BCS 101: It's Broke, Fix It!

I'd never been one of those people screaming for a playoff.

That is, until now.

Look, this season has been thrilling. That's for sure. And it speaks to a shift in college football. Gone are the days where a handful of programs dominate the sport. And that's a good thing. These days, the game has much more parity (or mediocrity). That's obviously great for competition and, if it's even possible, it makes the sport that much more attractive.

But this new era of college football practically begs for a change in how college football crowns its champion. Of course, no one likes change, and new ideas are often met with great skepticism. The tradition of the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose Bowls is deeply rooted in college football history. And, that’s fine, but there are compelling reasons to make changes to the framework of this fine game, and there may even be ways to compromise tradition and the topsy-turvy nature of the modern era of the game.

While the BCS is by no means responsible for this turbulent season, it is, however, responsible for crowning a legit champion of this sport. Come January 8 there will be a lot of college football fans who will not be comfortable with who was crowned national champion the night before. I know I’ll be screaming the loudest if it’s Ohio State.

Which teams “deserve” to play in the national title game ought to be simple, but instead it is as complex of an inquiry as anything anyone ever could imagine.

Two “Best” Teams
I take this opportunity to remind fans that the national championship matches No. 1 versus No. 2—not the two best teams. In no other game do people talk about the two “best” teams playing for it all, and that’s probably because they all have a playoff. I don’t hate the current system. In fact this is the first time that I’ve ever objected to it (this objection would’ve come a year earlier had I not been a Gator fan), and if voters of the polls were consistent, I wouldn’t object to it now.

But if you’re going to be wrong, fine, but at least be consistently wrong. Inconsistent, blow-with-the-wind voting is the real problem in college football. Too many cooks spoil the soup, and there are far too many voters subjectively deciding the college football champion, i.e. ruining the soup. But, however subjectively, the voters do vote. And, if the two best teams shall play for the title at the end of the season, vote the two best teams No. 1 and No. 2 throughout the season. “Best” in week one means “best” in week 14.

In the words of Les Miles, LSU is a "damn strong” football team. I take nothing from them. But how they moved up all those spots, jumping Georgia, only after winning a game they were always supposed to baffles me. Sure LSU beat Tennessee who beat Georgia, but Georgia did beat Kentucky who beat LSU. And, of course, nowhere in the rules does it say that a team must win its conference to get a ticket to the big show.

And how Ohio State moved up in the polls while Georgia and Kansas moved down when all were idle is as clear as mud. It must not be because the Buckeyes had only one loss; Kansas is a one-loss team, too. Sure, Kansas didn't play anybody all season, save for Missouri (I guess), but Ohio State's schedule wasn’t exactly grueling either. And you can’t talk about wins and losses without talking about strength of schedule.

Having beaten the No. 1 team in the nation, only Oklahoma could make a case for jumping Ohio State or Georgia. Save for that, had voters voted consistently the title game would be Ohio State-Georgia. But Georgia was snubbed because it didn’t take the SEC.

Didn't voters realize that Georgia wouldn't be playing in the SEC title back when they voted them as the fourth best team in the nation, higher than both teams that would be playing for the SEC?

How’s that for inconsistency.

(Personally, I’m not all that opposed to letting the computers decide the match-up. That may not be the best solution, but at least it is an objective one. FYI: the computers voted Virginia Tech-LSU No.1 and No. 2, respectively)

Wins & Losses and Strength of Schedule
These things go hand-in-hand but never has this concept been equally applied to all teams in college football, especially this year. As always, the national title match-up inquiry probes wins and losses, and so will I.

Hawaii is the only undefeated team, but no one would put them in the national title because they don’t play anyone. Same thing for once-beaten Kansas.
Now, who does Ohio State play?

Ohio State’s opponents are a combined 73-71 (.507) this season. Four of those opponents had losing records, and three of which are not in the Big Ten. By record, the best teams Ohio State faced were 9-3 Wisconsin and Illinois. They lost to Illinois. LSU’s opponents are a combined 88-70 (.557). The Tigers defeated teams with eleven, nine and eight wins on the season. Not to mention, LSU plays in the toughest conference in college football. That, and The Tigers beat six top 20 schools, including defending national champion Florida. Georgia, of course, also plays in the SEC. Its opponents are a combined 75-69 (.521). Only three of Georgia’s opponents finished with losing records, two are in the SEC. Georgia’s schedule, while not as grueling as LSU’s, was not as soft as Ohio State’s.

With that, just try to justify Ohio State’s No. 1 ranking.

Stop. You can’t.

The current system rewards playing fewer games and soft schedules. That’s bad for college football.

The only reason they are in the big show is because of their storied program that makes voters feel comfortable about putting the Buckeye’s as No. 1. That shouldn’t be; Ohio State, like anyone else, has got to earn that spot. And earning that spot starts with scheduling tough games; that’s something the Buckeyes do not do.

The Solution: 16-team playoff
The thing about all of this is there's too much speculation. Let the teams play it out on the field. That translates to this: a playoff is now in order for college football. And CFU is here to show the BCS just how to fix things

Playoff
To protect the significance of the regular season, a playoff system shouldn't go too deep. Sixteen teams is a good number; it doesn't include too many teams while including just enough to make the playoffs diverse, exciting and, of course, unpredictable.

