BCS

The calls for a football playoff system has become a resounding chorus in the last three weeks. Commentators speak of the BCS as being in shambles. A proposal calling for a twelve teams play down system has strong support. The top four teams would play the winners coming out of the next eight playing against each other. Hence, there would be four rounds, or three extra games for a team to make it the bowl championship team.

Fans, it is argued, will love playoff games being played throughout the month of December. Some of the existing bowl games would become part of the playoff. There will be some politicians who will jump on the bandwagon and leverage this issue to garner support. Those charlatan politicians are demonstrating that they are shallow and are more concerned with gaining public office rather than focusing their efforts on solving society’s much greater challenges.

For various reasons I cannot support any of the playoff proposals. The chief three are:
1. One of the enjoyable aspects of college football is the inter-college arguments of which team is really better than others. I like buzz, chatter and the debates. This year is not a disaster as some have noted.
2. The BSC and the polls are not in shambles. The number of top ranked teams being defeated to low ranked or non-ranked teams has demonstrated that the college game this year has a high level of parity. In the past, three or four teams have dominated the game. Hopefully, such parity will be more frequent in the future.
3. The operative word in the whole debate is the “college”. The players are students, not professionals. Yes some are more players than students, but let us not forget that the bulk of the team is made up of students, students who in December have major papers due and final exams. Those who are arguing for a playoff system seem to be asking these players to sacrifice their studies and grades for their entertainment and to satisfy their desire to settle the argument as to which team is really the best team.