Football Playoffs and the BCS

2005-11-27 Posted at 06:41:38 PM

Just watched the  University of New Hampshire (UNH)
 football team, my Alma Mater win the opening round of the Division I-AA Football Championship against  Colgate University  in their quest to be National Champion.  If the system was the same as it is for Division I-A, there wouldn't be a playoff.  UNH would be declared Division I-AA Champion based on the season final poll. They wouldn't continue to play and the arguments could start as to whether they were really better than Hampton, Richmond, Appalachian State or any number of teams.

I'm sure that all the UNH players and the players from any other team that was ranked first at the end of the season would want to  prove it on the field.  That why it makes so much sense to have  a playoff to determine the champion.   Division I-A Football decides National  Champion by a poll.  As far as I know all other sports are decided by direct competition.  Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Lacrosse, Swimming, Track and Field decide championships in head to head competition.  Imagine a National Track and Field
Championship where the put all the performance times, heights and distances in a computor along with two polls to decide the National Champion.  That is how the do it for football.

Division I-A  determines the National Champion  the BCS System.  The BCS system was developed to
 determine the National Champion.  A complicated formula involving six computer rankings and two polls ranks the teams.   Then the top two teams play in a bowl game to determine the National Champion.  Unfortunately,  every year a deserving team is left out of the game.  Last year Auburn University had an unbeaten team in a very tough conference but were denied the opportunity to prove they were the best

According to the web site the  BCS System
"..was designed to determine the national champion for college football while maintaining and enhancing the bowl system that's nearly 100 years old."   The key part of the statement is "maintaining and enhancing the bowl system.."   The bowls are huge money makers.  The fear is   playoffs would distract from the minor bowls.  The assumption is that the major bowls would host the  playoffs.  

 The bowls generate huge amount of money.  I counted 26 Football Bowls which would mean 52 College  teams have another pay day.   If they went to a 16 team playoff for the top 16 teams and played the games at the major bowl sites it would diminish the appeal of the other bowls.  A 16-team playoff would
take a total of only15 games. With a Championship series being the big thing the minor bowls would lose their appeal and disappear.  A 16-team playoff would be the maximum that would seem feasible.  An 8-team playoff would be more realistic.  An 8-team play off would mean only 7 more games.  A workable number that would determine a true champion on the field.  

Meanwhile Division I-AA, II and III will continue to find out who is truly National Champion on the field of play not at the ballot box.   The "best team" doesn't always win.  There are always upsets, crazy bounces of the ball,
off-day but the Champ is the one who actually wins on the field.

I'll be rooting for my team, UNH to win three more games that would make
them the true Division I-AA National Champions.   As nice as it is to be ranked number one at the end of the regular season and even if they lose the next game and are knocked out of the playoffs,  I'm sure that without a doubt all the UNH players would agree that the way to become National Champion is on the field not the ballot box .


Wally McRae


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