College Football & The BCS Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

College Football & The BCS
 
Many college football fans and media outlets are calling for the end of the BCS.  Even President Obama would like to see the end of the BCS to determine the college football championship.  The BCS was created by self serving individuals who only had the mighty dollar in mind.  It can also be said that the major conferences were in bed with the aforementioned individuals who formed the BCS.  However, remember what college football was before the institution of the BCS.

Prior to the 1999 season the college football National Champions were crowned by writers who knew little about the sport.  Because of this, there were several years where multiple champions were named and oftentimes following a loss.  In those days two teams could be undefeated but the #2 ranked team would be left out.  If it was not for the BCS, two of the greatest games in the history of college football, Texas vs. USC and Ohio State vs. Miami, would not have happened.  The BCS took precedence over age old traditions such as the Rose Bowl, which pitted the Pac 10 vs. the Big Ten.

There is no other sport that has the tradition and pageantry of college football.  Rivalries between college football teams fill the landscape and even if the teams have no chance at the coveted BCS trophy they play hard and with passion.  Often you will find that college football stadiums are filled to capacity every Saturday as chants are cast, bands play and rivalries trophies are displayed.  In addition, bowl games galore are on display across the nation after regular season college football games, stadiums are still filled with fans and television ratings remain very high.  Yet, with all that, college football is the only sport where a true national champion does not exist.  It is now time for college football to have a real champship game.  Thus, I introduce The Dryden Plan:

The Dryden Plan will provide a fair playoff system which will truly crown a National Champion and debunk the myths surrounding a playoff system.

First, let us discuss the Bowls -  Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls and hundreds more now a days.  Often, those that do not want a college football playoff system state a playoff system cannot work due to the complications of the bowls.  So what!  Who cares!  A true playoff system is much more important than the a bowl system which only has certain college football teams attending. 

The theory held by many including the BCS is that teams in power conferences are clearly better.  That is a bunch of crap.  Maybe that is why the BCS selection  of undefeated Boise State to play undefeated TCU a few years back was made by the BCS.  Maybe, and collectly, the BCS did not want Boise State and/or TCU to embarrass the big boys and cast their claim to the National Title.  Boise State has played in and won their share of big games over the last few years.  In addition, those who think the SEC is unbeatable have very short memories when in 2008 the Alabama Crimson Tide, who had only one loss, faced lowly Utah and got beat.   The Utes proved during that game that they had as much right to the BCS trophy as Florida did yet they received no recognition.  Boise State did the same thing in 2007 by upsetting BCS power Oklahoma in an all-time classic.  Maybe that is why many of the lesser power house college football teams joined a major conferences this year.

As for the selection process, it seems that BCS bowl officials make their the selections not on merit, but instead on how many fans a team can draw.  This  process is a joke and especially unfair to those not in a power conference.

In addition, the college football teams that make up the NCAA often state there is not enough time to have a playoff system and that it would interfere with scholastics.  If you believe that, I have ocean front property avaiable really cheap in Arizona!  The college football athletes are hauled all over the country in all major sports without a second thought given to academics.  In addition, power conferences and non power conferences have at least 1 month off before the Bowl games are played.

The Solution is the Dryden Plan.

The first step is to scrap the major bowls.  Bowl games are played in warm weather cities or domes which takes away from the true essence of the sport.

So what exactly is the playoff system.  Well, to start out, the playoffs will include sixteen (13%) out of the 120 teams in the FBS.  The sixteen teams will be selected from the computerized ranking system currently in place.  Our society is now based on technology.  So let us get in the modern world.  Just like the NIT tournament in basketball, which is made up of 32 teams (28% of teams participating in the post season) the minor bowls would still exist for teams that do not finish in the top sixteen similar to the NIT. 

The college football playoffs would begin two weeks after the conference championship games.  The conference title games would need to be moved up one week which would be easy to do with the bye weeks etc.  Round one of the tournament would be played on the higher seed's home field.  The importance of the regular season and excitment would still exist as teams not only play to qualify for the playoffs but also jockey for position.

The Quarterfinals in the Championship Tournament would be played in a region format on neutral fields; East, Midwest, South and West.  The games would be played in large stadiums, a major bowl stadium perhaps, with the true experience and excitment shown at college football games.

The Final Four of the Championship Tournament would be played two weeks after the Quarterfinals in the new year.  The bye week would build the momentum and anticipation for the college football championship as the sports world would be focused on the Final Four.  The Final Four could be played at a major bowl site.  The National Championship would then follow a week later, also at one of the major bowl sites.  This format would allow the National Champion to truly be decided on the field.  

The Dryden Plan would bring even more excitement to college football than alway exists and still bring in a ton of money.  Most importantly, it would decide a champion on the field.

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