Wanted: A rational discussion about a playoff
I know this may be asking for a lot but I’m going to do it anyway. Could we PLEASE have a serious, rational, logical discussion on whether or not there should be some kind of playoff in Division I-A football?
This much is clear: We are sure as hell not going to get that kind of discussion out of Congress.
I was out of town last Friday but I monitored the Congressional hearings on the BCS. What I expected were members of Congress asking thoughtful, probing but tough questions in order increase their understanding of the BCS. Challenging the current structure with hard-edged questioning is what these hearings were intended to do. I get that. I accept that. That is what should happen.
As it turned out, my expectations for the hearings were way too high.
Instead of a serious discussion about post-season college football, what we got was Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) auditioning for Jay Leno’s job.
“This is really the Bowl Exhibition System,” he said. “Or it should just drop the ‘C.’ Call it the BS System.”
Insert rim shot here. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Barton will be appearing at the Foggy Bottom Lounge all week with a matinee show on Wednesday. Don’t forget to tip your waiters and drive home safely.
Or this one: “It’s (the BCS) is like communism. You can’t fix it. It’s not fixable. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to try a new model.”
Man that had us rolling in the aisles.
Whether or not you want a college football playoff, and a lot of good people are for it, do you want it so badly that college football will be forced to do it at the point of a legislative gun? And do you want somebody like Joe Barton, the King of Comedy, holding that gun?
Here are some facts that the honorable Mr. Barton from the great state of Texas did not take into account before his Comedy Central audition last Friday:
Only a few Division I-A presidents are backing the idea an eight-team playoff. That could change but right now that is simply a fact. Are you telling me that Congress is going to mandate that the CEOs of major educational institutions in this country are going to be forced to take part in a process that they oppose on academic and philosophical grounds? Are you telling me that this will happen simply because Congress wants to satisfy a bunch of college football fans? Colleges and universities aren’t General Motors—at least not yet.
Any time the government forces its way into the private sector there are going to be unintended consequences. Even its critics have to admit that from a pure business standpoint the BCS worked and drove up the value of post-season football because it was market driven. In the 11 years of the BCS the biggest bowls have gone from paying $5 million per team to over $18 million per team, per year. Yes, only six of the 11 Division I-A conferences got automatic bids because that is what the market place dictated. Yes, the BCS had to be pressed into giving greater access to the non-BCS conferences. They did that by creating another game and guaranteeing a spot for any Coalition team that finishes in the Top 12. In a short amount of time the Coalition conferences have gone from zero BCS dollars to over $18 million each year when a team qualifies. The Coalition has gotten that total four of the past five years.
If you artificially change the market place out of a sense of “fairness,” whatever that term means, then the value of the product will be reduced. Some people are fine with that because they want what they want and damn the consequences. They have the luxury of feeling that way because they don’t have to LIVE with the consequences. If you are trying to balance a $60 million athletics budget, you look at life a little differently.
I don’t buy the idea that a playoff would put all of the bowls out of business. I do believe there would be fewer sponsorship dollars available for those bowls if there were an eight-team playoff. That just makes common sense because a lot of businesses would want their sponsorship dollars in the playoff. So you know some bowls would fall along the way.
Again, my beef is not with the potential results, but with the process. I am in favor of a four-team playoff because it is the next logical step in the evolution of post-season football. Until 1992 there was no guarantee that No. 1 and No. 2, regardless of how they were determined, would even play. Georgia Tech won a UPI national championship in 1990 by playing No. 19 Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl. In 1984 BYU won a national championship by beating 6-5 Michigan 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl. So the current system, while flawed, is light years better than what we had.
A four-team playoff would be the least disruptive and provide college football fans with a more definitive national championship game. I also favor further expanding access to the five Coalition conferences. Each of the six original conferences is limited to two teams in the BCS. Let’s make it the same for the Coalition, which now is limited to just one team. If the Coalition gets two teams in the final Top 10 of the BCS Standings, which it had last season, both get in.
Yeah, the TV boys are going to howl and threaten to pay less money if they have to take two Coalition teams because the ratings numbers between 10-2 Ohio State and 12-0 Utah aren’t even close. They’ll just have to bite the bullet on that one and they will because the other games still have such value. It’s a part of doing business.
If a four-team playoff happens down the road I want it to be because the presidents meet with their commissioners and athletics directors and collectively decide that it is best for college football and the institutions they represent. I don’t want to see it happen because of threats by the Joe Bartons of the world.
Because if it’s done by force it is not going to work.
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128 comments Add your comment
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
9:23 am
Plus 1!!!!!!!! BUT, we would have to have a 32 team playoff to have the ACC represented if the teams were selected by BCS point system.
Barry
May 5th, 2009
9:36 am
I’d rather go forward with no changes than trust the NCAA or the government to make changes. I just don’t think they can get it right. If there is going to be a postseason tournament, PLEASE play the games on campus. The campus environment is what makes college football so great. Perhaps the visiting team can be guaranteed 1/4 or 1/3 of the tickets. But after a good season, if I have to travel to see my team play, it would be awesome to attend a road game at Michigan, LSU, or another great college football environment. That would be much better than having to attend a Cotton Bowl then a Fiesta Bowl in the same year. It would be even better to earn a home game – but if they’re going to force me to travel, I’d like to go to one of the great venues of the sport that I wouldn’t ordinarily get to see.
And PLEASE don’t do anything to devalue the rivalry games played around Thanksgiving. Can you imagine FL/FSU or Aub/AL or ND/USC resting their starters because they have wrapped up a playoff slot and they want to be rested and healthy for the next game? Unthinkable.
Kevin (Jacksonville, FL)
May 5th, 2009
9:42 am
Tony I agree with your overall opinion, but need to correct one big mistake most of the media and opinion makers are making. College Football and Higher Education is NOT a private enterprise. Most of the Universities in the BCS are public, state run institutions and they and the private institutions receive Federal funds. While the guys on “The Hill” would have been seen as puffing out the chest and blowing hot air about this even just a year ago. In today’s economy and with Institutions trying to balance their budgets, they are being taken seriously.
Howard
May 5th, 2009
9:53 am
Tony…I agree Congress should do something…why not?? Colleges receive milions of Federal funds and with the current administration in power right now that feels they must take over any private enterprise they desire…why not change this stupid system?? Barack Obama feels a need to act as dictator, so why not issue an edict from his chancellory known as the White House and order a playoff system?? Would be whole lot popular than anything he has done so far or will probably do in the future! As for the comments that congressman made…he made more sense than most everyone else up there…esp. Joe Biden! And just maybe, he spoke for more people in this country than you…a member of the mainstream media…could even realize!!! The BCS is indeed a joke…how you can defend that system or rant and rave against a playoff system is beyond me!!
