It's Time for a College Football Playoff System

LSU's BCS Championship Victory Proves (Again) the Need for a College Football Playoff

May 29, 2008Very interesting article about the future of SEC football and college football. A bit scary because there is more than a nugget of truth there. Check out Future of College Football.

May 1, 2008 Sorry, no playoff system for another year at least. The Conference commissioners met to discuss the "Plus One" format which would get 4 teams into the post-season with a shot at the College Football National Championship. No vote was taken on the proposal. The Big Ten and Pac-10 voiced strong opposition (due to their Rose Bowl tie-in). The Big 12 and Big East also opposed any change (not sure why). Only the SEC and ACC even wanted to discuss the matter. SEC Commish. Mike Slive presented the plan, although no one actually said they supported any change in the current BCS system. If you have comments, please post using the form at the bottom of the page. Thanks.

The time has come. Time for a college football playoff. Last night's Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Championship game is the strongest proof yet.

Congrats to the LSU Tigers for their 2007 College Football BCS Championship. It's their second BCS Championship in 5 years (only repeat Champ in the decade long BCS era).

Congrats also to Southeastern Conference Football. The LSU win was the 4th BCS Championship by an SEC team (3 separate teams); 2d straight; and, 3rd in the past 5 years. No other conference has more than 2 BCS Championships.

But, what did the game mean beyond that?

It proved, once again, the desperate need for a playoff system in college football's top division [the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)].

The problem is simple and obvious. Only two teams can qualify for the BCS Championship Game. History has firmly established that rarely will only two teams be the indisputable "best" teams at the end of the year.

This year, for instance, fans of Georgia and USC can make particularly strong cases that their teams should have had a shot at college football's national championship game. And, it's tough to argue that.

So, LSU is a worthy champ, no doubt. But, the BCS system still left college football fans unsatisfied.

We are left to wonder – what if? What if Georgia or USC, or West Virginia, Missouri or Kansas had played in the Championship game?

Heck, Kansas finished the season with a 12-1 record. The best record of anyone; yet, they end up with no shot at the NC game, and ranked 7th!

To be fair, the BCS does the best it can with its fatally flawed system. If you could only pick two teams at the end of the regular season to play for the National Championship – LSU and OSU were probably the right teams to pick. See Ohio State vs LSU BCS Controversy.

Same thing last year; Florida and OSU were the right teams to pick. See Florida vs Ohio State: BCS Got it Right.

The problem is that there are almost always more than two teams that deserve a shot. And, the only way to fairly determine which team is the best is to play it out on the field.

The biggest flaw in the BCS system is that it simply cannot give appropriate weight to difficulty of schedule. The result, frankly, is that the system is skewed in favor of teams that play weak schedules (as Ohio State has the past two years) and against teams that play tough schedules (notably SEC teams). See BCS Unfair To SEC for further analysis of the issue.

This particular problem is what led to Ohio State playing in the last two national championship games. In retrospect, after watching OSU dominated on the field in both of those games, no one could doubt that a playoff system would have "weeded out" the Buckeye's before they made it to the Championship game.

But, the really scary thing is that, while Ohio State was ranked #1 by the BCS the past two seasons, it practically took divine intervention for LSU and Florida (last year) to even get invited to the BCS Championship game.

You will recall Pitt's amazing win over West Virginia earlier this year and UCLA's upset of USC last year. Without those minor miracles, the teams that trounced OSU in the past two national championship games would not have even played in those games.

We shouldn't have to rely on miracles and the BCS getting "lucky" to even come close to "getting it right."

It's past time for college football to have a playoff system. Just like every other sport in America does.

For specific college football playoff proposals, and to make your own comments, check out the articles and visitor comments at What Do You Think of the BCS? and Ohio State vs LSU BCS Controversy.

If you are looking for college football gear, visit SEC Sports Fan Store.

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