Recently, I wrote a column bashing Major League Baseball for not expanding its use of instant replay. The idea essentially was that the technology exists and there is no reason to keep screwing up the calls.
College football uses technology — computers — to create a ranking for the Top 25 Bowl Subdivision teams.
Much has been written bashing the BCS, and this includes efforts from me.
But I’m sick of being mad or angry. I’m just plain sick to my stomach over it.
What college football desperately needs is a playoff. Dispute the scope — a plus-one, eight-team or 16-team field — but the bowl system is simply archaic.
The real problem with the BCS is not the system, but rather the implementation of it.
Trying to determine the top teams when you are plucking just a handful from hundreds of squads made up of college students is no easy task.
The BCS, a combination of human and computer polls, is an imperfect formula that has been tweaked over and over but it is the best method to this point.
But trying to fit the BCS into a bowl system so outdated and so absurd is a misuse of its data.
The NCAA uses selection committees to determine its 64-team fields for men’s and women’s college basketball and baseball tournaments. The BCS does essentially the same thing but without the bias of favoring traditional powerhouses with 12 losses.
What the BCS should really be is a ranking system of one through 16, that determines seeds come playoff time. Have the No. 1 team play the No. 16 team and the No. 2 play the No. 15. It would look just like one of the NCAA basketball regionals.
System gives teams no margin for error
College football is the only sport that does two things and both are unforgivable.
First, it demands perfection. It’s hard to even play for the national championship with one loss. Lose in September and you still have a chance, but once again, we are talking about young kids that get so swayed by the emotions of playing in front of thousands of people.
The NFL crowns six-loss, wild card Super Bowl champs. The World Series frequently features wild card- winning teams. The NBA and NHL have 16-team playoffs and neither league features more than 30 teams.
There are 120 NCAA Bowl Subdivision participants and only two square off for the title. The Yankees were scuffling in May, before streaking to MLB’s best record. The Pittsburgh Penguins were in danger of missing the playoffs last season before they rallied to earn a berth and capture the Stanley Cup. The champion is the best team at the end of the year.
Sometimes it takes a while for a team to work things out. This is the sign of a good team. College football allows for no such slip-ups and denies too many good schools — too many worthy schools — a chance to win the championship.
No other sport determines its championship match-up off the field. That’s why the BCS needs to be the guideline for playoff participants, not the convoluted opportunity denier it has been turned into.
As leagues have expanded, so too have their playoff formats. It used to be the winner in each league went straight to the World Series. Now, there are multiple rounds to accommodate the fact that there are more teams now.
College football continues to add more bowls, but continues to make a broken system even worse.
What is even more baffling is that the NCAA of all organizations should know what a great college playoff can mean for the sport.
The college basketball tournament is immensely popular. March Madness brings so much attention to the sport and is such a tremendous spectacle.
The College World Series is the same way. Every year, the eight best teams go to Omaha for two weeks of riveting baseball that is really unrivaled in terms of drama and action.
A 16-team college football playoff could provide much the same spectacle and finally offer a level playing field.
One of the best aspects of the tournament format is the Cinderella. People love rooting for underdogs and nothing is more exciting than when they make a deep run. George Mason did it in college basketball, going to the 2006 Final Four and Fresno State went a step further when it won the College World Series in 2008.
Closing thoughts
College football is stuck in a major conundrum and a playoff is the perfect solution. Every year, the sport has at least one undefeated team from a smaller, less prestigious school that wants a chance to play for the national title.
The voters and the BCS view these schools as sub-standard and deny them that chance. There is serious clamoring for these schools when they pull BCS-bowl upsets like Boise State over Oklahoma and Utah over Alabama.
This year, there are three such squads — Boise, TCU and even Cincinnati. Despite being from the Big East, Cincinnati is still on the outside looking in because the Bearcats aren’t a high-profile team from one of the stronger BCS conferences.
A playoff system is perfect for this issue. Seed these three teams based on their BCS rankings — currently four through six — and if they get knocked out in the first round, they are pretenders; if they can make a deep run, then they prove their worth.
After beating Oklahoma in 2007, Boise State should have had the chance to do it again and win the title. No other sport features so many championship-caliber teams winning their final game.
The NBA recently began a “win or go home” theme for the playoffs. College football, via the BCS and NCAA, need to develop the same mindset. Blame the TV contracts, laud the money involved, say it’s the way it has always been done.
The time for excuses is over. The integrity of the game demands a change.