Just say NO to a Division 1-A College Football playoff

It will kill the game... and none of us want that

Published on December 13, 2004 By historyishere In Sports & Leisure

Winston Churchill famously quipped when discussing the merits of democracy that: "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried," and I think that is much in keeping with my sentiments about the Bowl Championship series or BCS in 1-A College Football.

The BCS, implemented in 1998 as a replacement for the Bowl Coalition/Alliance system, was designed to match up the #1 and #2 ranked teams in a bowl game to determine who was the national champion. While it hasn't always worked out for the best, and there have been some errors in the past, it does seem to be getting closer to the right solution for 1-A football.

The whole aesthetic of 1-A college football is that "Every game matters," and that the regular season is the playoffs, and every time a change is made in the post-season, the regular season suffers. After the implementationhe current system has taken away some of the heat from a lot of the bowl games, since all the attention is given to the Big 4 BCS bowls, and a full 8-16 team playoff system would virtually kill college football as we know it now. How do I know this?

Compare interest in college basketball during the regular season to that of "March Madness". I think in general, college basketball just doesn't generate the heat during their season, which generally means that its not worth watching, so is sort of pointless. It is only the tournament that draws the crowds. With college football, well, there are almost always interesting matchups that have bowl implications, even in week 1, because a single loss, while dampened if early in the season, still affects how things turn out at the end, and that is the interesting part of the sport.

I'd rather have an imperfect solution for the ending of a season if it allowed me and thousands of other football fans the joy of watching a dramatic season where every game was important than having the regular season be essentially meaningless and have to wait 4 months for the real games to begin.

I am prepared to defend my anti-playoff position from anyone who disagrees with me, and I am sure there are people out there who do.

Comments

Angloesque

on Dec 14, 2004

I am prepared to defend my anti-playoff position from anyone who disagrees with me, and I am sure there are people out there who do.

I want to be disagreeable just to make you work your brain, but I guess I just don't care about college football quite enough.

I will say, however, that I'm thrilled Boise State is in a real bowl this year. They have a tremendous team and don't get the recognition they deserve. The guys on ESPN are just cruel to BSU, as if a first-rate team couldn't come from Idaho. Yeah, well, that's what the Pharisees said about Jesus coming from Nazareth. Boy did they get theirs.

-A.

historyishere

on Dec 14, 2004

Well, a lot of good teams from "second-tier" conferences don't get the respect they deserve, but hopefully parity will soon be a reality in college football.

Dr Guy

on Dec 14, 2004

Well, a lot of good teams from "second-tier" conferences don't get the respect they deserve, but hopefully parity will soon be a reality in college football.

I am not going to disagree with you on the playoff system, but will on this. Unlike Basketball (which comes a little closer to parity, but cannot get there), Football just costs too much money. So only the big schools will have the money to get the good players.

Another thing working against football and parity is the weather. Notice that most of the top teams, witht he exception of the big 8 (or what ever it is called now) come from Southern states? What kid wants to freeze his nuts off in Montana in December?

Angloesque

on Dec 14, 2004

What kid wants to freeze his nuts off in Montana in December?

If I were a guy, I'd raise my hand. I'd play football in any weather. Doing it in the cold would make me feel even tougher.

Plus, Montana in December is beautiful. After the game you can go hang out at a hot springs.

-A.

historyishere

on Dec 14, 2004

Team_______________
1. Oklahoma Sooners 591 444 136 11 .761 22 13 1 .625 466 149 12 .753
2. Ohio State Buckeyes 568 427 126 15 .765 15 18 0 .455 442 144 15 .748
3. Nebraska Cornhuskers 595 443 143 9 .752 23 21 0 .523 466 164 9 .736
4. Penn State Nittany Lions 584 424 154 6 .731 23 10 1 .691 447 164 7 .729
5. Michigan Wolverines 574 416 145 13 .736 16 17 0 .485 432 162 13 .722

And its not so balmy in Norman, OK at 30 degrees today.

And since 1936, there have been 47 national champions or co-champions which have come from cold regions, so that argument doesn't hold water.

Texas Wahine

on Jan 04, 2005

Miss you . . . wondering if you're OK?

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!