My NCAA playoff manifesto
Maybe it’s because I went to a Division III football school. Maybe it’s because I like logic and reason. And maybe it’s because I happen to think sports championships should be decided on the field, not by computers and polls. But the BCS system (while better than what we had before) is all messed up.
To have a true NCAA champion, you need a playoff that involves every conference champion. If the NCAA allows the Sun Belt conference into Division I, then its champ deserves a shot at the title.
Since there are 11 conferences, the simplest plan is to have a 16 team playoff with 5 at-large berths. So, by using the latest BCS standings, you’d have a playoff bracket something like this:
1. Alabama (SEC champ, 13-0, #1 BCS)
16. Troy (Sun Belt champ, 9-3, unranked)
8. Ohio State (Big 10 champ, 10-2, #8 BCS)
9. Georgia Tech (ACC champ, 10-2, #9 BCS)
5. Florida (At-Large #1, 12-1, #5 BCS)
12. LSU (At Large #4, 10-3, #12 BCS)
4. Texas Christian (Mountain West champ, 12-0, #4 BCS)
13. Penn State (At Large #5, 10-2, #13 BCS)
———
3. Cincinnati (12-0, Big East Champ, #3 BCS)
14. Central Michigan (MAC Champ, 11-2, unranked)
6. Boise State (WAC Champ, 13-0, #6 BCS)
11. Virginia Tech (at large #3, 9-3, #11 BCS)
10. Iowa (at large #2, 10-2, #10 BCS)
7. Oregon (Pac-10 champ, 10-2, #7 BCS)
15. East Carolina (Conference USA champ, 9-4, unranked)
2. Texas (Big 12 champ, 13-0, #2 BCS
First round games will be played at the higher seed. The rest will be played at bowl games. So what do the detractors say?
1. Those small conference schools don’t deserve a shot.
OK, sure. I can buy that. Troy and ECU don’t play at the level of Alabama or Texas. Understandable. Your beef isn’t with me, it’s with the NCAA. If the NCAA deems the Sun Belt conference a Division I-A (or FBS or whatever) conference, then they should be eligible for a championship, just like the SEC or Big 12 champion. I would have no problem with dropping smaller conferences down to I-AA or something else. But until that happens, small conferences deserve the same consideration as the big boys.
Plus, if you open up the millions upon millions of dollars the BCS conferences receive every year, what’s not to say a smaller conference school like Boise State, Fresno State or Bowling Green can’t build a program to compete?
2. Too many games.
The Division III national champion will play 15 games. The Texas high school champion plays 16. If those guys can do it, why not the best college football players in the country?
Oh, and spare me the “they’ll miss too many classes” excuse. Most of the games are during winter break, and they’re on the weekends. I don’t hear that problem with basketball or baseball or hockey players who play numerous games on weekdays. You know, when school is in session.
3. It makes the regular season meaningless.
This is my favorite. Apparently, just because there are 5 extra slots in a playoff, no one will care about what happens in the regular season. First, think logically. Two at large teams are from the Big 10 and SEC, with one from the ACC. You don’t think USC’s loss to Washington mattered? Miami losing in OT to Clemson didn’t matter? BYU dropping an early season game to Florida State? West Virginia losing to South Florida? Pitt’s last-second loss to Cincy? Just one loss here or there meant the difference for several teams between a playoff berth and going to a lesser bowl.
Even for the playoff teams, seeding is huge. You think Florida would rather face Troy or have a rematch with LSU in the first round? Georgia Tech would have a much better seed had they beaten Georgia or Miami. Instead they would face Ohio State.
Now, the emotional. Football is an event in America. Tailgating has become an industry. In case you haven’t noticed, stands are full on Friday nights for high school football. The NFL is the most lucrative sport in the country. Do you really think that NCAA football would be any different? I would say that a playoff would create more excitement.
