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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > May > 03
Saturday, May 3, 2008
BCS refuses to see it’s obsolete
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several years have passed since the BCS and its mutant forefathers first proved itself to be a pox on college football.
Four months have passed since the NCAA’s board of directors punted an eight-team playoff proposal from Georgia President Michael Adams.
A week has passed since the BCS commissioner creatively spun that the system was “in an unprecedented state of health.” This ignores evidence that it’s actually the sport in an unprecedented state of health, not the postseason structure, which is closer to Randall P. McMurphy’s bunkmate.
But there is good news: It has been 65 million years since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and we still don’t really know what happened to all of them. So as slow development goes, the BCS is not alone.
“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that nothing happens quickly in higher education,” Adams said. “But I certainly believe there’s still a chance that something could happen within a couple of years.”
Adams’ remarks run counter to the general belief that college football’s logically challenged bowl system won’t change for at least six years because of existing television contracts. But his sense is that the majority of college presidents aren’t nearly as resolute in their defense of the BCS as they would have you believe.
“There’s still going to be discussion — but I want to know what went on at that meeting before I go any further out on the limb than I already am,” said Adams, who was attending Georgia’s annual athletic meetings at Lake Oconee when BCS officials were in Florida on Wednesday rejecting a “plus-one” playoff format. “I would be surprised if we had a period of six years where the BCS worked at a level where we were all pleased.”
Of the six major conferences, only the SEC and ACC openly endorsed the plus-one scenario (effectively a two-tiered, four-team playoff). Opposing: The Rose Bowl’s two linked conferences, the Pacific 10 and Big Ten, as well as the Big 12 and Big East.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said he “felt vindicated” by the overwhelming opposition, given his conference has been viewed as the primary obstacle. But if that bothered Adams — alum of a Big Ten school, Ohio State — he wasn’t showing it.
“I can tell you that most of these people are friends of mind and sometimes what they say in private and what they say to the press are two different things,” he said. “Again, I want to wait to find out what happened before I say too much. But I can simply tell you that like most things in higher education, there’s not unanimity.”
Traditionalists have long opposed a playoff system, partly in the belief that it would diminish the importance of the regular season and the tradition of the bowls. It’s a legitimate argument.
The flaws in their argument are twofold: 1) Any BCS system eats into the bowl tradition, and bowl games had matchups before the current structure. 2) College football’s leveling landscape, which has made for an increasing number of “upsets” and unprecedented debate over polls, makes this a logical time for a more exact science.
In retrospect, Adams’ eight-team proposal might’ve been too big of a leap for college presidents who are worried about perceptions that they speak out of both sides of their mouth, which, of course, they do. (Breakfast meeting: Pass legislation to strengthen academics. Lunch meeting: Approve 12-game football schedules.)
But sticking with the status quo seems nonsensical. A plus-one is the best compromise. There would be debate about what four schools belong in the semifinals, but certainly no more debate than there is now over the rankings. And in the end, there would be clarity.
ACC commissioner John Swofford is walking a tightrope. He’s a proponent of a plus-one system, but he’s also the coordinator of the BCS. Therein lies the reason for his convoluted remarks last week: “We have decided that because we feel at this time the BCS is in an unprecedented state of health … we have made a decision to move forward in the next cycle with the current format.”
When asked about Swafford’s comments, Adams actually laughed.
And then: “John’s a friend of mine. Generally I think he’s a good guy and a good thinker.”
Just not in this case.
“I don’t agree with John that everything is working well in the system. I respect John. But when 80 percent of the public [according to polls] thinks there’s something wrong with it, that says something to me.”
There is hope. Millions of years from now, scientists will debate whether the BCS ran out of food, was hit by a meteor or just fell into a tar pit.
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