It’s Becoming More Obvious That This Year’s BCS Mess Will Bring Change
December 8th, 2011 11:42 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink
║ Schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Tags: BCS, LSU, NCAA, New Orleans
On Sunday, an LSU-Alabama rematch was locked in place for the BCS Championship Game in New Orleans. Obviously, that was going to be a problem for people from other conferences and for people who believe a team must win its league — or at least its division — in order to win a BCS crown.
So on Monday morning, we wrote that “with enough controversy, a seeded plus-one format might begin to gain some traction among schools.”
That afternoon, Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas called or such a plan to get some new consideration. On Tuesday, NCAA president Mark Emmert said that he believed some type of change would come to the BCS.
Today, the snowball continues to grow and roll.
* Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby says the plus-one model is “inevitable at this point.”
* Washington AD Scott Woodward says a plus-one plan will “eventually” happen.
* UCLA AD Dan Guerrero says he was “vehemently” against anything playoff-esque initially, “but I’m a little more open to the discussion” of a plus-one at this point.
* Kansas State AD John Curries is pushing for changes in the way all the BCS bowls are selected (though bowls always have been and always will be about tourism first, fair selections second).
* ESPN executive VP John Skipper says his network is happy with the BCS games it now televises, but “the fan discontent concerns us a bit.”
From ESPN to Sports Illustrated, the national media seems to agree that all signs point to change. And that’s a good thing.
Many people still don’t realize this, but the NCAA doesn’t officially recognize a champion in college football. For a century, we’ve had polls and coalitions and alliances and now a Bowl Championship Series to help determine who wins what trophy… but none of it is official. Thus the talk this year of a split national title between Alabama and LSU if the Tide win in New Orleans. (That talk is already growing and will continue to grow right up until kickoff in the Superdome, by the way.)
It’s time the sport decide its champion on the field… and not just in a game where people vote in their top two teams. A seeded plus-one format is the best solution. That would create a national semifinal for football. Whether the top four are chosen by committee or the current BCS rankings matters little. A fifth-place team has a lot less room to whine than a third-place team. (And no matter how much you want it, there will never be an eight or 16-team playoff under the current set-up. The only way that happens is if the BCS schools create their own division within the NCAA.)
If you’re a fan of the plus-one system, then you need to be pulling for Alabama next month. A Tide win would create more controversy and more debate and would likely bring more people to the “okay, we’ve got to fix this” conclusion. A win by LSU might dull the argument as the nation’s obvious best team would have defeated all comers, including a team that it had already beaten once on the road.
More than likely, however, the snowball has already reached the point of no return. The only question now appears to be how fast that snowball will travel. The current BCS deal runs through January of 2014. With enough debate in the weeks and months ahead, a new seeded plus-one format could be in place by January of 2015.
And as we stated above, we believe that would be a very, very good thing for college football.
ams go play somewhere....might sound dumb i think that would be a cool scenrio.
It think it would be cool to see the top 10 schools in a playoff scenrio for the national championship and bowl eligible te
Beauty pageants are for girls and that is what D-1 football is(the beauty pagent part not the girls part). It doesnt matter how good you look so far, you need to get on the field and survive and advance. No playoffs is BORING.
A four team playoff [absurdly called a "Plus 1"] is certainly better than what we have now [a two team "playoff"]. My question is if we have a four team playoff, will that not eliminate the "automatic qualifier" staus of certain conferences & thereby eliminate the main reason for many of these absurd conference realignments?
An 8 team playoff in 3 weekends - what's wrong with that? We already wait that long to get to the BCS championship game.
Plus 1 is still a scam. A real playoff is needed. Make the big change.
I like the plus-one system, but they also need to put the AP back in. As much criticism as we've been hearing about the Coaches poll lately, it's still a lot better then the Harris and neither is as good as the AP.
John,
If the BCS can "tweek" its system whenever it wants, why do they have to wait until 2015 to start a plus-1? Or have the "tweeks" all come at the end of contracts?
Also, why do you think it takes a new division in college football before there's a larger playoff format? Wouldn't the NCAA want to finally get involved before the landscape moved that far?
CanoeU02...
They can tweak the formula whenever they like, but if a plus-one is created there will likely be a change to the number of games played. That would require new television deals. Those are up in January of 2014.