Bill
May 5th, 2009
9:56 am
Tony-
I agree with you that no debate has been totally rationale yet. What if the big conferences just decided to have a mega conference and they only played each other in regular season and in the playoffs? The problem is that there are too many teams to make it a “fair” solution. Since you will have a Utah play a very weak confernece schedule and a UGA play in the SEC. It seems that if you just combined SEC, ACC, Big ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and maybe the Big East you could basically have between 70 and 80 teams to really be able to make it work. It’s not the 32 team NFL solution but I don’t know how you please the weaker conferences unless they play week in and week out like the tougher conferences do.
Gator Mike
May 5th, 2009
10:14 am
I agree with Tony. Furthermore, it totally disgusts me that our megalomaniac politicians have time to debate the college football dilemna instead of putting forth all of their energy to correct the critical problems our country faces. Congress has some good folks, but most of them are useless. To take it further, I firmly believe term limits should be imposed on the House and Senate. The current system fosters those folks in both the House and Senate to be consumed with getting re-elected as a full time job instead of solving the nation’s problems. For example, look at the clown who is the Speaker (joke) of the House. She represents one of the most morally warped districts in the USA. Why can’t she exert her position to have the House stick to the real problems facing our nation?
Go Gators!
typical bulldawg fan
May 5th, 2009
10:15 am
we shuld have a playoff. if we had one, we would have won 2 national championships since richt became head coach!
WOOF WOOF
HUNKERDOWN
RUN WITH THE BIG DAWGS OR STAY ON THE PORCH!
PRESEASON #15 FOR 09, BUT WILL FINISH #1!!!
GO DAWGS!!!!
TECH AND FLARDA SUCKS!!!
athensdawg
May 5th, 2009
10:16 am
If you have a headache because a man is hitting you on the head with a hammer, do you get out of the way, or do you take asprin and just sigh and say “that’s the way it is.” Unfortunately, that is what the allmighty college presidents want us (the college football fan) to do.
Kevin, you are correct.
The last time I checked, most of these institution rely on PUBLIC FUNDING. They are not private enterprise.
Tony acts as if we are on the verge of a communist takeover if the government mandates PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES to do something that THE PUBLIC wants.
I am so sick of this “government takeover is the end of the world” crap.
Lets look at this with some common sense and not through the eyes of a writer who has to maintain a good relationship with people in collegiate athlethics in order to keep his access.
The BCS is BS. It is a stupid system that has been contrived by college presidents to make and control money.
If the BCS is such a great thing, why haven’t all the other sports in the NCAA D-1 adopted it to decide their championships? When discussing the reasoning behind not having the playoff, please insert any other sport in the place of football and you can begin to see the hypocracy.
I mean, my god, look at the harm that travel to the NCAA baskeball championships is doing to the student athletes. Think about how unfair it is that EVERY CITY IN AMERICA doesn’t get to host the final four every year. Let’s stop the madness people, can the final four, can the CWS, the frozen four, the gymnastics championships, swimming and diving championships…lets just go to the BCS system for all of them because that is obviously the fairest and best way to protect the integrity of our fine institutions.
riiight….
Here is the real problem….and this is what the politicians are playing on…is that once again, a bunch of arrogant, knuckleheaded baby boomers are trying to enrich themselves at the expense of the average public and have screwed something up nine ways to sunday. (just like the housing market, subprime loans, etc.)
if you don’t want the government in your business, don’t depend on the government for money. i have a small business and the government doesn’t tell me what to do or attempt to reorganize my company…why? well, i don’t need to come to them with my hat in hand to survive.
this is not a communist takeover. it is the result of stupid people making stupid decisions and now the doo doo has hit the fan. instead of takign their medicine, they complain about ‘government takeover.’ boo hoo hoo.
the only difference with college football is that it is a monopoly which is controlled by a rich few. what we need in college football is revenue sharing just like the NFL. But that will never happen as long as the “rich guys” control the system.
We will keep getting stupid excuses as to why the dumb system that we have in place now is the best thing for everyone.
So, everyone, take your asprin….come this august, the man with the hammer is going to start beating us on the head again and telling us how wonderful it feels.
They know more than the rest of us, so we should just shut up and let them tell us how college football “should be.”
TheStinger
May 5th, 2009
10:16 am
If you do a plus 1 or a four tem or an 8 team playoff you are going to have the same issues as youhave now, teams whinning that should have been one of the one playing based on their own criteria.Ex: we beat sos and so and they beat so and so.
typical bulldawg fan
May 5th, 2009
10:17 am
Oh, and we will make fun of all of the jort wearin mullet heads, but where do we flock to for vacation? we just wish we could live in flarda!!!
Gatorzone
May 5th, 2009
10:20 am
AthensDawg, well said! I agree totally.
bama12titles
May 5th, 2009
10:29 am
Inevitably, someone is going to get on here and ask why can’t we have a 16 team playoff like in division 2. Can’t and won’t happen because there is way too much money made in the bowls and in the 11 game regular season to ever go to more than an 8 team playoff.
Someone may mention reducing the regular season to 10 instead of 11 games to accomodate a 16 team playoff. Wrong again. That extra game means a huge payout to every program. Since football alone and basketball to a lesser degree fund practically every other sports program on campus they will never lessen the football season for a playoff or loose the bowl season for a playoff. So please, NO DISCUSSION ON A 16 TEAM PLAYOFF! IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!
And if you don’t believe that look at the AJC article on UGAs 2011 ooc schedule in the ajc this morning, UGA will pay New Mexico State $950,000 to come to Athens, That’s big time needed money for NMSU and will help them pay for a lot of other programs. And if UGA can pay that much to an opponent then just imagine how much money the dawgs will make and how much that will help fund other programs.
Plus one or a straight 4 team playoff would solve the dispute virtually all the team. Sometimes there is a 3rd team like Auburn in 2004 or even a 4th team that had a legit reason to complain at the end of the season that they should have had a legit shot at the title game. But very rarely does the 5th rated team in the bcs have as valid an argument. At that point you begin to lose a lot of steam as far as having a legit argument to be in a title game.
As Tony pointed out in doing the research in a previous post a plus one or a 4 team playoff would have solved the argument in every case since the bcs came into being. If this works then let’s start off with this format. Its only 1 more game so it doesn’t hurt the bowls and doesn’t extend the season unreasonably except for just 2 teams.
