I’m going to get 4-6 years for this- but the BCS is the best thing yet

Defending the BCS to the best of my ability.

Yes, you read the title correctly. No, I am not high (I think). My goal is to defend the BCS, a crime so serious that if I lived in Texas I would get lethal injection. In California, I’d get mobbed and beaten and bruised up by all the USC fans. Even West Virginia and Louisiana hold their grudges for Marshall and Tulane, both of whom ran the table, and played in the Motor City Bowl and Liberty Bowl respectively.But despite my unpopular stance, I will defend the BCS. I will die for it.

The prior systems

Anyone care to defend the Bowl Alliance or Bowl Coalition?

You know, the 2 failed systems of the 1990s in which the PAC-10 and Big Ten were not even represented?

Have I lost you? Yes? No?

The Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl got together and had a formula to determine who played in each bowl like the BCS, but they were missing a conference or two.

So, in 1996 Florida vs. Florida State in the Sugar Bowl AND Arizona State vs. Ohio State in the Rose Bowl were each equally important in deciding the national champion, with Florida State and Arizona State each undefeated while the other two had one loss. Even BYU was somewhat in the race and got into the Cotton Bowl.

Then in 1997 Michigan and Nebraska split the title. Scratch the system.

The BCS 1998

1998 was a successful year for the BCS.

Undefeated Tennessee was in by record. Four teams had one loss, but Florida State was clearly the better and they got in. The only criticism was that 11-0 Tulane did not qualify for any bowl, as did #3 Kansas State. Rule changes prevented that from happening again.

The BCS 1999

Though for a while it looked like undefeated Virginia Tech could get beaten out by a one-loss team, they still got in to face fellow unbeaten Florida State, who qualified for the second year in a row, and won a thrilling game.

Every team that got in deserved it, except for Stanford, but they won the PAC-10. 7 of the top 8 teams qualified. Marshall ran the table, but they did not get in.

The BCS 2000

Oklahoma clearly deserved to qualify. The controversy was over whether Miami (FL), Florida State, or Washington should be the second team. Florida State got in, despite losing to Miami (FL), who lost to Washington. The other 2 teams won, while Florida State lost.

But no system is perfect. A playoff would hurt college football financially, and it would diminish the end of the college football season. Plus, there will always be 2-3 deserving teams left out. This was only the first mistake of the BCS. How many can you name of the NCAA Basketball tournament?

The BCS 2001

Miami was the clear #1. No point arguing that. The controversy was in who the opponent should have been.

Nebraska was fresh off a devastating loss to Colorado, who went on to win the Big XII title. Colorado had two losses. Oregon was 10-1, but they had a weak strength of schedule. Winner: Nebraska by 0.06 points of Colorado.

This was a mistake, but any doubt that Colorado should have been the team was gone when they got crushed against Oregon. Miami defeated Nebraska handily. It should have been Miami vs. Oregon, but yet again, would have it mattered?

Also, the top 5 teams, including 2 at-large teams, all were in BCS bowls. How can you argue that?

The BCS 2002

The perfect scenario. #1 Miami (12-0) vs. #2 Ohio State (13-0). The at-large teams were Iowa, who was the co-Big Ten champ with Ohio State and USC, who would go on to beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl. The top 7 teams in the land all qualified, with the eighth team being ACC champion Florida State.

Another unarguable season.

The BCS 2003: The only true failure

It took seven years for their not to be 2 unanimous, unopposed national champions, by far a record.

USC, LSU, and Oklahoma all had one loss, and Oklahoma was ranked first despite getting destroyed in their last game to Kansas State. USC, ranked #1 in each human poll, was relegated to 3rd. USC and LSU split the national title, a setback for the BCS.

But it was bound to happen.

It happens all the time in other sports.

Every year there is a coin-toss to decide draft spots in the NFL, and numerous times they came close to that, looking at point margin to decide playoff teams.

Hockey breaks their ties with who had more wins overall, even though that team would have had more losses as well.

The only true way is how baseball does it, taking all the tied teams and playing a one-game playoff.

But you cannot do that is football. You cannot go through a list of tiebreakers because the schedules are more different than Bush and Kerry’s platforms.

The BCS is the closest thing we will ever have to producing true champions. A playoff is not plausible and will diminish the prestige of college football.

And you cannot say that mid-majors have no chance. Miami (OH) went 12-1 last, year and ranked 11th. Had they ran the table they would have been 6th, the necessary spot for them to qualify. But go ahead to complain.

At least the BCS works in 99% of the situations. Can the Electoral College?