Posted on 12/03/2013 11:42:50 AM PST by Servant of the Cross
Before you throw rocks at your screen, let me stipulate that I am NOT making the case for keeping the BCS system. I am excited to see the beginning of the next era in football championships, which begins next season.
However, as we prepare to pull the plug on what will no doubt be referred to in years hence as "the BCS era" in major college football, it is high time to finally give the BCS its due. By that, I mean it's about time to compare the BCS to what it replaced, instead of the system replacing it, let alone some notion of championship utopia. This is a concept that somehow escapes all the wizards at ESPN, let alone sports-talk radio nation.
Besides, we always remember the good in a eulogy anyway.
And unlike the Titanic, the Hindenburg - or ObamaCare - the BCS actually has largely accomplished its mission statement. Somehow, people talk as if that mission was to conjure up a perfect National Title match every year - all while solving the mysteries and vagaries of polls and rankings - and yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
The BCS was brought into existence for two simple reasons: First, this system was devised in order to put the top two ranked teams in the same bowl game while preserving the existing bowl tradition and structure. In case you haven't noticed, these long standing bowl committees, private/public enterprises usually, are extremely powerful, and fans love them. The second BCS mission meanwhile was to make boat loads of money. On the subject of the first, the BCS often succeeded. On the second, well, I think their only problem was being a bit too triumphant while being perpetually lousy at PR.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
“CEW jumps on the Buckeye Nation Bandwagon” ping .....
‘Excerpted thread’ ping ....
SWOON!
Should have instead in the long term, a bracket system just like college basketball in March.
The FCS has an excellent playoff system. Div. 1 should have adopted this long ago. If you’re a good team, you keep on winning, and the two best teams play in the championship.
Sob, sob. But what about the money. Nobody cares who the best team is, but who can make the most money off the bowl games. Screw the playoffs that work!
They should go just ahead and make Div 1 football teams semi-pro, sponsored by the universities and funded by the NFL, and get rid of the ridiculous "student-athlete" facade.
And no one will care, or even remember who won the playoff championship two weeks later.
Sure, the BCS has worked most of the time. But it did fail in 2004 when it matched USCw against Oklahoma instead of Auburn, and may well make another mistake this year selecting tOSU instead of the SEC champion.
Absolutely right in you post. There are more functionally illiterate kids playing in college today than ever before. Hell some players even come out and say tha they didn’’t come to said school to go to some stupid classes, but only to play football. It would be a joke, if this wasn’t so pathetic.
And if this last means Florida or Florida State or USC has to play in Michigan Stadium on January 1 in sub-zero weather ... good. About time, after playing all these years more or less on their own home fields in front of their own home fans.
The BCS was the necessary first step to a true playoff system. People forget that prior to the BCS the major bowls had tremendous power and influence in shaping the match ups...and often prevented a 1 vs 2 game. The BCS got them to cede some of that authority. Now, the conferences have pretty much taken most all control of team selection away from the bowls...I think the real reason they didn’t go to a 6-8 team play off this year is because it will happen concurrent with the top FBS schools spinning off, and dealing with other issues like paying players, etc..
Or sometimes, schools even help them out with 'pretend classes' ...
Ex-University of North Carolina professor charged over no-show class
No matter what system they come up with, there will always be someone on the outside looking in. There will always be the NIUs of the world bitching that their undefeated season counts just the same as Ohio or Florida or USC. Then we will have the “west coast bias” meaning every west coast team is better, regardless of record and schedule strength just because a fan base says it so loudly.
The we will have the “chaos” crowd hoping for the most unappealing title match-up and bitching just to bitch and hoping for the worst case scenario just to upset the most people.
Dude, my school got hosed, this whole thing is bogus man, we need a (fill in the blank with the solution dujour) to make sure teams like our don’t get hosed by the media, NCAA and Skull and Bones in conjunction with ESPN, CNN, Fox, the Koch brothers and the Bilderbergs along with ABC, CBS, NBC to keep us out..
A playoff won’t make more people happy and will piss off more schools.
The new system will be a bracket system…just a very small one with 3 brackets only (2 semis and one final).
That is true, but the Bowls are very influential……and have done a tremdendous amout of good for college football, something the FCS school were not involved with….so apples and oranges.
You are correct, which is why I made sure I alluded to that several times in the article. The funny thing is, people blamed the BCS when what they are really mad with is simply the human nature of disagreement over rankings and seedings and so on. The BCS did not cause that, and ending the BCS will not solve that.
Sure, the BCS has worked most of the time. But it did fail in 2004 when it matched USCw against Oklahoma instead of Auburn, and may well make another mistake this year selecting tOSU instead of the SEC champion.
Missouri?
I’m assuning you didn’t get a chance to actually read the article…..
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