The Playoff System
One of the most debated topics in college football is whether or not it should switch to a playoff system. As of right now only two college teams have the opportunity to play for the national championship. These two teams are chosen by a ranking system approved by the NCAA. The ranking system is called the Bowl Championship Series, more commonly referred to as the BCS. The system has been in place since 1998. The BCS rankings are determined by a combination of polls and computerized selection methods. There are factors that decide the ranking of each team: The Harris Interactive Poll, The Coaches Poll, and computer rankings. The The Harris Interactive Poll is made up of former players, coaches, administrators, and current and former media who submit votes for the top 25 teams each week. The Coaches Poll is voted on by The USA Today Board of Coaches which is made up of 61 head coaches at Division I FBS colleges. The Computerized rankings are based on a number of factors.
The current BCS system is sufficient for crowning a national champion. A playoff system needs to be put in place. Every year, at the end of the season, there are more than two teams that deserve a shot at the national title. An eight game playoff system would definitely allow for all the legitimate title contenders to get their chance at the national title. There have never been more than eight teams that deserved to be crowned champion so this system would put an end all of the controversy. At the end of the year, everyone would be sure of who the best team was. The fans of college football would never be left guessing anymore.
A playoff system is the only fair way to decide a champion. It is a disrespect to the players, the coaches, and the fans when their teams are good enough to be national champions, but don’t get the chance to be one. There are many examples of situations in which great teams have been excluded from the national championship game. In 2004, The Auburn Tigers went undefeated and did not get a berth in the national championship game. Considering that Auburn
plays in the South Eastern Conference, which is considered the toughest in the nation, it is extremely unfair that they did not get to play for the title. How can a team go undefeated in the toughest conference in the national and not get a chance? It just doesn’t seem right, and that’s because it isn’t. Another fine example of extreme controversy over the national championship was in 2007. Prior to the last game of the season, LSU was ranked #7, but then they jumped all the way to the #2 spot when the final rankings came out. Two of the teams ahead of them lost, so a jump to the #5 spot would have been justified. A jump to the #2 spot just didn’t seem fair. Teams like #6 Virginia Tech, #5 Kansas, and #4 Georgia won their games in the final week also, but were passed up by LSU, who was favored by the media. Situations like this are why college football needs a playoff system. The current system is just not fair.
Another positive impact of a playoff system would be giving smaller schools a chance. Teams that are part of "BCS Conferences" are more highly respected by voters and the computer system because they must play harder schedules. There are a few teams that dominate their own, smaller conferences, but they don't get the respect they deserve because they don't play as tough competition as the BCS schools do. Teams like Boise State and Utah have gone undefeated multiple times in the past decade, but never have been considered for a national championship. When they have been accepted into highly respected bowl games, they have beaten some really good BCS opponents. In 2006, Boise State defeated a highly favored Oklahoma team that was ranked #10 in the nation. In 2008, Utah defeated #4 Alabama who was a ten point favorite. Both Utah and Boise State finished their seasons without losing a game and were left to only wonder if they could have won the national title. These are just a few examples of how small schools get left out and do not get a chance.
I believe that the main reason why BCS officials refuse to switch to a playoff system is that they don’t want to lose money. It receives tons of money through sponsorship from various companies. The BCS currently hosts five “BCS Bowl Games”, which includes the national championship game. These five bowls are by far the best ones with the best teams. By playing five separate games at different locations, the BCS makes a lot more money. It has long standing contracts with different television providers that hold the rights to broadcast particular games. These bowl games have been established for a very long time and have become a huge tradition in college football. Bringing these games to an end would cause a lot of controversy and would cause drastic changes in many peoples’ live who are involved with them. The BCS committee also claims that a playoff system would add too many games to the season. They claim that college football players must play too many games in a season already and that adding a playoff would just be too much. In addition to that argument, they claim that playoff games would come at a time when they would interfere with the players’ college exams.
While the BCS committee poses a valid argument for not issuing a playoff system, I can issue a much better solution to their problems. They should have each of the four original BCS Bowl Games sponsor one of the final four bowl games in the playoffs. The BCS Bowls could rotate each year to prevent controversy on which gets to host the better games. They should also shorten the regular season from twelve games to ten in order to allow time for playoff games. The first two weeks of playoff games could be held during the original final two weeks of the regular season. The National Title Game could be held in January as usual.