Forget about an 8 team playoff for now. If it will ever come into being then it will have to wait until we at least take the baby step of getting a plus one or a 4 team playoff going. But we’re not going to go straight from a bcs title game to an 8 team playoff overnight when its this hard already just to get the idea of a plus one or 4 team playoff. So let’s start off small and go from there.
m
May 5th, 2009
10:30 am
Tony, you are the IDIOT on this issure…not Joe Barton. Although Barton is an idiot on most things, he is exactly right on the BS of the BCS. We need a 16 team playoff….we need it NOW. We want the games and the champion decided ON THE FIELD…not by some idiot like Tony’s opinion. Opinion should be taken out of the equation and let the champion be decided ON THE FIELD…after earning their way through a playoff….not by being appointed like floriduh and oklahomo were last year…neither of which would have made it through a playoff system. If the idiots that came up with the BCS won’t change it…then congress is totally correct to force the issue. We need a 16 team playoff…and we need it NOW…no matter how much kicking and screaming we get from IDIOTS like Tony.
Colorado Dawg
May 5th, 2009
10:36 am
The only idiot on this blog is M. Tony is not kicking and screaming – you are !!!!!!!! Since you seem to have all the answers, why don’t you run for Congress and make this your “hot” issue. Thanks to the other bloggers for offering some sensible dialogue. Tony, thanks for keeping this blog going.
eBuzz
May 5th, 2009
10:37 am
Have said this before and will say it again. Here’s the answer.
1. 8 top final BCS poll teams to play it off.
2. Quarterfinals at highest ranked host schools starting the 2nd week of December.
3. Losing 4 teams still eligible for other bowls.
4. Semi-finals on New Years at 2 bowl sites submitting highest bids to NCAA.
5. Final one week later at bowl site submitting highest separate bid to NCAA.
6. All other bowls still played for other teams and the four top 8 losers.
This would result in a true national champion, gives fans a break by playing in their home stadium, protects existing bowls, and it puts more money in the schools, NCAA, TV, and bowl pockets. Win-win-win-win-win situation.
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
10:51 am
At least 16 teams!!! The ACC and Little East would never qualify!!!! They hardly ever have a team in top 8 BCS poll BEFORE the bowl games. How many games did VT lose last year??? I think they lost 3 reg season games!!!! And those teams should be playing for the NC…..ROLLS TIDES!!!
bama12titles
May 5th, 2009
10:52 am
To add to my point above ultimately I would like an 8 team playoff format but I do not know if that will ever be feasible. I just know that a 16 team format will never feasible because of
1) the money it would cost programs if they have to drop a regular season game,
2) the loss of money to the bowl system,
3) the wear and tear on players, especially from conferences like the sec that already have a playoff, and even more wear and tear if programs do not drop a regular season game and still go to a playoff system and
4) the logistics and cost to fans of having to travel to so many games if their team plays 12 games, then a conference playoff, and then another series of playoffs.
I personally am in favor of an 8 team playoff and even then some of the reasons I say that a 16 team playoff would never happen may also apply to an 8 team playoff.
As I stated in a 4 team scenario and its subsequent playoff a 5th team that gets left out wouldn’t have that much credibility as far as far whether or not they also deserved a shot. Its usually the 3rd or 4th teams that got left out that would have had a credible argument for being left out.
In an 8 team scenario there would be practically no argument as to a 9th team getting left out. There has to be a cutoff somewhere and if you can’t get into the top 8 teams then boo hoo. Odds are that 99% of the time that the truly best team in the nation would have found its way into the top 8 in a bcs or voter determined system and thus then have a chance to win it all in a fair and square playoff system.
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
10:53 am
M should run up to Stone MT. and jump off!!!!
m
May 5th, 2009
10:53 am
50 years from now when we have a true playoff system to determine a true champion, people are going to look back at the BcS as the dumbest system ever concocted.
Just imagine if we suddenly did away with March Madness in basketball and the 65 team tourney…in order to have someone arbitrarily pick the final two and and a bunch of meaningless exhibition games (like the bowls). Or imagine if you substituted the BcS in baseball instead of the College World Series.
You would have an uproar in basketball or baseball because it would immediately be obvious that the BCS sucks.
Well, it sucks ever worse in the greatest sport of all…college football.
If the powers that be don’t immediately wake up and come up with a 16 team playoff…I hope congress sticks the BCS up the NCAA’s arse and makes them do the right thing….even if IDIOTS like Tony cry about it.
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
10:56 am
If you have a 8 team,
#9 will whine!!!
If if you have a 64 team,
The ACC will whine because noone will qualify!!!!LOL
Almost Competitive Conference should retract to the FCS so they WOULD qualify for a playoff!!!!!!!!!!!
Atlanta Gator
May 5th, 2009
10:58 am
While I am very much in favor of either a post-bowl plus-one format or a four-team playoff, I am vehemently against expanding the federal government’s role in college athletic—-even a smidgen.
The Constitution’s interstate commerce clause has already been stretched beyond all recognition (and the founders’ original intent) to extend the reach of the federal government to regulate and tax virtually everything, and I oppose any further expansion of that power. Period.
If the Congress asserts its authority in imposing a playoff on Division I football, in a format of its own choosing, I believe that this is something that every university, coach, player and fan in America will come to regret.
It’s time to draw a line in the sand. Please show me where the Constitution gives the federal government the power to regulate college sports. Where is it? Our federal government is supposed to a government of “enumerated” powers; if not specified, or reasonably implied from specific powers listed, the federal government does not have that power.
Keep politics out of sports.
Harmon
May 5th, 2009
10:58 am
Tony, While I don’t welcome Gov’t interference your notion that college presidents object to a playoff because of “educational and philosophical concerns” is very naive. Those in charge merely are supporting the present system due to protecting the vested interests of the big boys in charge of the bowls. These college leaders are merely looking out for their buddies. Its amazing how these educational or philosophical barriers don’t exist in the lower divisions which have managed to maintain a playoff system without disrupting the athletes studies.
murfdawg
May 5th, 2009
10:59 am
Why don’t you form a SUPER CONFERENCE with the top 32 teams(yes you can invite Ohio St)and set up divisions and playoffs like the NFL. If Boise St and Utah want to join, ok. But they have to play 10 real games a year instead of one. Didn’t Dooley try to do something like this long time ago regarding tv rights? Didn’t the NCAA cave in and allow the schools more leeway in negotiating tv contracts? Seems like it is time to push them again.
GT08
May 5th, 2009
11:00 am
eBUZZ
Most universities have final exams the 2nd or 3rd week in December. University Presidents would never agree to that…
bama12titles
May 5th, 2009
11:01 am
m,
Please read my posts. 16 team playoff will never ever happen for a myriad number of reasons but the single biggest reason is the amount of revenue that schools would lose, the bowls would lose, the money conferences would lose in a title game, etc. We have to be realistic and a 16 team format is just not realistic.
And if you are going to reference the fact that div. 2 does it then give it up. It doesn’t apply and in other college playoff formats programs like the Montana State Grizzlies go broke because of the cost of traveling to so many teams.
