Playoffs vs BCS - A College Football Fight!
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (12-21-12)
Before you jump right into your crazy ideas about college football let me just say something. You will like this since I kind of just agree with you. The NBA and NHL regular seasons are for diehards and the NFL regular season is worrisome, etc, etc. I'm not particularly concerned, so there.
DAN:
DAN:
So, like I was saying, a four team playoff actually makes the college football regular season better. The BCS itself is a unique and special creation, yet I still feel like its missing something. I think the pros of this unique system fail to outweigh the cons of its outcome. Sure, the regular season is extremely meaningful, but with only ten or eleven games on the schedule this will always be true. With the BCS system, a single loss basically removes you from the national title picture, unless luck falls your way and someone else on top loses too. As a fan I hate this. One stinking loss and your team can't be the champion? I cry foul.
I get that the computers determine the best two teams based on everything and numbers and such, but its not that simple. You know what is simple, a four team playoff! Keep it at four and I'm very, very happy. The regular season is no less meaningful, as you still need to win nearly every game to finish in the top four. But now the arbitrary ranking is no longer the be all, end all. The top four teams are always really, really good, but most don't play each other during the regular season outside of the SEC. With the four team playoff we now get even better college football around New Years day, without losing what is already great about the sport, its regular season. Win, win!
I'm kind of afraid it might not end there, but I'm psyched to evolve away from the two team computer pick into a four team battle for the title.
When the four-team playoff first hit news cycles I was on the side of expanding that to eight teams. Why stop at four? Right off the bat, it seemed like four teams was pointless; either stick with the BCS or go to a playoff with an amount of teams that will make a difference. But since then, I have reversed course. I know, its not normally my style but I can evolve too. I actually agree with you; a four-team playoff seems ideal for college football. It keeps the sanctity of the regular season in tact, while also adding the excitement of the playoffs where more than two teams have a chance to win.
With the recent release of the 2012-2013 bowl schedule, the playoffs cannot come soon enough. Now please! This year's batch of BCS bowls is dreadful. With the exception of the National Championship, every other BCS bowl leaves something to be desired or contains a team who really isn't that good. Even Oregon's match against Kansas State (which seemed like a possible title game pairing rather recently) now seems like it could be a blowout in favor of the Ducks. Boring to say the least.
Unfortunately for college football fans and the NCAA, this season unraveled oddly. The playoffs would have probably contained Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida and Oregon. This would have been delightful and certainly more fun than what the BCS bowls are giving us. But the end of season failures by teams like Kansas State and Oregon, and the way things played out for Georgia, soured the season a little anyways no matter how the champion would be decided.
Slightly tangential, but that's my thing, let's hope Notre Dame loses in the title game, leaving Ohio State as the lone undefeated team, and enough Associated Press voters put the Buckeyes number one so we have a split national championship. Controversy! That seems like a fitting end to this season and a nice precursor for the playoff entrance after next season. I can't wait.
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