NCAA Football Playoff System

And the Fans Go Wild

By: Lane Alo

One of my fondest memories growing up was filling out March Madness brackets for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. I remember spending countless hours trying to figure out which low seeded cinderella teams would upset the NCAA giants and shock the nation. Having been raised in the middle of ACC country, which is a predominant conference among Division I college basketball, I recall the rivalry and playful banter between all the students at my high school and even many of the teachers whose alma maters made it to the tournament those years. Having said all of that, how great would it be to have a NCAA football tournament instead of the BCS bowl system, similar to the kind NCAA men’s basketball currently has? This is one of the biggest arguments in all of collegiate sports right now, whether or not college football should go to a playoff system or continue with its current Bowl Champion Series. Countless experts and fans have voiced their opinions concerning the matter and while both sides have argued very valid points, the fact is, a playoff system would be much more exciting to its fans and truly determine a national champion.

The Bowl Champion Series, more commonly known as the BCS, is a selection system that was created in 1998. In theory, the BCS is used to choose 10 of the top ranked teams among NCAA Division I schools in the nation, and give those schools the opportunity to play one other school selected to determine the winner of the bowl game. It “works” by calculating a series of mathematical equations that draw from the Harris Interactive Poll, the Coaches Poll, and an average of six different computers which calculate a series of statistics. Many argue that this type of system creates more excitement throughout the entire football season, making the outcome of every regular season game more detrimental to their postseason, and while it does, the pros do not outweigh the cons. The process currently used is complex and leaves a lot of room for error such as completely hypothetical rankings that do not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing who the best college football team really is in the nation. It would be like deciding who's going to win a game of tic-tac-toe between two people by evaluating your IQ, problems solving ability, and your past experience, without actually letting you play. That in essence is what is happening in NCAA Division I football right now and it is an injustice to the fans and the universities involved.

This past season, 2010-2011, is a perfect example of how the BCS can be unmerited and not select the best teams to be in a BCS bowl game because of faulty computer calculations. For example the University of Connecticut finished their regular season with a record of 8 wins and 4 loses, which by no means constitutes as a bad season, but their win/loss record also does not deserve an appearance in a BCS game while teams from smaller conferences, have amazing seasons and never have the opportunity to play in a large bowl game. The fact of the matter is, UConn did not even finish in the top 25 in the nation. The result of the BSC system allowed an unranked team who had a mediocre season to play in a BCS game while dozens of other schools never had a chance. One contributing factor in the system that allowed UConn to play in one of this past year’s BCS games was because of the conference they belong to, the Big East. The BCS has decided that six of eleven total conferences are “automatic qualifiers” which means that the conference champion of one of those six BCS conferences will automatically play in one of the BCS bowls. While that might seem like a fair proposition, when one of those conferences has an off year like this past season in the Big East, many teams in the “non BCS” conferences, like The University of Nevada and Boise State University, get the shaft after amazing seasons and big wins against very good BCS teams.

Another prime example of how the BCS system is problematic was the outcome of the 2004 season. The National Championship game was played between Louisiana State University and Oklahoma University despite the fact that the University of Southern California at the time was ranked number one in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Poll. While Oklahoma was defeated by LSU, the season ended in controversy because USC still finished number one in the polls even though they did not play in the National Championship game. So essentially, a team that did not even play won the game. During that same year, five other teams finished the regular season undefeated, yet only two were able to play for the National Championship game, leaving a lot of “what if” scenarios out on the table.

Besides the fact that the BCS is ineffective in determining the best team in college football, it also is less entertaining to the spectators than a playoff system. While there are obviously many other motives to take into consideration like making money and drawing potential students to a university, the number one priority should always be to please the fans and the current system does not do that. At the end of the season, if your team is lucky enough to make it to a bowl game, all you know in the end is that they are able to beat that one team they faced. How thrilling would it be, to know that your team is the undisputed champion? That is what a playoff system would accomplish, hand the championship title to the university that really deserves it.

While tradition is an important aspect of sports, so is entertainment and unveiling the true champion. College football is definitely no exception to that rule. Just recently the president of Nascar, Mike Helton, said during a press conference, “But everybody, including NASCAR, in every form of entertainment, every form of sports, has to keep working on elements to stay relevant and to grow and to maintain, I guess, its opportunity against a changing marketplace or a changing environment or a changing generation”. (NASCAR) For years we have seen all the defects of the BCS system yet nothing has been done to change it. Everyone, from the humblest fan to the greatest college football coaches has demanded modifications, yet we do not see them. If NCAA football is to stay relevant, changes must be made and a playoff system would not only fix the current problems within college football, but also make the post-season a lot more exhilarating to watch for everybody.

Works Cited

Helton, Mike. “NASCAR 2011 Media Tour Competition Announcement.” Daytona Beach, Florida. 26 Jan. 2011. Press Conference.