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Fixing the BCS in an afternoon…
Everybody loves money. Like the song says ‘it makes the go world go ‘round.’
So it’s not surprising that College Football is any different, especially since nowadays, there’s so much of it.
When the Bowl Championship Series was first pitched by former SEC boss Roy Kramer, you know the suits from around the leagues lit up. They had a plan that would leverage collegiate football to a new level, and the broadcast networks were more than happy to foot the bill.
Though it seems like the BCS has gone through more tweaks than NASCAR, they really haven’t changed the concept’s one fatal flaw. So while the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 12, Big 10 and PAC 10 continue to rake in the bucks by the tens of millions, the rest of the D-1 conferences have been crying foul and occasionally throwing each other under the bus to try and get a piece of the pie.
This is recently evidenced by the University’s of Memphis hiring former Big East Commissioner Mike Tanghese to try to knock down the gauntlet for UM and find their way to Easy St.
This particular attempt will fail, as will others like it. The fact remains that no one wants to carve out a slice for any newcomers. The money leagues get to spend millions on mahogany locker rooms, while us poor folk best not forget our shower shoes.
Other representatives in government and education have called for the scrapping of the current system in favor of a playoff format, but that’s not going to happen either. This is a rather ignoble attempt to hide the money, under the guise of fair play. What the reality would be is a post season dominated even more by the rich guys. Schools like ECU would be further marginalized in the process.
The one wild card in all this is the NCAA, who could bring everyone to the table, provide a sense of fairness and act with the best interests of all of it’s member institutions at heart.
Jettison the entire notion of ‘automatic qualifiers.’ Keep the bowls in place, keep everything in place, except for the bigoted notion that some schools deserve entry just for waking up in the morning and being the shiny happy people that they are.
‘Poof’ they’re gone.
If the ACC and others of their ilk are as confident as they would have us believe that they are deserving of these prestigious and lucrative bowl berths, then surely they wouldn’t mind earning it on the field. Why hide behind the automatic bid, which sends a league member virtually regardless of how good they are? Beat us fair and square and I promise to take my virtual soapbox and go home.
I don’t pretend to believe for one second that you would see dramatic changes in our near term bowl match-ups, but over time some of us will sneak in there. The mere removal of this one legal loophole in the BCS law would automatically level the playing field for everyone involved, and in so doing remove the prejudice out of the entire process.
If you are Florida or Texas or USC, you wouldn’t have anything to worry about, just like you don’t have anything to worry about now. You’re good and you deserve the best bowls the NCAA and the BCS can serve up. But even in the short history of the BCS, you can find several examples of those who should’ve played, but didn’t.
So set up a conference call, BCS people, and we could sort out the entire business in an afternoon. Unless that is, you’re afraid to put your money where your mouth is.
Comments
By Den
September 29, 2009 1:41 PM | Link to this
Add a 16 team playoff & there you have it.
By NCAA
September 29, 2009 3:38 PM | Link to this
Having an ECU, a Boise State, TCU, and / or etc play in the National Championship game will open up a lot of eyes. Boise State and TCU have a shot this year. Boise is already at #5, and more than likely they will be #2 at the end of the season.