The Case Against A BCS Playoff

It's that time of year again. When ESPN and SI columnists begin the yearly whine-a-palooza about how there should be a tournament system for football to determine the "real" number 1 team in College Football. -- As a side, whey do they always call it "College Football" and not "University Football" or "Higher Education Football" -- back on point...

I posted the following in my clan forum and liked it so much, I thought I'd blog it.

1. First and foremost, there already is a playoff system. #1 will be playing #2 to determine the champion. So what do we want now? A four team playoff? 6, 8 or 12 teams? Division AA has a playoff system that started as 4 teams, is now at 16 and they're asking for 20. Where will it end?

2. Who determines who gets in? If it's based on BCS rankings then there's no need to do a playoff system because the rankings already tell you who's number 1. If we don't think the BCS is accurately picking a number 1 team then we can't expect that system to accurately choose #1 - 16 or whatever number of teams get in to set the field. If we only go with the conference champions, then we still would end up with TX and 'Bama feeling shafted in favor of teams like Buffalo (as the case would be this year). Doesn't seem like anything is really "fixed" then does it?

3. Can the fans afford it? Currently, if you're an alum that wants to go to your school's bowl game, you can make arrangements for flights, hotel etc. to one destination, once a year. Can you afford to go to 2-3-4 different venues all over the country to support your team. The real advantage college football has over the NFL is the fans. They are ravenous supporters of their teams. Mostly because they're the students and recent grads. If we go to a system where only the wealthy and corporate can go to the games, how does that effect the atmosphere of the game itself. Do you want a corporate championship game?

4. Do we really need it? Does any one's life really hang in the balance if "your" team misses the championship game and "settles" for the Rose Bowl or Peach Bowl or Cereal Bowl or whatever? Is your contentment in life really tied to such trivial matters? If it is, then a playoff system probably isn't going to make you any happier anyway. I thought the primary purpose of universities and colleges was to educate and the athletic programs were to provide a distraction from the grind of studies for the students. Now, I know you'll say that's a naive position and it hasn't been that way for years, but that doesn't mean we should just accept it as ok.

5. Part of the "fun" of the discussion of who should or shouldn't be #1 is the fact that it is a subjective and sometimes flawed system. There's no such discussion in the NFL. Even when the Patriots went 18-0, once the Giants beat them, the Giants were the best. For all intents and purposes the discussion was over. You'll still find folks who talk about who should or shouldn't have been number 1 in 1976 or whatever. Do we really want to end that?