The Coming Storm

Great storm clouds billow and broil on the horizon. From the swamps of Florida to the coal mines of Pennsylvania to the oil fields of Texas a great tempest is upon us all. The great national nightmare has returned to haunt the dreams of Americans once more. PLUS, there is an election tomorrow which could prove to be of some interest!

The great disaster which will soon strike our nation has terrorized us for years with visions of dreams unrealized and truths unrevealed. Indeed, the horror of which I write is none other than the Bowl Championship Series of college football. Football is passionately followed by untold millions in America and across the globe (Canada, too). In my opinion, college football fans are the most passionate because of the close ties people develop with the schools they attend. Furthermore, the regional nature of conferences and rivalries brings out a spirit of competition that hearkens back to the days of pre-federal government. That silliness aside, these fans, schools, conferences, leagues and entertainment networks have instituted the most nonsensical and unjust system to determine the best team in the land.

Outside of the FBS (formerly known as Division I) denomination of NCAA football teams, champions are decided through a playoff or tournament system. Furthermore, all of the other major college sports (basketball, ice hockey, etc.) also determine national championships through tournaments or playoffs. All of the major professional sports leagues also decide their champions through playoff systems. The BCS system was put into place to assert some form of legitimacy to the random national championship awarded to the winner of one of the major bowl games at the end of the season. Some computers and supposed experts vote on the best 25 teams in the FBS subdivision of NCAA football and the top two teams at the end of the season play each other for the national championship. As a result, the bowl games maintained an air of tradition (which I admit is of some value), the regular season games maintain their importance (also a good thing), the student-athletes get to maintain their focus on studies (*rolls eyes*), and the entertainment networks and corporate sponsors get to fatten their cash cow bowl games through sponsorship and intense controversy. Unfortunately, the victims of this ridiculous system are the legitimacy of any national champion and the fans.

So, back to this impending doom thing. I guess I am over-hyping this whole situation, but I feel the need to fight fire with fire and I don't want to have to do another BCS rant post. This happens every year and it is going to happen once again. More than one team is likely going to be eligible for the national championship game based on a number of factors. These factors, of various legitimacy, include: number of losses, late season losses, quality of schedule, relative conference strength, recent team/conference bowl records, most recent victory (teams that play weeks after others have complete equally lengthy seasons hold significant advantages). In the current situation, rumors are swirling that an undefeated Penn State team could get snubbed by a one loss SEC team, Big 12 team, or, God forbid, USC. Granted, there is still a lot of football left to be played, but the fact that this situation is even remotely possible is unacceptable.



I'll admit that I have my own opinion on the Penn State snub hypothetical. I believe that any undefeated team from one of the BCS conferences is deserving of national championship consideration over ANY one-loss team, regardless of the circumstance. If the BCS is supposed to turn every regular season game into a playoff game equivalent, then one loss is damning evidence of inferiority. This situation is irrefutable simply because it is the nature of this BCS god that we worship before the altar of commercialized football.

The only way to restore common sense and legitimacy to college football is to implement a playoff or tournament. I care little for how it's done, aside from the fact that we would need, at least, an 8-team playoff to preserve the current bowl system.


Here's one potential solution that include all of the FBS conferences.

I would make only one request: create a major bowl game that is held at a northern site. I want to see how SEC, Big 12 and Pac 10 schools deal with a "neutral site" game away from their home stadiums in the balmy south and west. Let's see how the Floridas, USCs and Texases deal with a game at Soldier Field in January.


Yeah, they'll probably have to take down that ski jump for the game.

Update:

Barack Obama just endorsed a college football playoff system on the Monday Night Football halftime show! If that doesn't put some momentum behind the Revolution to Overthrow the BCS, then I doubt anything will. John McCain wants to stop the use of performance-enhancing drugs. A good answer, indeed, but a better one would be to address the third great sin of American sports: the goal line trapezoid in NHL hockey!


"WTF" indeed...