Friday, November 18, 2011

BCS is starting to think about change, but maybe not the good kind

Found an article at ESPN that is very interesting on the future of the BCS, National Championship, and bowl games in general.


BCS only handing National Championship game?

Personally, I think that is a horrible idea.  While I don't think the BCS is perfect (far from it), it has been improving the last few years.  But I don't think the BCS will be able to properly pick #1 and #2 if that's all they're doing. 

And would the non-AQ teams really be helped by eliminating the current BCS set up?  I don't think so, unless they choose to beef up their schedules.  Look at Boise State's schedule.  They* make a big deal about playing big teams, but every single one of those matchups is either in the first game of the season, or in a bowl game - both situations in which they have plenty of time to prepare.  The rest of their schedule is so weak, they better be killing it.

*(And I realize that "they" could just be referring to the media.)

I'm in favor of an 8-team playoff system*.  I don't know why Division I-A and the BCS can't get their heads out of their ass and develop one.  They can still keep the other 30-some bowl games too.  (I've never understood that thought of either/or.)  People might be more in favor of rematches if there are playoffs.  (Basically, who wants to waste their one championship game on a game they already saw this year?)  And, the non-AQ teams might actually get a chance to compete.

*(I'll post the proposal that Tony and I developed sometime in December.)

Playoffs would have helped in 2004, when unbeaten #3 Auburn got left out of the National Championship and no one could really make a decent argument why.  They also would have helped in 2007, when college football had it's most topsy turvy season ever.  A playoff system would have been nice last year, after Stanford shellacked Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.  They also would help this season, when most of the one-loss teams in the top ten lost to other top ten teams.

With such a limited schedule, there isn't a lot of play among the conferences to help determine who is better.  And every year, there seems to be two or three conferences dominating the top ten.  This year, we're getting a logjam with 3 SEC teams, 2 Pac-12 teams, and 2 Big 12 teams.  Okay, really, it seems to be the SEC mainly clogging the list.  (And I don't mind the SEC, I just don't really like this mythical god status that they seem to have achieved.)

And yes, this is in response to the conference realignment.  But I think there will still be realignment possibilities even in this future world the BCS is considering.  As long as the SEC has "mythical god" status and the Big East keeps sucking, teams are going to want to realign.

I could go on further, but then I would be eating into the post I'm saving up for next month about the playoff system.

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