Sack the BCS is a web site where you can give your input to the NCAA about getting rid of the BCS and coming up with a playoff system for Division IA college football. (HT: My Opinion On Sports)
Nice idea, but very very wrong.
Here's their reasons for wanting to sack the BCS:
- There are too many deserving teams - year after year there are 3 to 4 other teams that realistically deserve a shot at the national title. A playoff system would allow the teams to play for the championship on the field.
- The ONLY sport that doesn't have a playoff - College Football Division I-A is the only college sport that doesn't have a playoff system to decide the nation champion. The other college football divisions of Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III all have a playoff system.
- Fans want it - there is wide public opposition to the current BCS system. Fans are getting frustrated with the lack of fairness with the BCS beauty pageant.
- It shouldn't be about the money
We've already covered the idea that unless it's done properly, a playoff would be a total disaster. I have yet to see someone come up with a system that doesn't somehow involve the existing bowls.
Some would say that Division IA football is unique (and make some excellent points) because of the fact that we don't have a playoff system, that this means the bowl games mean more. I like the bowl system for one simple reason - it provides us with MORE college football, not less (more on this in a later article).
It's too bad that more people don't pay more attention to how the other divisional playoff systems work instead of just using them as an example.
Post-season Division IA play isn't about satisfying the egos of college football fans, either. This isn't the NFL, and it's not Division II or III. The requirements to play at Division IA are massive, and a playoff adds to those requirements for kids that are students first, athletes second. If you don't like that, give up on college football and watch the NFL.
It shouldn't be about the money.... and we should all try to get along in peaceful harmony, regardless of race, religion and size doesn't matter. Money makes the world go around, whether you want to admit it or not. Steve Spurrier got a half million dollar raise because someone mentioned him coaching at Miami - the money for that doesn't just fall from the sky. I know that some wish they were in an alternate reality, you have to deal with the real world. It is about the money, not entirely, but money is a huge factor. It's why the bowls exist - because the universities have negotiated contracts with the bowls.
The biggest problem with "Sack the BCS" site is the fact that University presidents and chancellors - are the people who control what happens in post-season NCAA Division IA football. (NOT the NCAA, folks, the NCAA has nothing to do with post-season play.)
You want to sack the BCS? Come up with a different reason and direct it at the right people, not the NCAA. Maybe you could go set yourself on fire at an annual meeting of the University presidents, that would certainly bring some media attention.
Sack the BCS's proposal for a playoff is as follows:
Conference Champion System
- The top five conference champions would receive automatic bids and the next top three teams, according to the BCS rankings, would receive the remaining three bids.
Top 8 BCS teams
- The regular season would end on Thanksgiving Weekend
- There would be an 8 team playoff
- The 8 teams would be chosen using the BCS model
- The games would be played at neutral locations and could be former bowl game sites
There's a wonderful contradiction at work here. The regular season ending on Thanksgiving weekend implies that Conference Championship Games would be eliminated. Instead, we'll be choosing conference champions the way that the Pac-10 and Big 10 choose their conference champions where the two best teams in the conference may or may not play each other, depending upon the season. That sounds contradictory to the emphasis on having a playoff, doesn't it?
Insert here the argument that if we had an eight team playoff that the ninth team would be screwed, and we'd all be complaining about that instead. Fans need to decide whether or not the purpose of a playoff system is to decide who has best team OR just crown a champion. If you want to crown a champion, have a playoff but don't kid yourself that the best team may emerge.
The games would be played at neutral locations and could be former bowl game sites? What is it with those that want a playoff that continue to patronize the existing bowl system? Do away with the concept of bowl locations for the teams in the playoffs if you're proposing a new playoff system, please.
Sack the BCS is a popular theme, perhaps set up with the best of intentions in made. Unfortunately, it won't make much difference. If you want a change, college football fans must focus on the people who run the system.