One of the most debated topics in college football is whether or not it should switch to a playoff system. As of right now only two college teams have the opportunity to play for the national championship. These two teams are chosen by a ranking system approved by the NCAA. The ranking system is called the Bowl Championship Series, more commonly referred to as the BCS. The system has been in place since 1998. The BCS rankings are determined by a combination of polls and computerized selection methods. There are factors that decide the ranking of each team: The Harris Interactive Poll, The Coaches Poll, and computer rankings. The The Harris Interactive Poll is made up of former players, coaches, administrators, and current and former media who submit votes for the top 25 teams each week. The Coaches Poll is voted on by The USA Today Board of Coaches which is made up of 61 head coaches at Division I FBS colleges. The Computerized rankings are based on a number of factors.
The current BCS system is sufficient for crowning a national champion. A playoff system needs to be put in place. Every year, at the end of the season, there are more than two teams that deserve a shot at the national title. An eight game playoff system would definitely allow for all the legitimate title contenders to get their chance at the national title. There have never been more than eight teams that deserved to be crowned champion so this system would put an end all of the controversy. At the end of the year, everyone would be sure of who the best team was. The fans of college football would never be left guessing anymore.
A playoff system is the only fair way to decide a champion. It is a disrespect to the players, the coaches, and the fans when their teams are good enough to be national champions, but don’t get the chance to be one. There are many examples of situations in which great teams have been excluded from the national championship game. In 2004, The Auburn Tigers went undefeated and did not get a berth in the national championship game. Considering that Auburn
plays in the South Eastern Conference, which is considered the toughest in the nation, it is extremely unfair that they did not get to play for the title. How can a team go undefeated in the toughest conference in the national and not get a chance? It just doesn’t seem right, and that’s because it isn’t. Another fine example of extreme controversy over the national championship was in 2007. Prior to the last game of the season, LSU was ranked #7, but then they jumped all the way to the #2 spot when the final rankings came out. Two of the teams ahead of them lost, so a jump to the #5 spot would have been justified. A jump to the #2 spot just didn’t seem fair. Teams like #6 Virginia Tech, #5 Kansas, and #4 Georgia won their games in the final week also, but were passed up by LSU, who was favored by the media. Situations like this are why college football needs a playoff system. The current system is just not fair.Another positive impact of a playoff system would be giving smaller schools a chance. Teams that are part of "BCS Conferences" are more highly respected by voters and the computer system because they must play harder schedules. There are a few teams that dominate their own, smaller conferences, but they don't get the respect they deserve because they don't play as tough competition as the BCS schools do. Teams like Boise State and Utah have gone undefeated multiple times in the past decade, but never have been considered for a national championship. When they have been accepted into highly respected bowl games, they have beaten some really good BCS opponents. In 2006, Boise State defeated a highly favored Oklahoma team that was ranked #10 in the nation. In 2008, Utah defeated #4 Alabama who was a ten point favorite. Both Utah and Boise State finished their seasons without losing a game and were left to only wonder if they could have won the national title. These are just a few examples of how small schools get left out and do not get a chance.
I believe that the main reason why BCS officials refuse to switch to a playoff system is that they don’t want to lose money. It receives tons of money through sponsorship from various companies. The BCS currently hosts five “BCS Bowl Games”, which includes the national championship game. These five bowls are by far the best ones with the best teams. By playing five separate games at different locations, the BCS makes a lot more money. It has long standing contracts with different television providers that hold the rights to broadcast particular games. These bowl games have been established for a very long time and have become a huge tradition in college football. Bringing these games to an end would cause a lot of controversy and would cause drastic changes in many peoples’ live who are involved with them. The BCS committee also claims that a playoff system would add too many games to the season. They claim that college football players must play too many games in a season already and that adding a playoff would just be too much. In addition to that argument, they claim that playoff games would come at a time when they would interfere with the players’ college exams.
While the BCS committee poses a valid argument for not issuing a playoff system, I can issue a much better solution to their problems. They should have each of the four original BCS Bowl Games sponsor one of the final four bowl games in the playoffs. The BCS Bowls could rotate each year to prevent controversy on which gets to host the better games. They should also shorten the regular season from twelve games to ten in order to allow time for playoff games. The first two weeks of playoff games could be held during the original final two weeks of the regular season. The National Title Game could be held in January as usual.
I enjoyed reading your post because I knew little about the playoff system and I am much more informed after reading your post. You really know what you are talking about and lay it out in an easy to understand format! Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post because I don't know that much about football and now that I attend a big football college I am able to understand what a playoff system is. I also liked how you shared your viewpoints and gave what could be positive and negative about it. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenn and Jenna.I know little about Football standings and the BCS bowl. The way you write makes it easy for me to understand. Good job!
ReplyDelete