After years and years of refusal, it seems like the powers-that-be in college football might finally be giving the fans what we have been clamoring for for so long. The BCS is one of the most polarizing topics in all of American sports. Some people love it, some people hate it, most want it to be tweaked at least a little bit, and everyone has an opinion on it.
In my opinion, the system usually does a pretty good job of selecting the best two teams to play for the national championship. Even though I would have liked to see Oklahoma State get a shot at LSU this past season, the two best teams in the country were probably Alabama and LSU. This year was abnormal because the two had already played once in the regular season, but they were still, at least in my opinion, the two best teams in the country. What made the game so unsatisfying was that Alabama lost in the regular season and then won the title game, and therefore were crowned as champions. I couldn't help but feel cheated by seeing two teams chosen by a computer as the two best in the country play one another for the title despite not having to go through a playoff system. If LSU and Alabama had to go through a playoff system and then squared off again for the title, it wouldn't have mattered that LSU won the first matchup. Alabama would have won legitimately by beating anyone in their way when it mattered most. Teams like Oklahoma State and Stanford would have had a shot at the title, and if they were beaten by Alabama and LSU, then the two teams would have truly earned their shot at a rematch for the national championship. What was so unsatisfying was the fact that Oklahoma State and Stanford never even had a chance to prove themselves against Alabama or LSU. Despite Alabama, Stanford, and Oklahoma State all having one loss at the end of the regular season, the Cowboys and the Cardinal got passed over because of the computer rankings, and instead we got a rematch of a game we had already seen.
It would be like giving the two teams with the best record from each sport a pass directly into the title game without them having to even go through a postseason. It allows for no margin of error at all in the regular season. Of the four major professional American sports, none of the defending champions were an overall #1 seed. The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants were wild card teams, and the Boston Bruins and Dallas Mavericks were #3 seeds. The Kentucky Wildcats were the overall #1 seed in NCAA basketball this past season and they won the title, but they had to go through a 68 team tournament, in which they came out on top. Therefore they proved, without question, that they were the best team in the country. The biggest problem with the BCS is that it leaves far too much room for doubt. Aside from the fact that the "non-automatic qualifying" conference teams have realistically no shot at playing for the title (sorry, Boise State), even top teams in top conferences don't all have legitimate chances to prove themselves.
The biggest reason that this playoff system has not been already implemented is money. The four BCS bowls (Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar), want the best teams they can get to play in their games, therefore optimizing their profit. The fact that there is now a BCS championship game, along with those four major bowls, was hard enough to implement. Now those four major bowls are guaranteed no chance of their games directly impacting the national championship. Add that to the fact that there now needs to be two extra teams included in the four major bowls (to make up for the two they lose to the BCS title game), and the profit made from those four games drops considerably.
What this newly proposed system will do can solve that problem though. The BCS championship game will still exist, but now those four major bowls will rotate as the hosts of semifinal game sites each year. One year, the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl might be the site for the two semifinal games. The next year the two semifinal games would be played at the sites of the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl. These games would still feature the top teams in the country, but they would also now have a direct impact upon the national championship. If this past year Alabama had to play Oklahoma State in the Rose Bowl and Stanford had to play LSU in the Fiesta Bowl, the interest in the games would without question be higher, and the games would have produced much more money. Everyone involved would be better off. More teams would get a shot to play for the title, the bowls would make more money, and the fans would be happier and more satisfied at the end of the season.
I still think that there should be an eight team playoff instead of a four team system, but at least this is a good start. The best teams would get a legitimate shot at the title. The smaller bowls would still exist for the teams outside the top four (or eventually, hopefully, eight), so those schools and bowls could still make money as well. I don't see much of a downside to this new system. Detractors say that adding an extra game to the schedule would put the athletes in jeopardy, but there is already a break of almost one month between the regular season finale and the title game anyway, so there would be plenty of time to play an extra game and recover by the time the title game comes around.
It took far longer for these steps to finally be taken than it should have, but at least the wheels seem to be in motion for a start. As I said before, this new system will be better for everyone involved. The best part of the college basketball season is the tournament. While football could never have a tournament close to as big as the basketball tournament, and it wouldn't need to, some sort of playoff system would lead to a more satisfying end to each season, and it seems like we are headed in that direction, even if it is coming along at a snail's pace.
Daily Rangers Update: Game 7 last night was great. Exciting down to the end, a lot of great hockey, and most importantly, a win for the Rangers! Now it's on to the second round to face the Capitals. Game 1 is tomorrow at 3:00 at Madison Square Garden, so hopefully the momentum from last night carries right into the new series. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The off-day yesterday seemed like a good thing. The offense has banged out 14 hits so far tonight in Miami and Joe Saunders has been brilliant. Three more outs to get and we start the road trip off with a win,
Daily Giants Update: We got David Wilson last night in the first round to bolster the depth at running back, and Rueben Randle tonight to bolster the depth at wide receiver. Doug Martin went one spot before Wilson, and I would have loved to have gotten Martin, but Wilson was graded pretty highly. Randle is big and we needed a wideout following Mario Manningham's departure. I still would like to see us get help along the offensive line, but there are still five rounds to go and Jerry Reese has a history of drafting well, so he has done more than enough to earn the benefit of the doubt.
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