Welcome to the Jumble: The Downfall of the BCS
College football runs deep through the traditions of our country. With college bowl week becoming almost as popular as New Year’s resolutions, the football rankings have taken on a near-religious intensity. Yet this season has been nothing short of a debacle; top teams failing, and no clear-cut champion has shown up. Many analysts propose the need for a playoff system. Pete Lefresne, sports information director, talks X’s and O’s.
Question
What is the problem with the current system?
Answer
You aren’t deciding a true national champion on the field. These teams are asked to play 11 or 12 games during a season, but then only two are selected to play in a single “championship” game based on additional criteria measured through polls. Some of these factors are beyond a school’s control and some aren’t; taken together, they’ve also contributed to producing some very flaky match-ups over the years.
Q
How are rankings tabulated, and what’s wrong with them?
A
The rankings are done through a combination of voter polls and computer polls. But I think when you analyze and calculate polls to your heart’s content; you take the intangible elements – game day emotions, injuries, and a team on a hot streak – out of the game. If this were any other sport, would people really accept a national champion being named through polls?
Q
Why keep the current system if it’s not adequate?
A
Because college athletics at the Division I level is a business, and a lot of money is made from this system - not only for the institutions, but also for the bowl games themselves. For a lot of institutions, a bowl game is a big moneymaker, whether it’s through a game payout, a boost in fundraising, or marketing money. If the NCAA ran a championship series or playoff, the NCAA would potentially get a lot of that money.
Q
Then should the NCAA switch to a playoff system, and why?
A
I certainly think it should, regardless of whether the NCAA or the BCS controls it. A playoff system would be better because the nature of sport is that champions are made on the field, with a broad pool of teams playing for that championship. It would also lessen the debate over which team is better than the other and whether or not they deserve a shot at the national championship.
Q
Is a playoff system feasible, and what would the effects be?
A
Absolutely – Division III, Division II, and what used to be known-as Division I-AA all run playoffs now and they work fine. How would it affect the current system? College football could have the best of both worlds – a larger number of teams could play it out on the field, and the schools would get to keep more of the revenue for themselves.
- Christopher Bender '10, student reporter