Most people think that college football should implement some form of a playoff system.
This is the argument for why college football should leave the BCS exactly the way it is.Should college football change the BCS system to include an end of the year playoff? This is one of the toughest and most debated questions in all of sports.
There are a lot of people out there who would love to see the college football season contain a playoff to determine a national champion. Many think the current BCS system does not allow many of the top teams in the nation a chance at a championship.
Who is to say that a fifth ranked team, who has won their last six games in a row, won’t carry that streak through a playoff and win the National Championship?
Many people also believe that a college football playoff would bring a lot more excitement to the game than the current BCS system.
Now, I like an exciting football game just as much as the next person. That’s why I think the current BCS system should stay just as it is.
There are two main factors in my reasoning as to why the current BCS system should not change.
First, the reason why college football is so exciting is because every single game for every single team is utterly important. As we have seen over the past few years, a single loss, even for one of the top teams in the nation, could cost a team an appearance in the national championship game.
For this reason, every weekend of the college football season contains a slew of critical games. For the top teams in the nation–such as Ohio State, LSU, USC, etc.–each game is held in the atmosphere of a bowl game because that is how important each is.
One or two losses and a team’s shot at a National Championship is gone. Now that’s excitement.
Second, even if the BCS selected eight teams to compete in a playoff, there will be the same questions and concerns about how to pick those eight teams and how they should be seeded. Who’s to say that the ninth, 10th, and 11th teams aren’t as good as the eighth ranked team?
There would also be a lot of questions about the seeding. People would be questioning who should be the No. 1 seed, No. 2, etc. A No. 1 seed would ensure an easier path to the National Championship game than the third or fourth seed.
Both the selection of the teams and the seeding for the playoffs would be done by none other than the current BCS system. There is currently no other feasible or logical way of selecting teams and seeding them for a playoff format.
Playoffs in any sport are extremely exciting. It’s a do-or-die situation–win or go home.
My concern with implementing a playoff system in college football is that the teams and seeding will be selected by the same system (the BCS) currently used to select teams for the bowl games.
A playoff would take away from the excitement that currently accompanies every college football game throughout the season.
As it is right now, every game is very close to a do-or-die situation for the top teams in the nation. That is basically an entire season full of playoff style football.
It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.