That’s right. Several D 2 programs actually lose money the farther and farther they get into the playoffs. This wouldn’t happen in D1 because of the enormous tv revenue. But my point is that nobody seems to want to talk about the caveats of their playoff system.
ReptilesRule
May 5th, 2009
11:03 am
The very fact that people are still discussing college football in May, a full 4 months after my Mighty Gators vanquished Oklahoma, shows that we should not stray TOO far from the current system. Who wants to become like the No Fun League, where mediocrity rules the day and the regular season is reduced to hoping your 8-8 wild card team gets in! People keep pointing to the NCAA Tournament and the success of March madness, but it’s hardly May and who besides North Carolina fans are still talking about that?!?! All of you that are dreaming of an 8 or 16 team playoff or something that makes EVERYBODY happy (not gonna happen)…be careful what you wish for. DON’T RUIN THE GAME!!!
Gatorzone
May 5th, 2009
11:04 am
m, go away. go blog on acc websites. This one is for the big boys!
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
11:07 am
Bama 12,
M is an idiot!!! He wants more than 16 because that is the only way GT will EVER qualify for a playoff!!!!! After about 4 years of a playoff, EVEry conference will start whining because the NC game will have 2 SEC teams in it EVERY YEAR!!! BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR MORONS!!!!!
matt r
May 5th, 2009
11:07 am
A 4-team playoff is least disruptive to the current system, but an 8-team is also not that disruptive… We are talking about just 3 extra games (if you play the first round week of Jan 1st). Two teams play one more game, two teams play two more games. And there is still plenty more mess with 4-teams… Utah would not have gotten in a top 4 this year but they proved they at least deserved a shot.
I think the first round of an 8-team could be similar to the old bowl coalition, respecting conference affiliations (Big 10, Pac 10 in Rose, SEC in Sugar, ACC in Orange) but as long as 1-4 did not play each other. So 1 vs 5 would be OK. Just my opinion.
bama12titles
May 5th, 2009
11:07 am
m,
Come on man. Quit calling Tony an idiot. There’s no call for that.
Atlanta Gator,
Are you gonna tell me you don’t have faith that Barack and the federal gov’t can’t solve every single one of our problems including a college playoff scenario?
WTF???
May 5th, 2009
11:08 am
Tony, what did you expect? I mean, it’s CONGRESS!!!! Name one thing they’ve done lately that worked….. I dare you.
ReptilesRule
May 5th, 2009
11:10 am
BTW, for those that would argue that “Of course we’re still talking college football in May, this is the South!” Well, I’m not seeing a show on ESPN called “College Basketball Live” So, it’s not just a southern thing.
BernieDawg
May 5th, 2009
11:11 am
I thought a playoff system was part of Obama’s platform, therefore necessary for our progression into a socialist state. On the other hand, if a playoff system means that FOX no longer dumbs down our nation’s greatest sport – I’m on board!
bama12titles
May 5th, 2009
11:15 am
Reptiles rule,
True enough. After all, we are still talking about it.
Gatorzone and Saint Nick,
Did ya’ll just banish m to the ACC blog? Alas, I had an error in my thinking. I stated that another reason against a 16 team format is that the conferences would lose too much money from possibly losing a conference title game if they had to drop that game because we go to a 16 team format. Then I thought about attendance at the ACC title game every year and realized I was clearly wrong. If they are only drawing 10 or 20 people to the ACC title game every year then they probably are in fact losing money and wouldn’t mind dropping a title game if we ever went to a 16 team format.
No playoffs necessary
May 5th, 2009
11:15 am
Some of you make it seem unbelievable that we have made it through nearly 120 years of college football without a playoff at the highest level. Why do we need a champion determined by a playoff? In my 40 plus years of following college football, I say the element that ignites the most passion is that we do not have a playoff. Hence, we can argue endlessly and enjoyably about who is better than whom. Don’t take that away just to make it like the NFL. Sure the BCS needs some tweaking every now and then, but college football is absolutely thriving the way it is. Let’s not ruin a good thing.
JB
May 5th, 2009
11:16 am
Something needs to be done…..as a Dawg fan, i feel Ga. was screwed and LSU was gifted in 2007.
The win the conference argument is not consistent with past selections……
PMC
May 5th, 2009
11:21 am
As much as gets said about the playoff. I don’t hate the system we have now. Yes any given day anyone can win, but Utah playing the general Utah schedule… shouldn’t be allowed to play all year against sub par talent and then win one game and call themselves national champs. It’s akin to Texas Tech playing a soft 7 weeks beating Texas in the last second and thinking they had the best team in the nation. No.
Everyone is flawed but generally under the BCS, they’ve had the right two teams playing in it at the end. It’s not like Bowl weeks aren’t awesome.
I’d love to see a plus one but until everyone starts playing roughly equal schedules I just don’t like the idea of a large playoff. I hate rankings prior to the BCS counting at all. I’d love to see rankings that matter wait until week 8 or so. Just to allow for injuries and stumbles to work thier way out and get to the meat of the schedule. I think that would help teams that are poised to have good seasons (Auburn’s 13-0) that are slighted due to low early rankings.
Really… my #1 change to make it better would be to ban the 1AA games. I’d rather see schools choose 2 1AA schools a year to donate a large check to in order to pay for thier other athletic programs and give us only BCS conference games. This would allow more non conference games against the Utah’s and Boise States of the world. It increases the competition in the regular season and helps us gauge how good teams really are. Playing games against inferior talent… is just a waste of time. Either make this change or make 1AA wins not count for bowl births…. or increase the bowl qualifier to 8 or 9 wins.
PMC
May 5th, 2009
11:23 am
I would very much hate to devalue the regular season in any way.
Jack P
May 5th, 2009
11:23 am
Here he goes again! The man who is full of it up to his ears.
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
11:25 am
JB,
You are half right, GA was the best team, BUT, they didn’t qualify for SECCG, that honor went to the punkins.. Had they played LSU, They would have b#tch slapped LSU!!!!
PMC
May 5th, 2009
11:26 am
There are 65 teams in the NCAA basketball tournament. Every year there are 8 whiners.
Pat Orrin Hatch on the head and show them the game tape of Florida taking Oklahoma apart. Utah had a great team last year and they proved it by smoking Alabama… but the right two teams played in the game.
Braindawg
May 5th, 2009
11:26 am
I cant stand saying this but…..I agree with ebuzz. I dont like to agree with anyone with the name buzz. But he has hit on the perfect plan for a playoff. And lets face it, playoffs are certainly needed in college football. So nice job ebuzz, I now have a reasonable plan to take to my friends when this subject comes up.
If someone has a better plan or can find something wrong with this plan please write and let me know. Thanks, and my god allow us to have a college football playoffs system soon.
