The Demise Of The BCS Is Closer Than We Thought

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/265851-the-demise-of-the-bcs-is-closer-than-we-thought

The majority rules eventually, and college football is no exception.

    Ever since the Bowl Championship Series was created in 1998, fans, coaches, and players alike have petitioned for a playoff, rather than polls that determine who gets to the national championship. Whether it's 16, 8 (as proposed here), or 4 teams is beside the point: college football needs a playoff to determine the national champion. The 2003-2004 season can be viewed as one the biggest failures of the BCS thus far: LSU, Oklahoma, and USC were all undefeated and only two got a chance to win the national championship. Just last year Utah went undefeated and beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl when many say they should have been playing in the national championship.

    This year, the BCS will face another blow to its reputation: There will either be 3 or 4 (maybe even 5) undefeated teams in 2009.

    Florida will have to beat LSU and Georgia (which they should do) to take an undefeated record into the SEC championship game. UF has a good chance of running the tables until Atlanta.

    Alabama has to beat LSU and Ole Miss (which they should do) in order to set up a mega matchup between Florida in the SEC championship. It's very likely that the winner of the SEC will be undefeated. That makes 1.

    Texas takes on Oklahoma and Oklahoma state before the Big 12 championship game. I think Texas has a very good shot at beating both teams and coming out of the Big 12 championship game with an unblemished record. Now it's 2.

    Boise State is a lock to go undefeated. Hawaii, Tulsa, and Nevada are Boise's biggest remaining games. In other words, add Boise State to the undefeated list. It's up to 3 now.

    Houston's toughest game left is Mississippi State. Boise State has a better chance at going undefeated, but the possibility of Houston doing it too isn't very far fetched. 3 or 4 on the list now.

    TCU is the dark horse to go undefeated. BYU and Utah pose the biggest challenges to the Horned Frogs. A possible 5th undefeated team. 3 or 4 or 5 teams on the list now depending on how good you think TCU and Houston are.

    And of course, if - no when - Boise State goes undefeated (or for that matter: Houston or TCU), the Bronco's faithful will voice there opinions quite loudly. I wouldn't surprise me if the BCS gets replaced by (far superior) playoff system faster than most people think. Yes, the demise of the BCS is closer than we thought.

My NCAA Football Playoff Proposal

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/191010-my-ncaa-football-playoff-proposal

There has been much talk lately about the BCS and college football playoffs in general. I think an eight-team playoff would generate much more buzz and revenue than the current championship system.

I think that the top eight teams in the BCS should play in a single elimination playoff (with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed). This would still make every regular season game important to every team. The bowls used would be the Gator Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Here is how the set up would look from last year:

Round 1:

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Penn State (Gator Bowl)

No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Texas Tech (Cotton Bowl)

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Utah (Orange Bowl)

No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 USC (Sugar Bowl)

Round 2:

Gator - Sugar winners (Fiesta Bowl)

Orange - Cotton winners (Rose Bowl)

Round 3:

Winners of both bracket sides (BCS National Championship Game rotates every year)

The maximum games this would add to a team's schedule is 3 games, which isn't too bad. There should be 12 bowl games outside of the eight team playoff. This would generate more buzz than the current system, resulting in more money for college football. A game could be dropped from the regular season if three games is too many extra games to play.

Overall, this system would maximize the legitimacy and excitement of the post-season while not diminishing the value of the regular season.