As for the playoff, I think 95% of the people in college sports are against a playoff. Coaches can go to bowls and help their job status. Kids can get a trip they enjoy after a hard season. A 16-team playoff -- or even an 8-team playoff -- would cut into that.
Here's a detailed look at why a large playoff just won't work in the current set-up. Wrote this 3 years ago:
http://www.mrsec.com/2008/12/creating-the-perfect...
Now, if about 70-80 teams break off to start their own division inside the current FBS, that would be such a game-changer than everything would be on the table. But until that happens -- if that happens -- I don't see anyway the sport goes to anything more than a 4-team playoff... and even then they won't call it a "playoff."
Thanks for reading,
John
4 teams is a geat start. I would call it a playoff. Not long ago MLB had two leagues with two divisions each with a similar format. Not long ago the NFL had a much smaller playoff pool with only one wildcard in each league and only division winners in the playoff. Start with four and let's see what happens, but a four team playoff it is.
No way there's a split title. The AP would have to vote the loser (LSU) of the BCS championship game as the winner of the national champion. (That was NOT the case back in 2003) The AP doesn't have a national championship game. In every sport known to man the title game in more important than a regular season game, and especially since LSU won the regular season game 9-6 in OT, it would be nonsensical to give them the AP title. They didn't win the more important title game and they will not have beaten Bama as badly as Bama will have beaten them, even if it's only by 1 point in regulation. Yes, the AP voters may want to stick it to Bama or something like that, but they have agreed to vote for the best team in college football and if they don't even follow their own rules, they would be even more irrelevant than they already are.
Well, it would be a different situation. Bama and LSU will have played 2 games and split them. I don't think it would be unreasonable to give LSU the AP title and I wouldn't be bothered by it at all if Bama won.
If Bama drubs LSU though then I don't think that would happen.
I'm a fan of the plus-one system, but no way do I pull for bama (haters gonna hate). The strength of the SEC now having two teams has made the plus-one inevitable. Regardless of the outcome of the game, the teams/conferences at home watching are left out. They have to increase their odds in getting into the BCS.
A plus 1 would likely give us exactly what we have now. LSU would likely beat Stanford, Bama would likely beat OSU, and then LSU and Bama would play for the championship. There would still be a rematch. Bama still would not have won a conference title.
Denny...
"Likely" seems to be the key word. It might give us a rematch, but you wouldn't hear anyone complaining because all of the top four teams would get a shot. The Pac-12 wouldn't whine. The Big 12 wouldn't cry. They'd both be in. And that's the point.
Thanks for reading,
John
The top four teams (along with every other team) got a shot this year. What a plus one would do is give the 3rd and 4th place teams a SECOND shot.
Willie McGee...
If Alabama had been passed over by Oklahoma State, I doubt you'd be so quick to say that everyone got a shot.
John
That's true. But the fact remains that a plus 1 does nothing at all except give the 3rd and 4th place teams a second chance.
Technically Bama is getting a 2nd chance as well. I don't have a problem at all with a Plus One system.
Yes, and they are the only team getting a 2nd shot. Sorry I will not be tuning in but will root for Alabama. Wasnt the weekend Ok State lost in Ames the same time as the tragic plane crash which is an obvious distraction, Also the field goal went over the top of the goalpost(which gives the W to OSU), what is the rule on that? Good or no good.
Alabama and LSU are still the two best teams hands down.
Why did you delete that administrator?
It was the same weekend, but we don't know what type of impact that may have had. I doubt any of the players knew those coaches although Gundy and some of his staff may have known them and that may have been a distraction. Nonetheless, tragic things like that are not uncommon. Players sometimes loose family members in the middle of the season. Tuscaloosa was ripped apart by a tornado earlier this year and that impacts people as well. It doesn't make it any less tragic, but it's just part of life.
No other major sport in the USA EVER allowed an at-large or "wild card" team to play in the title game without a playoff system. Your logic holds no sense when comparing best practice seen in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA Baseball, etc. Unless of course, you can show me how you pick the final four in the NCAA basketball bracket and every winner of a BCS game every year though your crystal ball?
The games are played on the field for good reason. I agree that you're probably right, but if I were perfect at picking college football games, I'd be rich today.
To win the state football championship in most states you have to play 15 or 16 games with playoffs. The same with professional and D 3 football. Why should D 1 be so different?
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