For those of you under the assumption that the BCS has officially agreed to a playoff format to determine the NCAA FBS National Championship … t
hink again.
The BCS, which allows and invites about as much competition as the Madden/NFL video game market, has thrown another wrench in to the plans of the public, to finally, and for once, anoint an FCS (formerly Division-1A) undisputed champion.
Recent reports are that the BCS is finalizing a plan for a playoff system.
That’s one way to put it.
Another is to look a little closer, and to realize that the most recent BCS National Championship Game, which is one of the BCS’ biggest ways to make money, which took place between two conference rivals (which should and did cause aneurisms for many people to even consider the idea), was the worst ever from a profitability stand-point.
No one watched it. Nope, you didn’t, put your hand down. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded 311,591,917 U.S. citizens as of 2012 (we can assume most have a TV), and the Neilson Ratings reported that just over 24 million watched the game, or at least had it turned on in the corner. It was in fact the lowest rating for a BCS game, EVER. For comparison’s sake, 111 million Americans watched the Super Bowl this year. Are we saying that 87 MILLION more people like NFL football but not its colligate counterparts? It’s possible.
Last year, the National Championship Game set records for the largest overnight cable television audience, ever. Was that due to the game being broadcast on cable for the first time? Perhaps. But this year’s game being the lowest rated ever, and also only available on cable television, would suggest that people legitimately wanted to see Oregon-Auburn, and that those same people, for whatever reason, did not want to watch LSU-Bama.
Ok, let’s say you did want to watch this year’s game, that you were one of the 24 million Americans with that proud memory. Riddle me this hotshot, how many parts of that game do you recall that did not involve Trent Richardson running ragged, or the sweat dripping from the kicker’s forehead being displayed in crystal clear HD as the nation (or at least a small portion of it in Tuscaloosa…) watched in anticipation of Alabama’s 21-0 shutout, the first of any during the BCS’ 14 year reign of terror???
Do you even remember someone from ‘Bama or LSU that is not named Saban or Miles, or commonly referred to as “the Honey Badger”? I didn’t think so. Even NFL personnel scouting and drafting their talented defensemen from those teams had to double check the names. There wasn’t one super star college player facing another, nothing with the drama of Young VS Leinart, or Bradford VS Tebow for that matter. It was a starless show, and we all knew it. The BCS knew it too, and now they are scrambling to fix the mistake they made in front of what they hoped would be a national audience, and the fact that only fifteen percent of the nation cared about the national championship, is very telling, and even they cannot ignore it.
So what is their grand plan? Well by now you have probably heard (I’ve said it three times now, has that not been clear? Ok, Bueller….Bueller… Bueller… Yes, they are looking in to invoking a playoff system), that they intend to implement a playoff system, as early as the 2014 season. Yep, we still have two more years of crap.
The plans under review, are either a four-team playoff bracket, or a system that allows for the two top-ranked teams standing after the bowl games are played, or for a “+1” system, which would presumably have BCS #2 in a playoff with BCS #3 for the right to play BCS #1. All of these plans are better than the current “plan”, and yet they all stink.
For the record, there are 120 registered members of FCS football, and we’re led to believe that the “experts” and a computer program can pick the four best out of them? Leaving 116 teams hung out to dry? Would that same computer program or the experts even, have picked the 2011 New York Giants if requested to run a similar system for the NFL? Or would they have picked the 2010 Green Bay Packers? Or how about the 1968 New York Jets?! There is always a team no one sees coming, and that includes the damn computers as well. Computers telling us who to put in championship games is the first step in letting SkyNet happen. Watch the movies, it’s there. Don’t think so? Well, there is a professional baseball team in Miami, that was not true at the time Back to the Future Part Two was hitting theaters, hell it wasn’t even true at this time last year, but then these weren’t exactly around before year either…
Ok so those weren’t the best of reasons, and that is because this is all based on an entertainment standpoint. We all know that the BCS sucks, no one has a clear plan to fix it, and the old plan stunk as well, so we can’t exactly revert back, now can we. What we can do is scream in horror that last year, two conference rivals from the same division in that conference, played for the national championship, all while the Big 10 has twelve teams and the Big 12 has ten teams. Egad, times are tough.
So no, I do not have some grand scheme. A good scheme was laid out here, and thus far the BCS has ignored my calls/claims.
At the end of the day, the BCS does need to update their plan, and they may be on the right track, however leaving the top 116 teams in the nation out of the picture seems a lot like putting a band-aid over a wound and not really tending to it.
It’s true that all good things must come to an end, but first they need to get off the ground. The BCS is not the first highly popular football system to be hated by enough people that guys with time and money sought after a new solution.
Point of fact: the NFL, widely considered one of if not the most entertaining sports leagues in the country, or even the world, at one time was a lot like the BCS. Bland, boring, and in black and white no less. Along comes the pass-heavy and exciting AFL, in full color, and on cue from Joe Namath’s guarantee, kicks the NFL in the junk, on national television, against the Johnny Unitas-led Colts (he didn’t have any bearing on the game, he spent most of it from the bench watching career backup Earl Morrall struggle…), and the rest is history.
Without that game, Tom Brady never wins a Super Bowl in a Patriots uniform. There are no Broncos for Peyton Manning to sign with when the Colts decide he’s washed up, but not really. There is no AFC-NFC bad blood, because the AFC doesn’t exist, get it? Hell the NFC wouldn’t even exist, there would just be the NFL, and there actually wouldn’t even be a Super Bowl… which is the last thing anyone wants to lose.
Right now, the BCS needs to be kneed in the shorts by Boise State or TCU or whatever Cinderella team comes along next, and break this thing wide open. A massive underdog has to win the title, and force a shake-up.
Let’s face it, the BCS are tyrants. They talk and we listen. They say, and when do, and it’s not any fun. My case is this: When was the last time TYRANNY was any fun? Anybody out there see Sadaam or Hitler and think hey, that’s the guy I want to party with?! Nope. You see the most interesting man in the world, and the women hanging off his arms, and you say pointedly to the nearby barman, “I will have what he’s having”.
Four teams? Give me a break. The NBA sends 16 of 30, the NFL 16 of 32, and even NCAA basketball sends 68.
Four teams? They may as well script the damn thing. BCS Football brought to you by the WWE.
You deserve better, I hope you will demand it. I hope you will not watch the drivel they keep sending out, that’s the only way to fight this thing. The AFL did it, and you can too. Hit ‘em where it hurts, in their wallet. The BCS makes their money off of ratings. They say ignoring a problem will make it worse, however in this case, the best thing you can possibly do, is to look away.
You can start now. Seriously, stop looking, thus end-eth the lesson.
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