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Converted OK, I finally get why college football needs a playoff
I don't like the BCS. Yeah, yeah, I know: me and 10 million other college football fans. But this is different. This is a big moment for me. I've been arguing against a college football playoff and in favor of keeping the bowl system for the better part of a decade. (And getting some mighty abusive mail in the process; keep those cards, letters and e-mails coming.) I've never subscribed to many of the arguments put forth by my fellow anti-playoff folk. Too many games? Bah. Division I-AA, II and III programs play 14 or 15 games to decide a champion, and the globe continues to turn. Too much time away from the classroom? Double bah. Most Division I-A guys are football players first and students second. Those that aren't have long learned how to manage their time. If these were the only factors, I would have supported a playoff years ago. My argument has always been this: College football has the only meaningful regular season among the major U.S. sports, and a playoff would ruin that. At this point in the discussion, I would usually point out that a late-season loss by Oklahoma at, say, Texas A&M, would extract a whole lot less emotion if it only meant that the Sooners would then become a No. 6 seed instead of a No. 2, and would still have plenty of time to recover for their playoff-opening game against Mississippi State. No matter how corrupted the system becomes, games in October are still hugely important in college football. You can get eliminated before Halloween; just ask Florida. And that makes every weekend special -- there's no coasting in the college game. I would really hate to lose that. And the poll/bowl/BCS system preserves it. Time out. I'm not wearing blinders here. I understand that the BCS was formed not to keep smiles on the face of regular-season purists like me or even to settle the question of what team is the national champion. The BCS was formed to ensure that the major Division I-A power conferences keep control of the bowl money. If there was a playoff, the NCAA would control the cash and your SECs and Big 12s do not want that to happen. Hence, the BCS. That's an ugly reality, but as an issue it's entirely separate from the good that comes from a rollicking, pressurized regular season. I still say there's nothing cheaper than a late February college basketball game between two Big Dance-bound teams. Pride is the only thing on the line -- the same situation as when my brother and I played one-on-one in the driveway, lo those many years ago. Nobody was paying to watch. But last weekend at the Miami-Florida State game, I had an epiphany of sorts. While watching the Hurricanes (a very good team, I think, that plays up or down to the level of the competition) toy with the Seminoles, I realized that I would love to see Miami and quarterback Ken Dorsey play Oklahoma and safety Roy Williams, and that it might not happen. I turned to my good friend Mark Blaudschun of The Boston Globe, an emotional proponent of a college football playoff who has tried on many occasions to convert me, and said, "We need a playoff." Naturally, he fell off his chair. Here's what's happened to change my mind: I no longer feel that college football is capable of sorting out its own problems. In truth, the BCS is a flawed system that annually gets rescued, like when Oklahoma ran the table last year to avoid the embarrassment of Florida State being named national champion after losing at Miami. The sport is evolving every year, moving more toward a parity that will make polls and computers incapable of sorting out a national champion. Here we are in mid-October and 10 of the top 18 teams in the country are unbeaten, representing six conferences. It's not just possible, but likely that three or more will finish unbeaten -- or, worse yet, that one will be perfect and half a dozen will have one loss. A bunch of people will get left out of the hunt. I desperately do not want a huge, everybody-into-the-pool playoff system, some sort of December Madness. I still believe in the sanctity of the regular season. The answer? Sorry, I don't know. How about four teams (this year, I'd love to see Miami, Oklahoma, UCLA and Fresno State or Maryland get together)? How do we pick the quartet? Aren't we tired of polls and computers? Maybe a selection committee, like the NCAA basketball tournament's, a group of smart people that analyzes computer rankings and on-the-field results and tries to apply common sense. It might work. I'm ready to give it a try. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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