I’ve never been pro-BCS, but I’m not pro-playoff either. Like many, I’m in favor of a plus-one after the bowls, whether it means slotting four teams in “semifinals” in BCS bowls or going to the old-school bowl format and picking the best two teams after. It doesn’t matter which option but I don’t want a playoff. However, to choose between a playoff and the current bowl structure, I’ll take what we have.
That’s why Fowler came off like such an arrogant jerk Sunday night. While the other ESPN analysts begrudgingly admitted there was little to complain, Fowler continued to offensive and lobbed grenades at the BCS. It was painful to sit through because while I will never begrudge anyone for having an opinion, you must at some point admit you’re wrong. Fowler was wrong last night.
In the history of the BCS, never has it worked out as well as it did this year. We have two and only two major conference football teams who went undefeated and they will play for the national title. TCU is undefeated and playing in the Rose Bowl – yes, the Rose Bowl. Just a decade ago, a non-BCS team could go undefeated and not even sniff the BCS. Now, a non-BCS team is a month away from playing in the game most synonymous with college football.
The top eight teams in the BCS standings were all rewarded with trips to the BCS. The other two teams – Virginia Tech and UConn – made it by winning their conference championship. Complain you want about UConn not being deserving, but they earned their spot on the field. Michigan State is the most aggrieved party but their ire should be aimed at the Big Ten. If they played Ohio State, then there would only be two 11-1 Big Ten teams and, if they had won, the Spartans would be in the Rose Bowl.But when the most aggrieved party is the #9 team in the country and still gets to play Alabama in Orlando – how can I be outraged? I’m not. And it’s not because I’m a UConn fan.
What transpired Sunday night was the culmination of the past BCS follies. Stanford got in because of the Kansas State rule as you recall the Wildcats, ranked #4 in 1998, falling all the way to the Alamo Bowl. TCU is playing in the Rose Bowl because the BCS opened the door to the little guys – a door that was never open pre-BCS and may not be open during a playoff.
It’s funny how adamant American sports fans are about a playoff. What makes college football unique and incredible is the regular season. A 16-team playoff? Would you have even watched the Civil War or the SEC title game Saturday if that happened? Wouldn’t Auburn have rested Cam Newton for the Alabama game since a spot was assured? Is this year’s LSU team really deserving of a national title spot?
In the world’s most popular sport, soccer, the leagues have no playoffs. The champion is the one that played the best during the regular season. It seems to be working. It seems to be working in college football too. Last year’s BCS title game attracted 30+ million viewers, rarified air only the NFL and Game 7s achieve. Regular season ratings for college football easily surpass any non-NFL sport. All of the bowl games, no matter how seemingly unnecessary, draw great ratings for ESPN and their bowl coverage is their highest-rated part of the year.
So why do we keep insisting on wanting to blow things up? Bowls are an easy target but the reasoning is hypocritical to say the least. Most arguments are that bowls are money-hungry and only out for their best interest. So why should we have a playoff? Because it would make more money. Wait, what?
At the end of the day, college football’s popularity is directly tied to the BCS, the bowl system and the amazing regular season. Do you think CBS is forking over billions for the SEC rights if there’s a playoff? Or would they rather show Auburn three times in November, each the equivalent of a playoff game with the ratings to prove it? Does ESPN want Oregon/Oregon State for as a playoff-type game or does it want it as a game to determine playoff seeding?What’s the last NFL regular season game that determined a champion? Tonight, the Jets and the Patriots will play in a game as big as the NFL regular season has to offer. On the line – home field advantage. Important? Surely. But the loser will still make the playoffs – their championship dreams are only slightly affected by tonight’s outcome.
For me, I want the BCS. I want the bowl games. I want a college football season that provides a remarkable amount of meaningful football from week one, not one that doesn’t truly begin until December.
If you want a playoff, go back to Labor Day night. Think about watching Boise State and Virginia Tech playing a virtual national championship elimination game on the first weekend of the season. Everything was on the line in their first game. You want a playoff, that game then becomes virtually meaningless.
But that night was special. 80,000+ fans in a frenzy. Two top 10 teams going back and forth knowing what was at stake. Kellen Moore leading a drive for the ages. Virginia Tech battling courageously down to the wire. It was an incredible game. I don’t want to lose that game so 10-2 LSU can play for a national title.
No sport outside of soccer produces more worthy national champions than college football. The usual requirement is to win every single one of your games. Why would we ever want to mess with that? Auburn’s first game was just as important as its last.
The BCS isn’t perfect and I doubt it ever will. At some point, though, the system deserves respect for what it’s been able to accomplish. The sport no longer has a “mythical” national champion. All 120 teams have a chance, however unlikely, of playing in a BCS game if they win them all.
And for three straight weeks, at all hours, at all times, there’s college football being played somewhere. Why is a football game on a Wednesday afternoon a bad thing?
You can make all the arguments you want about a playoff, about maximizing revenues and making college football fairer.
However, you have to admit that college football has never been more popular and never been better at crowning a legitimate national champion.
Why even think of messing with a good thing?
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