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Pros and cons of a playoff
Hunters divide the calendar year into segments that are defined by their prey: deer season, duck season, moose season, etc. Whatever you think about hunting as sport, it makes use of cool shorthand -- unless you're a deer, duck or moose. In the world of college football, we recently entered BCS season. Grab a 12-gauge and fire away at the Byzantine system used to select the national champion. Background: We are in Year 3, B.C.S. That was preceded by several years of systems that were known as the Bowl Coalition and the Bowl Alliance, in which men in suits tried to streamline the process of slotting teams into bowl games to perhaps get a truer national champion in the final polls. The BCS (Bowl Champion Series) is the newest incarnation of this process, in which polls, win-loss records, schedule strength and a bunch of computer ratings are jumbled together to produce weekly rankings. After the last of these, on Dec. 4, the teams ranked 1 and 2 play in the national championship game (this year, the Orange Bowl). Anybody not ranked 1 or 2 is left out. The system is complex, imperfect and not as absolute as the NCAA basketball tournament, which makes it easy fodder for anybody with a laptop and a slow day. This fall is particularly sticky. The way it stands right now, you've got unbeaten Oklahoma at No. 1, followed by Florida State, Miami and Washington, each of which has one loss. Problem is, Florida State is ranked ahead of Miami, despite losing to the Hurricanes, and Miami is ranked ahead of Washington, despite losing to the Huskies. Florida State and Washington have finished their regular seasons. Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State Saturday and Kansas State on Dec. 2 in the Big 12 Championship Game. Miami hosts Boston College Saturday. The way it looks, Miami probably can't pass Florida State, even by crushing Boston College, and can only reach the Orange Bowl if: a) Oklahoma loses one of its last two games; or b) Oklahoma wins its last two games so convincingly that the Sooners displace Florida State at No. 1 in a couple computer rankings, dropping Florida State to No. 3 overall. This type of talk compels people to demand that college football institute a playoff system, because it would be simple, fair and exciting. I agree with that, but there are a few things you need to know before going forward with that argument: 1) The BCS is flawed. (Duh.) 2) The BCS is contractually in place for another five years, through 2005, so you're stuck with it for now. 3) The BCS, the Bowl Coalition, the Bowl Alliance -- and the bowl system in general -- were not created as alternatives to a playoff-style tournament. They were created to keep control and money in the hands of the bowls and major football-playing universities (instead of the NCAA, like with the hoop tournament). Don't be naive about this point. I have never been a playoff guy. In fact, I have spent long hours writing and arguing the merits of leaving college football alone. I realize that bowls, polls and computers will often burn some deserving team while rewarding another, and that there will often not be closure at the end of the season. Just in the last decade, the true national champion was in dispute in '90 (Colorado or Georgia Tech?), '91 (Miami or Washington?), '93 (Florida State or Notre Dame?), '94 (Nebraska or Penn State?) and '97 (Michigan or Nebraska?). On none of these occasions did the earth open up and swallow civilization. I've always felt that any sort of playoff would dilute college football's wonderful regular season. In an age when so many sports sacrifice the value of their regular seasons for a loud and lucrative playoff of some sort, college football remains delightfully old-fashioned. The games matter. I covered Florida vs. Florida State last weekend. That was a playoff game in the regular season: The loser is dead. Same with many other games during the season. If there was a postseason playoff, the regular season would be terribly diminished. I've written ad nauseum that a loss in November would mean little if it only cost the loser a higher seed in a postseason tournament. In many ways, I think that for all the flaws in the system we've seen this fall, the regular season still provides many of the answers. If Florida State gets passed by Miami and complains, tough. Shouldn't have lost to the 'Canes. If Miami finishes behind Florida State and complains, tough. Shouldn't have lost to Washington. If Washington carps, too bad. Shouldn't have lost to Oregon. I still believe in all of this. I also believe that there will be a playoff when the current BCS contract expires. There are too many forces compelling it, the top five being money, money, money, money and public opinion. The university presidents and conference commissioners will cave in for the 2006 season and there will be some sort of playoff, with power conferences finding a way to control the cash. I will watch it enthusiastically, and I am sure it will be a terrific December or January show. I just won't enjoy October and November nearly as much as I once did, and that will be sad. |
