Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I give you the death of the B(C)S

Beyond all of the "logical" arguments for ridding College football of the stain that is the bowl system, having a real champion decided on the field and not by a bunch of drooling old men, coaches or SID's being the first, the reason for killing the travesty that is the B(C)S was always going to be financial.


Therefore: I present to you the end of the B(C)S.


Charging the band (the BAND!) full price for tickets is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen. Charging player's families full price (I would give you a discount ticket, but no...full price) is next.

Unlike many pundits however I don't blame the Bowl Committees for what they have done. I blame the NCAA and Major College Football for allowing it to happen. For years the administrations and conferences have had the power and ability to do the right thing for the right reasons. That was never going to happen because of greed. Now they have the chance to do the right thing for selfish reasons. I'm OK with that, provided they end up doing the right thing.


A top 4 playoff system and requiring 7 games to qualify for bowls would do three important things:


1. It would move the determination of the National Champion to the field. I would also stipulate that you have to win your conference championship to be eligible for the National Championship.

2. It would speed the way to 4 super-conferences of 16 teams each. This would be the "new" Division 1 Football. Everyone else could go down and play in Division 1-A, while continuing the FCS (now Division 1b I guess) and their playoff system. Let the jockeying for position begin.

3. Football on New Year's Day could get back to being football on New Year's Day. No Bowl game can be played after that date...period. Any team signing on to play in a bowl game after that date faces fines and punishment.

Of course, this would mean the end of the Big XII, VIII IX X Twelve as we know it. It would also mean the end of the Big East Conference. What would remain would be the Pac-16, the Big-16, The SEC and the ACC. Each with 16 teams, two divisions each. Gone would be the argument that the small schools "deserve a chance". I would argue that a relegation system be put in place so that the bottom three of each division be lowered to Division 1-A, while the top three in affiliated lower conferences be promoted. This would allow small-schools who hire and recruit (see: Boise State, TCU -although they would probably be top tier in any new organization-) correctly to "get a shot" at winning it all. The model already works on a National level, in European League soccer. Think of the excitement teams would have in D-1a that they don't currently have now: A chance for promotion if they finish strong, meaningful games at the end of the season for championships that really matter.


The most important thing is to get rid of the B(C)S, to stop it cold. If the over-billing of LSU is the catalyst for this then I only have one thing to say.


Geaux Tigers!