose seeding home-field advantage? - Well, that is where the BCS and other Poll mechanisms could be brought into play.
How many teams in the playoff? No fewer than 8 - no more than 16.
When would the first rounds be played? If it were done this season, beginning December 8th. You could be down to 4 remaining teams well before Christmas break.
How would the last four play-out? Well, this is the first time I would bring the BCS Bowls explicitly back in as destinations. The Semi-Final and Finals would be 3 of the current BCS bowl games.
There are 5 BCS bowls, what about the other 2? These get first choice on the teams dropping out of the QF and SF games. Oh, yes, this diminishes the value of those Bowl games, but hell, we want a play-off, right?
Other Bowl games receive the leavings from the play-off, or make their own arrangements.
What I Really Want
Just to be clear on this - FOX out of the business of broadcasting college football.
The old Bowl system dates and deadlines - and -
No playoff, thanks very much.
