Dear BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock,
I am not writing this letter as an angry, homer fan whose team was slighted out of a chance at a title. I am writing this as an angry fan of college football and sports in general. As a devoted sports fan I live for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NBA finals, the Super Bowl, the World Series, and especially your collegiate counterpart, March Madness. There is a glaring hole on this list though, the sport that consumes my Saturdays, college football, has not been included. However my concerns don’t lie with the game itself, I think college football is as competitive as it has ever been, my concerns lie with its postseason system the BCS. I understand that the BCS is designed to pit the upper echelon teams against each other in an epic one game, winner take all scenario, but the system to often leaves discrepancies at the end. If the season worked out perfectly and there were two teams with the best record and no other competition, then the system would work perfectly. But what happens if there are three or perhaps four teams at season’s end with identical records? Despite this fundamental flaw in the system, I am not writing this letter to try and persuade you to dump the system totally and go to a playoff. I have abandoned that hope as a pipe dream. I realize that the money tied into these blockbuster bowl games is far too big to be changed. Bias is what I would like to eliminate from this system, and in turn make this system better than what it currently is. If you are going to use a system that only allows two teams to play for the coveted championship trophy, than everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve that goal. Two things need to happen in order to eliminate or at least diminish the bias in the BCS system today:
Preseason rankings need to be eliminated- Preseason rankings negate almost any chance of a true cinderella run to the championship. Teams like Boise State, TCU, and even Utah are not given the chance to make an improbable run as Butler did in 2009 season, and George Mason did in 2006 on the collegiate hardwood. Since 2000, Boise State and TCU have combined for 207 wins while Ohio State and USC combined for 204, three wins may not seem like a large difference until you look at the five nothing advantage USC and Ohio State hold in the title appearance department. Bottom line, if you start outside the top fifteen you have slim chances at a title berth, outside the top twenty five and I wouldn’t bet on it, but if you come from a mid-major conference you can forget about it. That doesn’t seem right to me. If you win you deserve a shot to win it all. I guess that isn’t as simple as it seems.
Eliminate automatic bids for “power” conferences-Two words. Pittsburgh Panthers. This six and five Pitt Panther team is on the verge of clinching a berth into a marquee matchup with an opponent that is most likely eleven and one or ten and two by season’s end. I don’t think I am the only one that will not even bother watching this game. So much for ratings. I want to watch the ten best team’s play in the five best games at the end of the year. It seems that simple. Why should Pitt get to play in a primetime matchup because they come from a supposedly reputable Big East conference? One look at the standings will show you the Big East is anything but reputable. A team like Michigan State, or even Oklahoma could be demoted to a lesser bowl game despite having an overwhelming advantage in the win department. I hate to repeat myself, but that doesn’t seem right to me.
In your thirteen years as Director of what devoted fans call March Madness, you had the privilege of witnessing the improbable run by George Mason. That run was made possible by a system that makes sense for how it’s game is structured. I don’t propose ditching the system, just to clean it up a bit. Play the bowl games, make your money, but make sure the ten best teams get to the games they have earned. Isn’t that what it is all about?
Sincerely,
Ian Hanford
Devoted sports fan and advocate of improbable playoff teams
What about like an 8 team play off? Keep the bowls, work it so that the playoff games or at least the finals are played int he major bowls and continue to rotate the national championship between the major bowl games. You could still have all your other bowl games too for the teams that aren't in the top 8. The bowl system remains intact and there is still a boat load of money to be made, in fact with the extra games there is even more money to be made. More bowls could be created for playoffs or the games could be played at the schools in the playoffs or even a combination.
ReplyDeleteCaleb I couldn't agree more. There really is no reason the bcs committee couldn't make that happen. They are stubborn and look down upon change as most sports authorities do, look at instant replay in baseball. The money really is what it is all about for them but anyone that takes a look at the curtesy system can see that there are ways to change the system and still maintain it as the moneymaker it is for everyone involved. Your idea would work but I suspect the bcs would think it's to big of a change and way to much work would be required to make it happen. Sad but true
ReplyDeleteCurrent system...Not curtesy. Blame the iPhone
ReplyDelete