Playoff games are played weekly as teams advance and culminate in the BCS National Championship Game.

8 Conference Champs
Each conference champ from the six major conferences gets an automatic berth into the BCS playoffs, as will the highest ranked team from a non-major conference that is the champion of its conference. The other four conference champions will play a 4-team "play-in" playoff, the winner of which joins the other conference champs in the BCS playoffs.

Click here to see what this year's play-in bracket would look like

8 At-large Bids & Seeding
With 8 conference champs already in the BCS playoff, the remaining 8 teams will be selected as "at-large" berths chosen by a BCS Committee. Once the eight "at-large" berths are decided upon, all sixteen teams will then be seeded from one to sixteen and placed in a division. The division receiving the No. 1 seed will rotate annually.

A conference champ from a non-major conference who did not win the play-in playoff and is ranked in the top twelve may receive an at-large berth into the BCS playoffs.

Four Divisions
The 16 teams will be divided into 4 divisions: the “Home Depot” Orange Bowl Division, the Allstate Sugar Bowl division, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Division, and the Rose Bowl by Citi Division. The winners of the second round will be champions of their divisions, e.g. Sugar Bowl Champions. The champions of the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl Divisions play each other in the third round or semi-finals, as will the champions of the Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl Divisions. The winners of the third round will meet in the BCS National Championship Game.

BCS Bowls
Teams in the “Home Depot” Orange Bowl Division play in the Capital One Bowl and the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Teams in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Division play in the Cotton Bowl and Champs Sports Bowl. Teams in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Division play in the Outback Bowl and the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Teams in the Rose Bowl Division by Citi play in the Toyota Gator Bowl and the Valero Alamo Bowl. This preserves, and even adds to, the most significant previously non-BCS bowls.

To accommodate the semi-final round, two new BCS Bowls are added. (I made up two new bowls: the “FedEx Bowl” and the “Champions Bowl by Coca-Cola.”)

Click here to see what this year's 16-team playoff bracket would look like

Remaining non-BCS Bowls
The remaining bowls may still exist as does the NIT in college basketball.

Issues With a Playoff System
Implementing a playoff system isn’t at all easy. Many issues arise. The first—and it is huge, even fatal—is the way a playoff will effect the revenue generating ability of the bowl games. Quite frankly, few fans, especially students, have the money to travel between games as their team advances. College basketball games don’t draw the 60,000 plus (in many instances 100,000) fans that college football does. The two teams that reach the BCS National Championship Game in a 16-team playoff will have played four games in four or so weeks in four different parts of the country. That isn’t easy on the pockets of the average student.

But in a lot of ways this happens each week of the regular season; die-hard fans travel long distances to support their team. Keep in mind, though, that one of the two teams is playing at home, drawing the student body and local fans. Sure, there are loads of students who would give an arm and a leg to follow their team as it advances in the playoff, but they only have so many arms and legs. Whether a playoff can fill stadia with capacities upwards of 70,000 is not so clear.

Another issue that comes to mind is the relevance of the regular season. Unlike any other sport, in college football each and every game matters. A playoff, though, introduces a margin of error, however slight, that has always been a stranger to this game. Suddenly, that loss to Duke (yeah, right) will not send your season to hell, because “there’s always the playoffs!”

A playoff system will hardly make the regular season any, and certainly not significantly, less relevant. The reason why each game matters would be the only thing that would change. In a playoff (particularly CFU’s system), the goal is to reach the playoffs. In fact, where teams such as Tulsa (who knows!?) have the opportunity to win a BCS Championship—something they could never do in the current system—there may be even greater incentive in a playoff system. Then, in college football, you get the excitement of a possible George Mason-like run in the 2006 NCAA tournament for Tulsa in the BCS Playoffs. Any reason why the regular season is so relevant now will remain in a playoff system. Teams will strive to reach the playoffs. Of course, one way for them to do so is to win their conference (automatic berth in playoffs for major conferences; appearance in the play-in for non-major conferences). So, with each game relevant to getting to the playoff—the only avenue to winning the BCS championship—the relevancy of the regular season of a playoff system will not be noticeably lessened.

And then there’s the drama that keeps up watching this game. Might a playoff make college football less dramatic? ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich said it best:

“C'mon, let's hear it. Georgia got hosed. But LSU has two losses! Why is Illinois in the Rose Bowl? The best team is not playing in the national championship. Who is the best team? They all lost! This is why a playoff should never exist. For the next month, argue over the matchups. Argue over the BCS. Argue over Christmas dinner. It's as entertaining as the games themselves. Which you'll watch no matter who is playing. And when LSU beats Ohio State for the national championship, and that sense of finality sets in, you'll already be longing for the chaos of next season. Because this year, your team got hosed.”

Listen, I don’t know if there will ever be a playoff in college football, but I do know that a playoff won’t change the fact that I watch every regular season game I can find on tv. It won’t change the passion. It won’t change the excitement. It won’t change the drama. And it won’t change the rivalries.

The only thing that a playoff will do is add to all of these things.

—Randall Cooper