The BCS
It is college bowl season once again and that means it is time to talk about the BCS. It works this way, 90% of sports writers and commentators talk about how the system is broken and how the fix is easy. The other 10% think that the system is just fine. I am in neither of those camps. I am in the camp that says that the system is broken and the fix is not easy.
The problem with the current college championship is that the field is not fair. There are so many teams, and so few games that can be played, and that is what keeps the from a real championship from being played. Most people say that there needs to be a "Plus One" Four team playoff or an eight team tournament.
Right now there are two official NCAA Division one subdivisions, The Championship Subdivision, Also known as the old division I-AA, and the Bowl Subdivision also known as old division I-A. The big schools like Florida, Penn State, Ohio State, USC, Cal and Stanford are all Division One Bowl Subdivision schools.
On top of that there is a second sub grouping within the Bowl Subdivision, The BCS conferences and the non BCS conferences. There are three different groups of teams for two different championships. That is kind of screwed up. The non-BCS have no reliable way to win the championship. Even if they are the only team that goes undefeated there is no guarantee they will get to play in a Championship. The problem is that even if a playoff is started, there is still no guarantee a non-BCS school will get the chance to play for the title.
I think that many of these issues can be handled. The question is how do you want to handle them and what your goals are. Is the point to find the best college football team in the land? Is the point to find the the team who had the best season? Is the point to be fair to all the teams who compete? It seems like the point of the current BCS is to keep the big schools happy.
If I was the king of College Football here is what I do would do.
Make 8 BCS conferences. I would keep the six that are already there and add the WAC and the Mountain West. All off the rest of the conferences would go down to the Championship Subdivision.
I would make all conferences have 14 teams. They would all have two divisions. This would reduce the number of teams that would be demoted to to the Championship Subdivision.
BCS teams could only play other BCS teams. No more playing the Smaller Schools for extra home games. I think using games to play teams like Troy, Western Michigan or Florida International. I would add challenge series where the teams of the same level in other conferences. Like the third place team in the Big East will play the third place team of the PAC 10
All conferences would have a conference title game. If a team does not win their title game, they cannot get into the playoffs. Even if every other team has two losses and you have only one loss that is your conference title game, you lost the wrong game. You will not have a title.
At the end of the year have an eight team tournament and bowl games.
I know all of this is crazy, but it would really fix what is wrong with college football. I think it would make for better college football in the long run. There would still be more things to fix, but it is a good start.
The problem with the current college championship is that the field is not fair. There are so many teams, and so few games that can be played, and that is what keeps the from a real championship from being played. Most people say that there needs to be a "Plus One" Four team playoff or an eight team tournament.
Right now there are two official NCAA Division one subdivisions, The Championship Subdivision, Also known as the old division I-AA, and the Bowl Subdivision also known as old division I-A. The big schools like Florida, Penn State, Ohio State, USC, Cal and Stanford are all Division One Bowl Subdivision schools.
On top of that there is a second sub grouping within the Bowl Subdivision, The BCS conferences and the non BCS conferences. There are three different groups of teams for two different championships. That is kind of screwed up. The non-BCS have no reliable way to win the championship. Even if they are the only team that goes undefeated there is no guarantee they will get to play in a Championship. The problem is that even if a playoff is started, there is still no guarantee a non-BCS school will get the chance to play for the title.
I think that many of these issues can be handled. The question is how do you want to handle them and what your goals are. Is the point to find the best college football team in the land? Is the point to find the the team who had the best season? Is the point to be fair to all the teams who compete? It seems like the point of the current BCS is to keep the big schools happy.
If I was the king of College Football here is what I do would do.
I know all of this is crazy, but it would really fix what is wrong with college football. I think it would make for better college football in the long run. There would still be more things to fix, but it is a good start.
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