A Step in the Right Direction

You would think this would normally be about the NFL Draft tonight. I caught good chunks of it, was surprised by the sheer number of trades, but there were a lot of good picks. Some picks were question marks, but overall it was a good round. As 32 guys have left college to go join the pros, something else is leaving college football as well.

Supposedly a shard of Alabama's BCS trophy. Just like their "championship".

If you are a regular reader of Confessions of a Sportscaster, you know I have a heavy anti-BCS bias. So when I heard early during the college football offseason that there was talk of change to the postseason format, I was a little leery, but hopeful. As we've gone into this week, I've gotten really optimistic. The conference commissioners... plus the ever outdated AD of Notre Dame are all brainstorming and discussing ideas for a fairer and brighter end to the season.


Unfortunately for football fans, the conference commissioners think that an 8-16 team playoff "diminishes the regular season" while completely forgetting that they gave a team that lost to the #1 team in the nation last year a second chance to beat them. They don't seem to understand the idea that not only would a larger playoff make money, it's a much fairer system for deciding a national champion.

As of right now, it seems like the committee wants to go with a "plus-one". Having 4 teams play for a title is certainly much better than having only 2, but it's still heavily flawed. Even if we only go with conference champions for the new postseason, there's still too heavy a reliance on coaches polls (biased due to politicking and best-interest voting rather than honest thoughts on the best teams in the nation) and computer formulas that don't even take margin of victory into consideration.

Don't get me wrong; a plus-one is an improvement over the current BCS system. But it's not enough. I'm still advocating the 16 team playoff (the 11 conference winners plus 5 at-large teams, usually 1 or 2 loss teams). By bringing in the conference winners, you still have importance of the regular season, while having a loss or 2 doesn't necessarily kick you out. And we get an exciting conclusion to the season.

The biggest questions that remain revolve around host sites and the big bowl games. Personally I'm still of the opinion that they either become part of the playoffs in the final round (3rd place game on down the line for the BCS ones) or keep them separate but wait for the title game pairing to be announced so games like the Rose Bowl can keep their traditional matchups as best as possible.

As for playoff sites, I'm okay with the neutral site idea if it comes down to that, but I still believe having a higher seed host would make things so much more interesting. For example, having a playoff game at the Horseshoe in Columbus to mix tradition with a great system? Love the concept. There may be some logistical things to work out, but I can't imagine it being unrealistic. The biggest problem with hometown is making sure out of town visitors have hotels to stay at (which, given how big game days are as it is, I can't see it being that much of an adjustment).

The biggest obstacle I continue to see from fans who want to keep the status quo (seems to be largely SEC people, but I'm sure there's more beyond just that conference) is how some schools don't deserve to go to the title game. It either stems from a bad loss (see Oklahoma State's loss this year to Iowa State) or a "weaker" schedule (see every Boise State season it seems like). These are the people that should be most in favor of a playoff. Think a team lost a game they should have won, or didn't play a tough enough schedule to play for a title? You shouldn't be scared of them. After all, they're an inferior team and you'd beat them en route to a title, right? What are you afraid of?

I'll admit; no system is perfect. Not even the 16 team playoff is perfect. I think it's the maximum number of teams we can include before it becomes diluted, but probably the best possible way to really decide a national champion, something the current system does not do. A plus one is a step in the right direction, but not a total victory. So, my fellow revolutionaries, the fight must go on. But we are making strides and making a real change for the good of college football.