(Writer’s Note: Your fearless leader, John Taylor, is dealing with his 47th computer problem in the past two weeks, so I’m filling in for him with a post on this lovely Thanksgiving morning from the West Coast. I might direct JT to a certain set of computer commercials to help solve his problems he’s been having…)
In the spirit of today’s holiday, I’m thankful for the wonderful entity that is the BCS. Only in America can an organization like this exist. It’s so perfectly terrible, so willfully confusing, so shamelessly ridiculous. What’s not to love?
Lately, the BCS has ramped up it’s staff, hired a flashy new PR firm, a new executive director that used to be in charge of the Final Four, and has gone all out on Twitter and Facebook to remind us how great the system used to decide college football’s national champion really is.
They’ve taken it a step further, with a preemptive strike on any proposed playoff system, creating a website called PlayoffProblem.com. Their tagline?
“If you think the BCS is controversial, wait until you realize how much more contentious a playoff would be.”
Those fear mongering words were uttered by BCS executive director Bill Hancock during an interview with Dan Patrick, and they’ve become the rallying cry of the organization. You think we’re bad? Wait until you see the unknown! That’s going to be CRAZY!! All we need next is a series of 3:00am commercials and we’ll be right there with the presidential campaigns.
I can understand the value of the BCS and can acknowledge that there might be some logistical hurdles involved with a playoff, but it’s a bit disingenuous to talk about how difficult a playoff would be when the NCAA already manages to do it in D 1-AA, D-2, and D-3 football.
So thank you BCS for the wonderful reminder that you all truly understand why we love college football.
Or not.
What a joke, The BcS is a fraud! Playoffs or nothing. Tired of meaningless bowl games for a pretend champ!
“Bracket Creep” is a concern. Aside from that all that website says to me is, “look, we’re making a boat load of money the way we’re doing it now and we really would like to continue making even more money so please stop complaining.”
I mean wtf are they talking about with who should make it? YOU (BCS) are the ones that designate the top 8. “Should a 1 loss Georgia Tech make it but not a 1 loss Pitt?” Well, according to YOUR (BCS) rankings, yes, seeing as how GT is 7th and Pitt is 9th. They act like they’re suddenly going to leave it up to anything other than the computers.
Will a playoff lead top the #1 and #2 teams in the nation playing shit competition in the final weeks of the season? Thx!
Will a playoff lead top the #1 and #2 teams in the nation playing shit competition in the final weeks of the season? Thx!
The best solution is a 16 team playoff.
Each conference would be required to conduct a championship game. The champion would receive an automatic bid.
The remaining 5 at large bids would come from a pool of eligible teams. To be eligible, a team must play in the conference championship game and lose. This requires teams to win games during the season and to at least win a division of their conference. This should satisfy those that think a playoff would lessen the meaning of regular season games.
I recommend using the BCS or another type system that would select the 5 at large teams. This same poll would be used to seed the playoffs.
Conference championship games should be held over Thanksgiving.
Join this group on facebook to support the cause..College Football Fans Demanding a Playoff
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=184480971970&ref=mf
I have posted the ‘brackets’ from the past two years if this system would have been instituted.
you are worried about the number 8 team in a playoff? oh the “what if” will never end. Just wait till March and the bracket comes out with the top 65 teams. People are always upset that some team was ranked 66 and did not make the field.
Bill Han”d”cock? Tells you all you need to know.
If playoffs were instituted, Bill would have to get a real job instead of stroking himself and his BCS computer all day.
Lame attempt by a lame organization. Money grubbers that don’t want to decide a real champ.
16 teams play it out.
This year why not TCU vs Cincy in the Fiesta Bowl?
What the????
Bill Hancock is a greedy man who is afraid of losing control of his position.
It would be easy to have a playoff and you would begin to see a true National Champion in College Football. The current system although quite good is imperfect as any system that human opinion plays such a large portion of the equation. A playoff will eliminate the human error and bias that is so prevalent in the system at this time.
A playoff system would create the possibility for way more games post season that would be so uch more watched then the minor bowls do now.
Why you ask?
Simple each and every game will have true meaning. Now that is a novel concept Mr. Hancock. Just imagine how many people would watch each and every Bowl Championship Playoff Series Game and The REAL Championship Game.
There is no place to leave a comment on that site that I could find. Because they only want 1 way thinkers? Just when you thought the BcS was already the biggest joke in the land – they come out with this enhancing web site to add some rancid mustard on top.
Playoffs, Playoffs, Playoffs! 8 or 16, doesn’t matter – just play the games and stop the lame bowls and the fat cat semoney making machines.
I guess Bill Handcock didn’t read the BCS’s past propaganda push. Until him, they touted the controversy as a good thing since it “got people talking about college football” at the end of the year.
The biggest problem college football has is that the players are not getting paid diddly squat while the universities and TV networks are raking in the cash. Why does playoffs/rankings matter when there’s that?
Observer1 your solution is ridiculous. Under your plan, an 11-1 Texas and 11-1 Tech from 2008 would be sitting on the sidelines while a 3 or 4 loss team from the big twelve north (who gets blown out in the title game) would be eligible.
Playoffs are meaningless without taking records and rankings into consideration.
No, my solution creates a clear cut way to make the playoffs and to become eligible for an at-large bid. It also keeps the importance on the regular season that many BCS supporters claim is the reason not to go to a playoff system.
If Texas wins the B12 South, they are probably in every year.
Just because a B12 North team makes the championship game does not guarantee them a spot in the playoff….they simply become eligible for an at-large bid.
You want a system that gives your team the best chance to get in every year. I want a system that gives each conference a team and does not allow more than two teams from any conference into the playoff. If you want in…win your conference. If you want a chance to get in, win your conference division.
In my system, everyone knows exactly what they have to do to get into the playoff. In the current system, you can win all your games and still not get a shot. My system is fair and equitable for all conferences.
The BCS uses anti-logic to justify its monopoly, really is just like political campaigns, mainly the Palin campaign.
I realize my system may not be perfect, but it gives each conference champion a shot at the national title. It would be much more fair in the selection process because every team knows exactly what they have to do to get in….win their conference division and then win the conference championship game and they are automatically in.
I use the conference championship game losers to establish the at large pools because at the least these teams won their division. This would prevent a situation like the Mizzou/KU deal a few years back. Mizzou beats KU and wins B12 North and loses to Oklahoma in the B12 championship game. Mizzou does not get a BCS bid but KU does and never even won their division or even beat Mizzou.
Ultimately, my system keeps the importance on the regular season. You must win your conference games to have a shot. Sure there will be years when better teams get left out, but if they would have won their conference division, they would have had a shot at an at large bid. Notice the importance on conference games that this system creates?
The current system obviously does not work even when they try to spin it to make you think it does. It will leave undefeated teams out of a chance to win the title. My system will never leave an undefeated team out.
I think some scheduling changes need to be made. No more playing D-1AA teams in the regular season. Play all D-1A teams or cut the schedule down. I also think they should limit home games. If teams can schedule 12 games, only six should be at their home stadium. (no more than 6 games in one stadium per year)
In the end, the Big 6 conferences have all the money and are scared to give the others a chance and especially any of the money. They will spend millions trying to keep the status quo. Why would they have any interest in killing the golden goose? If the Big 6 fans think their teams are so dominate, why wouldn’t they want to prove it on the field in a playoff?