Originally published on Facebook, 12/13/2009
The end is nigh. The players have been given their awards, teams sorted into their respective bowls and inevitably, sportswriters across the country have erupted into an orgy of loathing at the final results delivered to us by the system everyone loves to hate, the Bowl Championship System or BCS. It's worth noting that since the BCS television contract runs through about 2014, I think, this years orgy of loathing is tiresome. In fact, it's fast becoming cliché and you're starting to see a new split emerge in the debate- the haters remain strong, the lovers of the BCS (all two of them) remain stalwart and now we have the jaded cynics emerging, recognizing that the BCS is more about money than sport and recognizing again that fans and common sense rarely, if ever, triumph over entrenched monetary interests- not just in sports, but all over the place.
Yet the hatred continues. Apart from 'Around the Horn' regular Tim Cowlishaw (who is mocked ceaselessly by his counterparts for his BCS love) and former Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer (currently pimping the BCS to all and sundry, carefully explaining to everyone why it's a good thing. Though if you worked for Bush The Younger, defending the inexplicable, indefensible and downright illogical must come easy to you by now.) I can't think of anyone who loves the BCS. In fact no less an authority than the House Energy and Commerce Committee just this last week passed a bill calling for the BCS to be replaced with a playoff system-- though why they weren't, you know, minding the people's business at the time is another note entirely- and even the President, in one of the few sensible things he's said thus far has come out against the BCS.
Everyone hates it. Yet it persists- and even with a television contract until 2014, there's been no real movement to change it, which naturally begs the question: why not?
The problem is the Bowl System itself. There is a lot of history in the Bowls, teams that know from day 1 they probably won't be playing for the national title (because they're not in the SEC, lol) have something to play for and the classic bowls like the Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar have a long history embedded in the sport of college football itself. A playoff system, although sexy and logical for actually letting play on the field decide the national title would effectively be the end of the Bowl System. And conferences aside- money-grubbing university athletic departments aside, the Bowls themselves pack a powerful punch. They can pay out a lot of money to teams and therefore, schools and thus have 'heft' and will fight tooth and nail to avoid being replaced by a playoff.
However, a blindingly sexy solution came to me recently and I thought it was worth sharing with everyone: why not have your cake and eat it too?
What do I mean by this- well, why not have an 8 team playoff and the Bowls can take the best of the rest. This has the virtue of giving teams something to aim for throughout the season (if they get in the top 8, they get a shot at the title)-- it limits the number of extra games teams would have to prep for and play- (current season plus potentially 2-3 more) and keeps the playoff limited to truly the cream of college football's crop-- while still allowing teams who put together genuinely good seasons to reap the rewards of playing in a Bowl Game. The 'Elite 8 Playoff' could take place over the course of December and into early January, so the National Title Game could be timed to come at the end of the Bowl slate like it does now- the BCS and conferences across the country could create the system, market the system and make money off the system AND the bowl games, which means more money for the greedy bastards- and college football fans would get a playoff plus the Bowl traditions they know and love.
So what would my 'have your cake and eat it too' system look like this year? Well, let's look at the pairings for the 'Elite 8 Playoff' plus the usual BCS Bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange) and see what we get:
The Elite 8 Playoff
1. Alabama v. 8. Ohio State (played at high seed)
2. Texas v. 7. Oregon
3. Cincy v. 6. Boise State
4. TCU v. 5. Florida
Winner of Game 1 v. Winner of Game 3
Winner of Game 2 v. Winner of Game 4
National Title Game!
The Bowls
Rose: Iowa v. Arizona (vy. sexy rematch!)
Fiesta: Nebraska v. At Large
Orange: Georgia Tech v. At Large
Sugar: LSU v. At Large
The more I look at this, the more I like it-- it has the virtue of establishing a playoff system for the national title, while preserving the Bowl System for, as I said, what would be 'The Best of The Rest'-- there are so many teams in Division 1 and such a tradition with the Bowls it'd be a shame to discard all that for a huge bloated playoff system. Good teams deserve to have something to play for as well- let the great teams make a run at the national title. The good teams can take the Bowls and work hard next season to break into that Top 8.
Instead of the tiresome debate, people should get creative with this- and more to the point, sportswriters should know better than to recycle the same tired talking points about the BCS that they write about every year. Propose solutions, start a petition and get the conversation moving somewhere useful- anything to avoid being another yearly sports cliché.
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