BCS Madness

You might want to get to know the BCS. Because it isn't going away anytime soon.

The popularity, glitz, and glamor of the Florida Gator's and the Oklahoma Sooner's BCS Championship game yesterday proved that the BCS is going strong and will not be stopped by the critics and detractors. Yet what is most disheartening is that the game itself showed that NOW is the time to scrap the ineffective system.

The game itself was a disaster for most fans. Both defenses, much maligned and believed to be incapable of stopping the other team's high-powered offense, severely outplayed their offensive counterparts. Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford threw two interceptions each, not quite the Heisman-caliber performances we would expect from two Heisman winners. The Sooners' high-powered offense, which averaged nearly 60 points per game during the season, was held to a measly 14 points. Not that the Gators did much better, as they were held to 24 points by a mediocre Oklahoma defense. The game was not even worth watching until the fourth quarter, when Tebow led a heroic fourth-quarter drive that culminated in his signiture jump-pass for a touchdown to ice the game. But other than that drive and the game's overall impact on Tebow's legendary legacy, this was quite an average game in which neither team performed well.

Which brings us to the complete and utter failure of the BCS. First of all, holding the Championship game nearly a full month after the end of the regular season hurts the quality of play in the game; indeed both teams seemed sluggish and sloppy in the first two quarters of the game. Secondly, the lackluster nature of the game brings up a major, legitimate idea: that Utah, USC, or Texas could have easily replaced either one of the teams and created a better match-up. That Utah, the only undefeated team in the nation, deserved to be in the title game.

So, why do we still have the BCS anyways? I don't want it, you don't want it, and Barack Obama doesn't want it. But the people who matter really, really want to make sure it doesn't go away. These people, athletic directors and conference commisioners and news corporation owners, want to keep the BCS for one major reason: it makes them money. Boatloads of money.

This is undeniable; the BCS is certainly a cash cow. From the television network money that trickles down to different college conferences to the large checks that colleges earn for just participating in the games, the BCS turns college sports into a high stakes business with millions of dollars on the table. Not to mention the money that is made off of publicity, mostly generated by people who want to abolish the BCS. Even when we try to fight the system, we still end up helping it out.

However, in order to cover up the obvious money-centric motives behind the BCS, the men at the top of the game have just one measly excuse for the travesty of the system: it turns every regular season game into a playoff game. Uh-huh, right. If that were true, Utah would be in the national championship game. Why? Because they went un-freakin'-defeated. No losses. Nada. Zip. Zilch. How many other languages do you need? The fact of the matter is, even when you try and cover the BCS, you still end up uncovering its dirty little secrets.

So, what should we do about the BCS? Despite all of the talk about adding another bowl game to the BCS in order to include more teams, I have to agree with President-elect Obama on this matter: it has to be a playoff system or bust. This is what I propose: 8 teams, no limitations on conference or strength of schedule, seven games (total to decide a national championship, and scrap the uselessness that is called a "conference championship". Essentially, the 8 best records at the end of the year get into the tournament. I don't care if Hawaii gets into the playoffs over Alabama, if they have the better record, they deserve it. From there, the best team will be determined by seeding the teams and playing out games until one team stands, a la March Madness.

Yeah so you're going to have to play three extra weeks after the season ends to win the championship. Cry me a river. Yes this does mean that college football season will go a little bit longer than usual. But, it also will bring a whole new level of buzz to the game. America's favorite sport in America's favorite format. We would have college footbal bracket tourneys, the bookies in Vegas would go crazy, the big guys at the top would still get their money, and all of the annoying little reporters like me would achieve a level of happiness. It is a win-win-win-win situation.

But, alas, it isn't going to happen anytime soon. ESPN just locked the BCS up to a contract for the next three years, meaning we won't be able to bask in the presence of a true national champion in college football until that contract runs out. Until then, let's just hope and pray that common sense and business sense will win a battle against truckloads upon truckloads of cash. If history is any indicator, well...then...we're screwed.