PS Please dont let the federal gov. have anything to do with this issue.Obama and the boys in congress cant even handle the problems they were sent to Washington to fix. And im sure that one of the problems wasnt the BCS!!!
m
May 5th, 2009
11:28 am
The BcS SUCKS. The current bowls are MEANINGLESS and they SUCK too.
The pitiful twelfth games that have been added recently SUCK also.
The current system does not need to be preserved…it does not need to be tweaked…it needs to be abolished.
A 16 team playoff system, where the teams have earned the right to be there on the field….and then earn the TRUE championship ON THE FIELD…would be the most exciting sporting event in the history of the world.
IF the NCAA does not do the right thing SOON, and they won’t, then congress should step in and cram the RIGHT thing down their throats.
No more bullshiite mythical national champions…..let it be honestly and fairly decided on the field…not by the idiotic Tony and his idiotic cohorts.
These minor tweaks, that y’all are discussing, are like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.
CollegeGameBalls: College Football at its Finest | Around the Interwebs
May 5th, 2009
11:33 am
[...] College Football provides the first rational arguments I’ve read against Congress involving itself with the BCS. Only a few Division I-A presidents are backing the idea an eight-team [...]
LSU 07 CHAMPS
May 5th, 2009
11:33 am
JB,
Nope. LSU deserved to be in the 07 title game. We lost 2 games on the road in multiple overtimes in the sec to 2 bowl bound teams. Our 2 losses weren’t nearly as bad as UGAs 2 losses which were at home to a bad South Carolina team that didn’t even go to a bowl and a blowout loss to UT. We beat UT by 10 pts and and did it with a backup qb.
Championship teams may lose a game but they don’t get blown out. What you are conveniently forgetting also is that in our out of conference schedule we blasted ACC champion Va., Tech 48-7. Va Tech lost only 1 other game that season and avenged their only loss convincingly. They also finished 4th I believe in the end of season rankings.
You did not get robbed and we did not get gifted. Any objective observer can look at the quality of our losses vs yours, our nonconference victory over acc champ VT and clearly see we deserved to be in the title game. Oh, I forgot to mention. We blew out Ohio State. Sure, you blew out Hawaii but I think OHIO St. carries a little more weight and credibility then a hapless Hawaii team.
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
11:37 am
M,
I wish you had sank WITH the Titanic so we would not have to be subjected to the PUKE that rings from your keyboard!!!!!
Bill
May 5th, 2009
11:45 am
I like it when people bring up either basketball or Division II as an example. Also try to compare ratings of regular season compared to D-I college football there is no comparison. Also add up the viewers to the basketball tourney to the viewers of all the bowl games..no comparision. Also anyone actually watched the Division II playoffs?…”Leave it to Beaver” has better ratings.
ratdawg
May 5th, 2009
11:48 am
For starters, all conferences in the BCS must have a championship game to get a true champion. TT head coach has the answer. Do it like college basketball with 64 teams, over half of current Div. 1 teams. Cut the reg. season to 10 games w/ a conference championship game. Major teams would not be able to schedule 2 of the patsy teams, no loss there. Within 2 weeks of playoffs, your down to the sweet 16 and HOW SWEET IT WOULD BE. InCORPORATE bowls into playoff. Teams that lose in 1st round had at least an 11 game season including a bowl game. Teams losing in 2nd round played a 12 game season including 2 bowls. Only 16 teams would be playing more games than they play under current system. The big gripe you here from school presidents as to why it wouldn’t work.
Sam
May 5th, 2009
11:49 am
I am in the minority, but I am not all hot for a basketball style playoff. I suspect that one day the presidents of the BCS conferences will institute a playoff of some sort, but for now the college presidents and athletic directors seem to be okay with the current system. I think a 4 team playoff will be the next step and that it will last for decades barring some strange change.
Stop posting how your playoff system would work. I bet that your model is not different what someone else has proposed. The rub is not in the playoff format, the rubs lie elsewhere.
The NCAA does not run the BCS; it is a separate entity. If enough D1A presidents voted to have a playoff, then it would happen. So why are the non-BCS presidents not pushing for it? My guess is because they see that the current system really benefits them more than a playoff would.
People point to D1 and D2 and such. When did those playoffs begin? I think D1AA started in the 70s so the playoff there dates back less than 40 years. The Peach Bowl (or the current name) goes back at least that far. So really the tradition is the bowls, not a playoff. Maybe if D1AA could have come up with a bowl system they would have gone that way.
I suspect that a playoff will kill the bowl games by slowly bleeding them. It seems that most of the smaller bowls have local sponsors (or are owned by ESPN) so the ad money going to the playoff games will not really affect them. However, how much ad time will companies buy to broadcast the local bowl game? In order for all this to work, the money from the playoff would need to replace the income loss when the bowls finally die off.
Anyone who thinks the bowls would survive should look at the NIT.
ReptilesRule
May 5th, 2009
11:57 am
m…got a simple solution for ya…go watch the NFL! If thats what you’re into, they’re already playing your game son! And when you get bored to tears, or T.O.’d or Plexico’d to death, come on back and enjoy the excitement of what we call college football!!!
m
May 5th, 2009
12:01 pm
Even though I don’t know the difference between they’re, their & there everyone else is an IDIOT!
bama12titles
May 5th, 2009
12:05 pm
ratdawg,
It won’t work. 64 teams you leave out almost half the field of 119 teams and they will gripe about the money they miss. Also, a reduced regular season means the loss of a lot of revenue. As far as losing those 2 patsy games the bcs team holding those patsy games loses a lot of revenue and the patsy loses a tremendous amount of revenue. For example, New Mexico St would lose a $950,000 payday by playing UGA in 2011 if we went by your format. For a program like NMSU this money funds their football program but also the majority of all their other money losing athletic programs. They need this money and that’s what everyone seems to miss when talking about eliminating even 1 game.
Never argue with m
May 5th, 2009
12:21 pm
Never argue with an idiot. He’ll drag you down to his level, then beat you with experience.
This is why you never argue with m.
ReptilesRule
May 5th, 2009
12:27 pm
m…let me help you… There…refers to a place… example: “Hey, looky over there!”. Their…is a possession adjective… example: “They never got their tickets to the BCS game”. They’re…means they are…example: “They’re going nowhere with this discussion!” It is sometimes better not to post and be thought an idiot than to post and remove all doubt.
HH
May 5th, 2009
12:30 pm
Surely, Mr. Barnhart, you couldn’t have expected anything more, considering the reprobates, crooks, liars and other assorted bums that comprise the US Congress? Both democrat and republican and in both bodies. You could count on your fingers, without recourse to your toes, the number of truly dedicated people that sit in that body. Just consider Christopher Dodd as an example. There’s a real fine piece of work.
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
12:31 pm
There goes M puking again
They’re going to break M’s computer.
I wish GT and their fans would shut the hell up!!!!!
