So, the participants are set for the Mythical “National Championship” of college football. It’s Florida vs. Ohio State, thanks to USC’s loss to UCLA, and we’re going to be treated to about three weeks’ worth of whining about how Michigan got jobbed.
I pretty much agree with Charles Kuffner on this one, though. I dislike the Gators intensely, but I’d rather see them in the “title” game than Michigan. If nothing else, it’s probably the match-up that’s most likely to hasten the introduction of a playoff system, and get the scare quotes off “championship” for college football.
The standard line from college football purists attempting to justify their insane system is that “every game counts.” The fact that an early-season loss can completely knock a team out of any chance to win a “title” is a feature, not a bug, because this way, “every game counts.” (Leave aside the fact that this just encourages teams to schedule their early games against St. Mary’s of the Blind, and win 84-0, to impress the pollsters…)
Well, here we have the ultimate extension of “every game counts.” Michigan already played Ohio State, and lost. They had their shot, now give somebody else a chance. If you’re going to decide the “championship” on the basis of a single manufactured game, that game can’t be a rematch. If you want to see a second round of Michigan vs. Ohio State, put in a playoff, and let them earn their way into a real championship game.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Boise State the only other unbeaten team? If you ask me, they should get a shot at the championship. Sure, you can talk about schedule difficulty, yadda yadda, but I say give the kids a shot.
I didn’t really want to see an Ohio State-Michigan rematch, either. It is rather galling the Florida jumped Michigan in the polls for that reason alone – voters wanted a new game – as never do pollsters have a team jump an idle team like that after only a ten point win during the regular season. Folks are at this point blatantly making it up as they go along, and the sooner they switch to a playoff the better.
I agree that there should be a playoff, but only if they do it right. Eight teams, and only conference champions are eligible. Take the conference champs from the six BCS conferences (Big Ten, Pac Ten, SEC, ACC, Big East, Big 12), and let the champs of four other conferences (MAC, Mountain West, C-USA, WAC) have two play-in games for the other two spots (I suggest MAC vs C-USA and Mountain West vs WAC). Then use the four traditional Jan. 1 Bowl games (Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton) for the first round, with traditional conference affiliations where appropriate, so we can see the Big Ten and Pac Ten champs play on New Years Day as God intended. Semis a week or so later and the championship game the next week. It’s too sensible, though, it will never happen.
I thought that this was a physics blog and that BCS was Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer, which will be celebrating its big 5-0 anniversary next year.
I thought that this was a physics blog and that BCS was Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer, which will be celebrating its big 5-0 anniversary next year.
Now that you mention it, Bose-Einstein condensation of Cooper pairs of football writers would be a better method of choosing a national champion then what they’re doing now…
Opinion: there should never be a playoff system for college football. This is college football, not professional. College hoops gets away with March Maddness because the time and travel factor is relatively small for the large economic reward. If college football were to have playoffs, it would signal a complete abandonment of the academic background that gives the teams their identities.
We (cynics) already know that college football is all about the profit, and any attempt to extend more games into the college season would not be to have an undisputed champion, but to earn the NCAA and those elite programs more cash. With a larger economic reward, schools would spend more money to win those opportunities, and there’d be dynasty situations like the NFL had before the salary cap. The NCAA would also start limiting the allowed number of players on a team, which is a flaw in the current NFL, and would detract from the collegiate football experience when Rudy may have the intangible spirit, but there isn’t room on the roster.
Besides, college football is imperfect and sloppy, which is what makes it fun to watch. Shouldn’t the “championship” system be just as indeterminate?
I was at SMOFcon this weekend where we spent a tense few hours watching football. Bobbi is a UCLA fan; Janice is a Florida fan; I am an OU fan. So eventually there was much rejoicing, but it was tense for a while.
MKK–who loves watching football in the SMOFcon consuite and explaining football to the guys