2008 Woodie Awards
Clean up The BCS Mess
Jose Ortiz
Issue date: 12/9/04 Section: Sports
There are five undefeated teams in Division IA college football this season, and yet only four of them will be going to Bowl College Series (BCS) matches. Why is Michigan (9-2) going to the Rose Bowl, and Boise State (11-0) stuck in the Liberty Bowl?
This is just one of the many examples begging for a new system to replace the current one. The current system uses eight computers and two media polls to decide a national champion. That's like letting Olympic judges, and Big Blue, the IBM super computer, decide the presidency.
This system's design is supposed to reward teams for an entire season, rather than just one game. But what this system fails to do is uphold the football philosophy that on any given day any team can win. These are the current ideals under which both the NFL, and college basketball govern themselves. The BCS is intended to make it so that there are no Cinderella stories. No Carmello Anthony and Syracuse, no Florida Marlins, and none of those little things that sometimes happen that makes sports so exhilarating to watch.
Another problem with the current system is that it does not properly reward winning. Under the current rules, margin of victory, and strength of schedule factor into rankings. So a one-point win doesn't count as much as a 30-point victory. Granted, one may be more convincing than the other, but where I'm from, a win is a win, and you let people make their own speculations from the score.
The so-called experts are suggesting that college football add in one extra Bowl game after the championship game. Last year when the University of Southern California, and Louisiana State University split the National Championship, they would have played one more game against each other to determine a true champion. The problem comes up when there are five teams that are undefeated, and three that just had a bad day, and lost one, like this year. If the regular season determined championships in all sports, then some of the most memorable sports moments in history would have never happened.
This is just one of the many examples begging for a new system to replace the current one. The current system uses eight computers and two media polls to decide a national champion. That's like letting Olympic judges, and Big Blue, the IBM super computer, decide the presidency.
This system's design is supposed to reward teams for an entire season, rather than just one game. But what this system fails to do is uphold the football philosophy that on any given day any team can win. These are the current ideals under which both the NFL, and college basketball govern themselves. The BCS is intended to make it so that there are no Cinderella stories. No Carmello Anthony and Syracuse, no Florida Marlins, and none of those little things that sometimes happen that makes sports so exhilarating to watch.
Another problem with the current system is that it does not properly reward winning. Under the current rules, margin of victory, and strength of schedule factor into rankings. So a one-point win doesn't count as much as a 30-point victory. Granted, one may be more convincing than the other, but where I'm from, a win is a win, and you let people make their own speculations from the score.
The so-called experts are suggesting that college football add in one extra Bowl game after the championship game. Last year when the University of Southern California, and Louisiana State University split the National Championship, they would have played one more game against each other to determine a true champion. The problem comes up when there are five teams that are undefeated, and three that just had a bad day, and lost one, like this year. If the regular season determined championships in all sports, then some of the most memorable sports moments in history would have never happened.