Do you compute M?????
You probably STILL don’t understand……How can you be a fan of a fine EDUCATIONAL school and be a DUMB@SS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
12:34 pm
M,
Every GT fan is thinking “I wish this M idiot would die”!!!!!!!!!!!!
jim
May 5th, 2009
12:35 pm
8 team playoff…6 BCS League champions + 2 at-large. Maintains integrity of regular season & would not punish tough out of conference scheduling. Why so hard?
Marble Rye
May 5th, 2009
12:45 pm
Yes, the marketplace seems to be the driving factor here, at least according to Swofford at Capitol Hill. But sometimes decisions must be made for the greater good regardless of the marketplace and ratings. The prevailing mindset of the pro-bowl people IMO is overly traditionalist, conservative to a fault and flat-out unprogressive. Yes, the BCS did improve the lot of college football but it is at the same time terribly flawed because it’s exclusive only to the big powerhouse programs. While Coalition teams have to actually earn their keep the bigger programs like Ohio State and Oklahoma saunter in and continually barf it up in their BCS bowl games they’re always entitled to. Clearly there is some entitlement going on, and when has entitlement ever been a good thing?
Fact is playoffs work in every other level of college football plus the NFL, plus the NBA, MLB, NCAA basketball tourneys, and a host of others. With this in mind there is absolutely zero reason why it can’t work in big-time college football. Those who think it can’t work have been misled by the pro-BCS crowd or are just stuck in their ways. Another thing to strongly consider; the NFL runs the NFL, but the NCAA does not run college football; the BCS does. That is a huge crux of the problem that no one seems to clue into. Until the NCAA is empowered to control more than just probations, eligibilities and the darker side of college football, the BCS will remain in charge and nothing really will change as a result.
Munson
May 5th, 2009
12:46 pm
JB, as much as I love UGA, we did not get screwed in 2007. We lost that on the field, all we had to do was beat either S Carolina or UT and we would have been there, but we failed to do so. That is not getting screwed, that is screwing yourself.
RAMBLE ON!!!
May 5th, 2009
12:47 pm
Nancy Pelosi says she was never, ever informed of this BCS system. If she had, she would have never approved of it.
oh yeah, anyone got another 94.2 billion dollars we can borrow?
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
12:49 pm
BCS = Big 6 controls the money
Playoff = NCAA controls the money
That is why this will never happen!!!!!!!
jumbo
May 5th, 2009
12:57 pm
Saint Nick
JB,
.. Had they played LSU, They would have b#tch slapped LSU!!!!
Any coach and fan that knows football like most on here realize that games are won on the field. You never assume you will win. You of all people should know that after your last bowl game.
Geaux Tigers! Go SEC!
ReptilesRule
May 5th, 2009
1:03 pm
Whats the matter m, cat got your keyboard? A word of warning that also applies to this upcoming season…DON’T RILE THE REPTILE!!!
Drew-G-A
May 5th, 2009
1:08 pm
Amen Tony, Joe Barton is a turd. I personally am not for a playoff, but could live with a 4 team one, if need be. Anything more than 4 will ruin what we love. As long as they don’t kill the regular season, rivalries, and tradition, I will reamin happy.
Lower level teams are always gonne get lucky every now and then, but one big win at the end of the season doesn’t make up for a MUCH WEAKER regular season. I would have been fine with naming Utah the AP Champion if they had scheduled much tougher out of conference games. Let’s see how they would do at the end of the year if they had to take place in the regular season bloodbaths of the SEC and for that matter even the other BCS Conferences. I don’t say that because I want to see teams like Utah fail. I just am tired of them using the word “fair” as a measuring stick, when reason suggests that what is fair is not to play cupcakes during the regular season and claim yourself champion after only one big win. Florida, while having one loss, had much more than one big win.
ReptilesBlow
May 5th, 2009
1:08 pm
their is a pronoun, typical… GO GATOR!
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
1:19 pm
Jumbo,
UGA was playing the best at the end of 07, you guys got beat down by Arkansas…..Just saying
touchdown...in the corner...
May 5th, 2009
1:19 pm
Athensdawg, not to pick nits, but I’m guessing that you have the only business in the country that doesn’t have some type of government regulation concerning the way you do some part of your business. Riiiiight. Anyhoo, the problem that people have is assuming that EVERYONE wants a CFB playoff. That’s simply not true. The bowls have been minimized already by the BCS, and will continue to be under a playoff system. If you say otherwise, you’re just trying to sell your argument for a playoff. I love the bowls, although I think we have too many. I mean, the Meineke Car Care Bowl was a classic, no doubt. But I think we could do without bowls that attract 6-5 teams. I agree with many I hear, read and watch in that I think the season is the playoff. In 07, UGA lost a game to South Cowolina which, if it had won, would have put it in the SEC championship, which in turn would have sent them to the BCS title game had they won in Atlanta. Part of the greatness of college football is that it’s not always certain. Whichever team wins the BCS title, there is always a Utah or a Texas or an Ohio State, although their argument is usually weak, that says ‘we shoulda played in that game’. It keeps the college football discussion going all through the offseason, unlike the overblown, made for television March Madness tourney, which is over, everyone celebrates, and promptly forgets about the teams that didn’t win. It gives you more finality, sure. I prefer the ‘argumentative’ give and take that enables CFB fans to spar with each other from February through August that their team ’shoulda been there’.
eBuzz
May 5th, 2009
1:29 pm
GT08, OK, so pick another initial date, but rember, somebody is always going to complain about it, too. If one looks for a reason to kill a better way of doing things they’re always going to find some (lame) excuse. Funny, this doesn’t seem to come up re the “March Madness”.
Braindawg, thank you. Obviously, I’m a Tech fan/alum, but what I propose is best for all, and I appreciate your recognizing this. For damn sure, it would have given UGA a fair shot a couple of years ago. And, to think, I had to respond to GT08’s whining. As Tony Soprano used to say, “Whatta ya gonna do?”
Otto
May 5th, 2009
1:37 pm
All this talk of a playoff creating more money. March madness ratings are down. You hardly hear about the CWS unless you’re a diehard fan. CFB is most the hotly debated sport in America. Monday night NFL football is dead but CFB games are played Tues, Thurs, and Fri night. The system is working great.
In Tony’s past blogs it was pointed out how some of the team that argued most for a playoff would not be in a 4 team playoff and thus the push for an 8 team playoff. Can you see a 1 loss USC and Utah coming off a perfect season not making the 4 team play off. Obama would call a press conference.
An 8 team playoff will only happen if all 6 BCS conf. champs get in and 2 wild cards which will kill the regular season. eBuzz post the best of playoff solutions which IMO will not happen as the ACC and Big East will be left out.
The current system has created an atmosphere where 40k in a stadium for a spring game is not uncommon. The system is working better than any sport in the US.
