The BCS Sucks

If, Deserve, Should…

Three words that don’t belong in sports: “If”, “Deserve”, and “Should.” Unfortunately, that’s what we’re left with in D-I college football. For all you poor slobs still unconvinced that a playoff is needed, consider the following:

We here at redrenee.com believe the best solution to eradicating the ridiculous subjectivity in college football is an 8-team playoff, with the first round being played at home for the higher-seeded teams. We don’t speculate what may happen in the remaining games this season, so if the season were to end today, here’s how the seeding would shake out based on the current BCS standings:

# 8 Wisconsin @ # 1 Ohio State # 7 West Virginia @ # 2 Michigan # 6 Arkansas @ # 3 USC # 5 Notre Dame @ # 4 Florida

Wisconsin thinks they’re the best one-loss team, no better way to prove it than to play the # 1 team that they avoided during conference play. West Virginia vs. Michigan- a battle of two immovable forces- West Virginia’s run attack vs. Michigan’s run defense.

Arkansas & USC- a rematch of the early season blowout- this time in SoCal. Notre Dame vs. Florida- If Notre Dame really wants to prove they deserve a shot at the title- go beat the Gators in the Swamp.

Revenue for the first round matchups would be distributed similarly to how it is today, with the home cities getting the added bonus of indirect revenue from hotels, restaurants, tomfoolery, etc.

Second round games would then be played using two of the existing BCS bowl games, in a similar rotating fashion. For argument’s sake, this year’s Fiesta Bowl could feature # 1 Ohio State vs. # 5 Notre Dame and the Sugar Bowl could match up # 2 Michigan and # 3 USC. The Rose Bowl then would host the real 1 vs. 2 championship. The odd man out in this scenario- the Orange Bowl- could take a Louisville v. Auburn matchup or Texas v. Rutgers for a battle of “the best of the rest”.

What about academics you say? Well, I’ve got a college degree, and I’ve even taken some post-graduate classes (money well spent…), without a doubt I believe the dedication, perseverance, ability to perform under pressure, and the confidence you get from playing in a high-profile college football game prepares you as well or better for life than any other class in the course catalog. Yeah- I’m talking to you Presidents of major universities.

You also say that a playoff would dilute the importance of the regular season in college football (like it does in college basketball)?? Well sit down and shut up. First of all, there are 1/3 the number of regular season football games vs. basketball. That alone makes the regular season in college football more significant. It’s like the difference between the MLB draft and the NFL draft. There are 15,000 rounds (or so) in the baseball draft which is (one reason) why no one cares about it. The NFL draft is seven spectacle-filled rounds complete with hotline phones, posses, and enough screaming/booing New York fans to fill a construction job scene on Soprano’s.

Second, as long as you limit the playoff field to 8 teams or less, it will always matter how many games you lose, when you lose and who you lose to.

Third, by adding in home field advantage for the first round of playoffs, it adds yet another incentive to regular season matchups.

There, I solved it. Now if we can just figure out how to make TV awards shows go away…

You’re welcome.