System still broke but it can be fixed

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© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 11, 2001

There is a price to be paid when you are a fan of college football. It is the knowledge that any time you stand to cheer, there is someone lurking in the shadows, prepared to pull the seat out from under you.

It happened this week. Again. A season of uncommon glory has been tainted by a system of unnecessary folly.

Imagine a world where the competitive process meant more than computer printouts. Where bureaucrats were locked in luxury boxes and pollsters were a relic of the past. Where the end of the season was something to be savored and anticipated rather than dreaded and debated.

Imagine a world where Big Ten champion Illinois would play Pac-10 champion Oregon this Saturday. Followed by ACC champion Maryland playing Big East champion Miami. Followed by two more quarterfinals.

Imagine a world where a team would not lose its regular season finale 62-36 and then have 41 days of silence before playing for the national championship.

Imagine common sense.

The argument for a Division I-A college football playoff is old, but the pain today in Oregon is fresh. Likewise in Colorado.

Try telling the Oregon senior that his rage is misplaced. That this story emerges every few years and has grown tired and old. Explain to him why it makes perfect sense that his team won its conference, finished second in both major polls and was bypassed for the national championship game by a team no better than third in its conference and fourth in the polls.

This is the world given to us by powerful bowl committees, myopic conference commissioners and frightened school administrators.

This is the Bowl Championship Series.

A concept that has given us 20 meaningless bowl games and one sham of a national championship. Other than that, it's a keen idea.

You want to know how absurd the BCS is?

Teams are penalized for winning and rewarded for being inactive. Tennessee beats Florida to win the SEC Eastern Division and then gets bypassed by the Gators for the Orange Bowl because the Vols lost the SEC title game. And Nebraska was better off not reaching the Big 12 Championship Game because it still made it to the Rose Bowl without the risk of losing to Texas.

You want to know how absurd the BCS is?

The national championship picture was drawn Friday and no one was even aware of it. Texas Christian's upset of Southern Miss on Friday night apparently provided Nebraska with the BCS points needed to hold off Colorado and earn the Rose Bowl trip. Nebraska beat TCU in August, so its strength of schedule rating improved when the Horned Frogs beat Southern Miss Friday.

And I wasted my Friday night watching a video of A Knight's Tale.

This is not meant to be a rant against Nebraska. When the season is measured as a whole, the Cornhuskers can make a legitimate argument for the Rose Bowl. The problem is Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Illinois and even Florida could make similar arguments. The problem is the system forces a decision to be made selecting two teams, when six or more are legitimate contenders.

There is nothing wrong with Florida or Nebraska losing the league title and still winning the national title. The Ravens won the Super Bowl as a wild-card team. The Marlins won the World Series as a wild-card team. How many basketball teams have won the NCAA title after losing in their conference tournaments?

With a playoff system, teams get second chances but under strict guidelines. Lose, and you're done. As opposed to the BCS, which allows you to lose and then pray TCU comes through weeks later in a game under the nation's radar screen.

The arguments against a playoff system are laughable.

You cannot argue it takes too much time out of a student-athlete's schedule when you have playoffs in place for divisions I-AA, II and III. You cannot argue bowls are sacred when you have already trashed conference allegiances and moved the Rose Bowl two days away from the actual Rose Bowl parade. You cannot argue bowls give two dozen teams a chance to end the season on a high note when no other NCAA sport has a similar provision.

The only true argument involves money. As in, how much is there to reap and who does the reaping?

There is no reason a playoff system could not be incorporated into the current bowl structure. A system that allows the winners of the six major conferences, and two at-large bids, to play four quarterfinal bowls this week, two semifinal bowls the next week and a national championship on New Year's.

Using that scenario, Miami, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Illinois and LSU would have had automatic berths with Nebraska and either Tennessee or Florida getting the final bids. There would have been widespread interest from across the country and excitement would have built week to week through December.

A playoff system along those lines would take the bureaucrats and administrators out of the picture.

Which means, of course, it's probably doomed.

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