Marble Rye
May 5th, 2009
1:40 pm
The only way to make the current BCS fair while avoiding a playoff altogether involves 1) elevating the Cotton Bowl to BCS status, bringing the tally to a total of 6 BCS-level games including the title game, and 2) allow only the champions of the 11 conferences plus the top independent to participate. Sure, that’s extreme but that is the fairest proposal since it removes the subjective at-large berths, the bowl reps’ power to choose who they want based on potential ratings only.
Why anyone would prefer a clearly broken system just to keep the arguments going all season long is just dumb. It’s not like college football discussion will cease after the playoffs because it’s not like no one will be talking about winter drills, National Signing Day, spring practices/games, recruiting, summer workouts, more recruiting, fall camp, even more recruiting, etc. There’s plenty to talk about in college football after a playoff ends. NFL fans prove that. Because if your interest in CFB wanes after a playoff, you’re not a true CFB fan to begin with.
Otto
May 5th, 2009
1:53 pm
How is allowing only BCS champs more fair? Texas and Oklahoma were both more deserving of playing in a playoff than the Big East or ACC champ.
Why change from a system that is making money hand over fist better than creting a system that will take away from the mid and lower level bowls and encourage lower level OOC competition during the regular season? The system Marble Rye posted would encourage teams to bench top players against OOC teams.
AGTFan
May 5th, 2009
2:19 pm
A rational discussion of a real college playoff system would be nice. I don’t ever expect to see one in a blog run by Tony “the status quo is the only way to go” Barnhart.
Larry
May 5th, 2009
2:20 pm
Right now, there are 28 bowl games. By spreading out a 32 team field, you would get 16 games, then 8 games, then 4 games, then 2 games then the championship. That’s 31 games, more than enough to spread around to the various bowls. That would take care of the bowls’ opposition. It also could be done in 5 to 6 weeks so the bowl season would still be finished in early January as it is now. The problems would be logistics with teams having to practice and then transport to the various bowl sites. It has some problems; but, as far as entertainment goes – Dazzling December would make March Madness look like a shuffleboard tournament at an old folks home.
DawginLex
May 5th, 2009
2:23 pm
Rambler,
Nancy Pelosi? Please, I just finished lunch.
Hmmmm!
May 5th, 2009
2:25 pm
“It’s (the BCS) is like communism. You can’t fix it. It’s not fixable. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to try a new model.” So who is converting who? The BCS being converted by the U.S. Govt.
or the U. S. Govt. being converted to socialism/communism by the BCS? I’m thinking the BCS is winning the argument and setting the standards for the future of America. How hypocritical our Govt. is!
Gen Neyland
May 5th, 2009
2:31 pm
LSU 07 CHAMPS : Hate to nit-pick your well thought out post, but LSU beat UT by 7, not 10…Peril Lou did okay but the team around him was darn good that day. Again, you can thank Erik Ainge for tossing LSU a TD that gave ‘em six…
Congress and college football. Get ready for an under-achieving 6-6 team to get a sympathy bid to the playoffs…
Saint Nick
May 5th, 2009
2:33 pm
M,
I am glad to see that you are throwing in the towel!!!!
PTC DAWG
May 5th, 2009
2:48 pm
Top 4 minimum..what are they waiting on?
joe taxpayer
May 5th, 2009
2:54 pm
Colleges and universities aren’t General Motors—at least not yet.
This is not exactly true. Without federal funding for everything from student loans to research grants, many of these universities would go bye-bye. There are some schools that could survive, but whether or not they could still afford all of their sports programs is doubtful.
And as far as politics, the BCS is all about politics. Coaches sound like politicians, have you really listened to them? They go these meetings and it’s nothing more than campaign events. Get your fellow coaches to like you and they’ll vote for you if it comes down to a couple or three teams.
These universities gladly except taxpayer money and keep asking for more. So if Congress tells these “CEOs of major educational institutions …..oppose on academic and philosophical grounds?” (yeah right) that the people want a playoff system, then they will have to listen.
When you take taxpayer money, in multiple ways, the people have a right to have a say in some things.While Congressman Barton and others might not be the best people to look into this, surely a panel appointed by the President could do the job.
Until these universities renounce all federal money, don’t you tell me that those who send them those funds don’t have a right to put pressure on them to have a playoff system.
Atlanta Gator
May 5th, 2009
3:09 pm
bama12*titles—-Right. Exactly right.
Gen Neyland—-Re “Congress and football,” and the inevitable Congressionally-handicapped selection process, may I recommend “Harrison Bergeron” and “Atlas Shrugged” as enlightening reading material?
Hal
May 5th, 2009
3:18 pm
DOUBLE Header Bowls?
Double Header: All bowls would remain as they are. There would be a Rose Orange Sugar and Cotton with teams that may not have been their first choice playing but with a BCS playoff game later in the day at the same facility. With this concept more teams and more money will be involved for the municipalities that host them. Tickets will be sold for each game or one price for both games. There will be a day game and a night game held 3 hours apart in the same stadium. Municipalities holding these events will generate much more income. Fans if they are willing to pay may get 2 for 1. What’s to hate about it other than the work involved.
For the below example the Rose bowl would hold it’s regular game called the “Rose Bowl” between the PAC 10 runner up Oregon and the Big 10 runner up Penn State. The PAC 10 conference champion USC chooses to participate in the BCS tournament and was ranked #2 and was upset in the Capitol One bowl on Jan 1. By a #6 opponent North Carolina. To offset the initial cost of loosing the PAC 10 and Big 10 Champs the second game played the same day would be for the national championship regardless of field conditions. In this case # 1 Florida and Surprise team # 8 Utah
The Orange Bowl, Sugar and Cotton would rotate playing dates with the NC always played in the Rose Bowl simply because of tradition. There is nothing wrong with that. Its’ the luck of the draw. They are the oldest bowl.
No conference championship games. Who care? Just ask the ACC. The conference won/lost records determine the champ. In case of a tie use a tie breaker.
On Jan 1 the Orange Bowl as with all other BCS bowls hosts two games the “Orange Bowl” and the first round playoff between 5 vs 8 and the remaining participating bowls do the same. There will be separate tickets for each event but it will be a long day for the vendors selling refreshments in the stands. Hotels will be packed with fans for four teams instead of two.
Top 8 team playoff would be played after the regular traditional bowl games. Plug in any bowl that wants to participate.
Dec xx Jan 1 Jan. xx Jan xx
5 vs 8 Orange
Sugar 7 vs 8
3 vs 7 Gator
Rose 1 vs 8
6 vs 2 Capitol One
Cotton 6 vs 1
4 vs 1 Fiesta bowl
Why do you comment if you dont know?
May 5th, 2009
3:21 pm
Excuse me for being on here a little late but I just got back from a business trip. bama12titles gets on here and calls other people idiots. I read an above post and bama I really encourage you to actually know what you are talking about before you post. First of all it is not D-2. That would be the North Alabama’s of the world. It is the FCS or more commonly known as D-1AA. It is not the Montana State Grizzlies it is just Montana. That was a bad example anyway. Montana is one of the most lucrative 1-AA programs there is. The major 1-AA schools that make it to the playoffs every year do not lose money. They budget for the playoffs and are in turn payed by ESPN for televised games and the entire conference recieves money for winning the National Championship. Please nest time do us all a favor and look it up. And to all those who bama called an idiot. Continue to ignore.
Hal
May 5th, 2009
3:21 pm
The Email above failed to keep the spacing between dates of games
DHD
May 5th, 2009
3:34 pm
This is new. I have never heard a discussion about a football playoff. Next, we’ll see the headline “Brave New World.”
Tide4u2c
May 5th, 2009
3:38 pm
Whether we ike it or not I see some type of playoff coming eventhough I totally disagree with a playoff.Why? Because it will not change who wins the NC’s. It will be the big-named schools that win just like now the big-named schools win the NC’s.We can look at college basketball and see that despite all the little-named teams getting a chance they don’t every really win.It is the big-named schools that win just like North Carolina this year.They are a big-named school not a little named team so despite all of the little teams getting a chance they did not make it through.Florida was the best team last year whether you want to admit it or not and they still would’ve won the NC even with a playoff. So why change?
Gen Neyland
May 5th, 2009
3:41 pm
Atlanta Gator : ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is on my list. BTW, did you hear a certain someone wished a gathering crowd a ‘Happy cinco de cuatro’..?
If college football could somehow find a way to break the bowl ties and give us the top 8 through a Sagarin type system, I’ll listen. Till then, SNAFU…
Monticello Dawg
May 5th, 2009
3:43 pm
Atlanta Gator, let me congratulate you on an excellent post concerning the federal government. The Commerce clause was intended to foster free trade between states. That and the General Welfare clause (really just a preamble) have been beaten beyond recognition. The way the founders set up our governing system, it was meant for the local/state bodies to be responsible for 90-95% of issues, but it has been flipped so they are actually just lackies for the feds.
Otto
May 5th, 2009
3:45 pm
Tide, I agree. Why change a system that is making money and funding the other sports as well as generating money for school academics. Even little Miss. St turns a profit on its loosing record. The Tax Payer can relax as CFB actually lowers his tax bills. Why should a business turning a profit accept Government control?
Tide4u2c
May 5th, 2009
4:02 pm
Even with a playoff the little named schools will still be playing weaker teams unlike the big-named schools so that even if a little named school was to make it to the playoff they would not have much of a chance against the bigger-named schools that play alot tougher competition. And the big-named schools would win. That is why strength of schedule matters in CFB right now.
BravesFan79
May 5th, 2009
4:12 pm
No wonder your sport sucks so much, all you idiots bicker like little girls and the top dogs in charge of the BCS count on your stupidity and pointless bickering to ensure they stay in charge and things NEVER change!
What a terrible article Tony, how can you possibly defend those good Texas teams not getting a shot at a title? COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS A JOKE OF A SPORT!!
If i wanted to watch a dog and pony show where everythings “voted on” instead of decided on the field… id watch animal planet!
buckblue
May 5th, 2009
4:17 pm
Just make the SEC Championship game the BCS National Championship game….as it looks like LSU and UF have the recipe for success!!
BravesFan79
May 5th, 2009
4:17 pm
Tony: pretty convenient how you failed to mention the fact that the BCS heads hired some of the top lobbyist in DC to defend them. If this was such a fair and un-corrupt system…. why would they possibly have to do this!??
buckblue
May 5th, 2009
4:20 pm
Hey Saint Nick and Bama 12 titles….when was the last time bama won a crystal?? oops nada…zero….aint got one….!!
Sean in Milledgeville
May 5th, 2009
4:34 pm
Tony,
trying to show the current system is good by comparing it to the bowl system 25 years ago is a little stretch. Your daughter must play on the softball team at Georgia and need that BCS money.
The flawed system is caused by the handful of BCS conferences who don’t want to spread the money. It’s ALL ABOUT the MONEY.
Why did the college President’s approve a 12 game season recently after telling fans that a “college football playoff system would DEPRIVE a student athlete from his studies?”
Since the BCS and college presidents are not forthright with comments and their greedy when it’s convienent I hope the whole deal collapses and they end up losing revenue.
Remember Tony, “it’s ALL ABOUT the MONEY.”
Tide4u2c
May 5th, 2009
4:35 pm
BravesFan79,
Texas was left out of it because of Big 12 rules not the BCS.The Big 12 has different rules to determine which team represents their conference.
Alex
May 5th, 2009
4:44 pm
buttblue,
Bama won their 12th national title after defeating Miami on Jan 1st, 1993. That’s over a decade after UGA’s second title. Georgia has more national recognition in tennis than they do in college football. You best focus on trying to win the east division. With Urban Meyer in control you have your work cut out.
Bama in football and Kentucky in basketball will always be the glamor jobs in respective sports. The history with both schools is legendary.
BravesFan79
May 5th, 2009
4:48 pm
Tide4u2c: that has to be one of the Weakest arguments ive ever heard! I used to be a big Bama fan back in the days of Gene Stallings, but now i cant wait for yall to get screwed over like so many other good teams have been. Lets see what your attitude is after that happens….
And how does a player from Hawaii, or Utah, or 90% of the other schools get motivated for the season? do they say “screw the national title, were fighting for a trophy of a cow and free chic fillet tshirts!”
NO OTHER sport sacrifices a good, quality, fair postseason…. in order to allow so many .500 teams a extra game.
Heres what you fans who support the BCS sound like: “Hey forget having a Real national champion, as long as i get to see 6-5 Weber State play 6-5 Mcneese State infront of 500 fans at the end of the year… thats all that matters”
BravesFan79
May 5th, 2009
4:55 pm
Tide: I was talking about all 3 teams in Texas, not just Texas.
And can you blame AL for being unmotivated against UTAH? Just like when UGA got passed over after smoking LSU in the SEC title game a few years ago and then got blown out in their bowl game.
Motivation means alot to players, and if you tell someone…. sorry but you have 0 % chance at a national title, but hey maybe u can win a free tshirt! Wouldnt that kill motivation, therefore making bowl games pointless because its not the best representation of the teams effort anyways!
Otto
May 5th, 2009
5:16 pm
Bravesfan, With the decline of baseball, and bickering about records in Baseball, I would not call any sport pathetic. Especially as a fan of the Braves who can not fill their own stadium for a playoff game.