Just An [Accurate] Opinion

The Broncos are out to dismantle the flawed BCS system, one smashing victory at a time.

     Here we have the greatest debate haunting the world of college football: Does the BCS system work or is a playoff necessary to determine the true champion? My answer: Yes. The BCS system works. Pretty much anything that names a champion would work, though. There are ideas out there that I know can revolutionize the college football postseason.

     The fact that this debate takes place across the country every day shows just how big of an issue it really is, and how much the current system needs to be changed. It is a problem that must be approached with urgency. To start off my argument, I’d like to throw one question out there for the world to think about. How many major sports exist in which a team can go undefeated and not be crowned champion at the conclusion of the postseason? The answer: None. 

Much more after the jump:

     Let’s take a look at some other major sports. Major League Baseball has perhaps the longest season in big time sports (I say big time because we’re including college and professional here) and they also have an extensive playoff system. 4 teams get in from both the AL and the NL making a total of 8 teams. The first round of games is decided in best-of-5 series, while the rest of the rounds are decided in best-of-7 series. Seems fair enough, right? A team could potentially lose a whopping eight games, ONLY in the playoffs, and still be crowned champion when all is said and done. The NHL and NBA both have playoff systems similar to that of MLB. You can lose several games in the playoffs and still advance. Hell, win all of your tournaments in golf and you’re automatically the world’s best player. The same goes for tennis. The NFL has a playoff system where it is one-and-done, but teams can get into the playoffs with an 8-8 record (sometimes even worse, as we saw last year with the D-hawks).

     Now take a look at college basketball. A recently increased field size of 68 teams play over the course of a few weeks to decide one champion. This is, without any shred of a doubt, the greatest single sporting event known to mankind, in all of history. This tournament, known as March Madness, brings absolute thrill to millions across the country every year. This tournament provides it all: teams with raw power, teams with speed, upsets, Cinderellas, elite matchups, and in the end, a very deserving champion. Teams are seeded by a special tournament committee and then thrown into a chaotic bracket. Last team standing wins. How could you draw it up any better? You can’t. But there is a very easy way to draw it up worse, and that is known as the BCS.  

     Every year there is controversy at the conclusion of the regular season in college football. Every single year. It’s unavoidable. Actually, it isn’t completely unavoidable. All you need is two undefeated teams, and then no teams with 1 loss. That way, no 2-loss team can argue that it deserves it over one of the two undefeated teams. “It” being the chance to play for the title. However, when you get a mix that includes three undefeated teams and four 1-loss teams that are all very deserving of having that one shot at the title, then you run into trouble. If you’re reading this and you think you know what’s coming up next, well you’re damn right I’m going to talk about Boise State, because they get screwed by the BCS year, after year, after year—at least during the Kellen Moore Era, which seems like it has been going on for a decade already. In all reality, Kellen Moore intends to be the quarterback for the Boise State Broncos for the rest of his life. Herby just reported that he doesn’t want anyone to challenge his all-time wins record in FBS.  

     Let’s go back to 2006 for a moment. Boise State had been on a hot stretch to begin with, as their worst record to finish a season in the 21^st century has been 8-4. Wait, that’s their worst record? No way. They live in Idaho. I don’t even know the capital of Idaho off of the top of my head (if you need to look that up, you should think twice about finishing this article), and there’s no way there can be a good football team there. What is there in Idaho anyway? But yes, 8-4 is their worst record in the 21^st century. In 2006, they finished the regular season 12-0, looking to make a big bowl game going into the bowl season. They got matched up with 11-2 Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a good team, no doubt, but a 12-0 team against an 11-2 team? If you ask me, Boise State was shafted by this matchup. They deserved a higher ranked opponent. So what could they do? Sit back and pummel Oklahoma, winning 43-42 in OT on one of the gutsiest play calls of the modern era. BSU finished the 2006 season 13-0 and did not have a chance to play for the championship. Undefeated? Yes. Champions? Not a chance. Literally.

2007. Broncos go 10-2 after the regular season. Who cares. A 10-2 team shouldn’t typically be playing for the title anyway.

2008 now. Boise goes 12-0 in the regular season and manages to draw what I believe to be the single worst bowl matchup in BCS history. They drew TCU, another undefeated team, and one not in a power-6 conference, at the time. In other words, the BCS took two undefeated teams that had a chance to show to the world that they CAN play with the big boys, and stuck them together, in a brawl between two teams that quickly became known as “The Cinderella Bowl”. Seriously BCS? First off, Boise State and TCU were both good enough to be in the championship game that year. Secondly, you didn’t put either of them in the big one. *Moans*… alright, fine. So put them against true powerhouses so they can show to the world that they can play with the studs from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East and PAC-12, too. This was absolutely absurd bowl placement and just flat out disgraceful to these schools, in my opinion. TCU wins this one, finishes the season undefeated, and does not get to play for the championship title, exactly like Boise State in 2006.

2009. No, please don’t do this to me again. Please, BCS, I’m on my knees asking you to give Boise a chance. Boise got it done during the regular season, and finished 13-0. You can’t do any better than that if you’re Boise. Guess who else finished the season undefeated? Oh god. No. Say it ain’t so. TCU went 12-0 this season and wound up in the same bowl with Boise yet again. Need I say more? Well, I’m going to say more, but this evil speaks for itself.

2010. Boise finished the regular season 11-1, because they lost 31-34 at Nevada late in the season when their receivers literally couldn’t catch anything in the second half and the kicker missed two game-winning field goals. I would definitely agree with the BCS that Boise didn’t deserve the title this year. However, they drew the Utah Utes in their bowl game, a 10-2 team at the time whose only two losses came at the hands of TCU and the Fighting Irish, by 40 and 25 points, respectively. In other words, they got killed in the 2 big games on their schedule. And now they get to play Boise State, who was 2 missed field goals away from an undefeated season and BCS bowl? What’s with this pattern of giving Boise State unbelievably unfair bowl treatment? Do they have to go undefeated, winning every game by 50 points in order to make the title game?

     Maybe they just have to get really freaking lucky, and have every team in the nation lose 2 games to get in! No, no, no! That’s why Mark May loves the BCS! Ah, Mark May...

     Mark May can go sit on a cactus for all I care.

The Broncos came into 2011 dressed for success

     OK, back on track. I believe 2011 has arrived (at least in this article… 2011 has been here awhile), and Boise State has been nothing short of what they usually are. In week 1, they went into the Georgia Dome—which is a very hard place to play, especially if your team is from Idaho—and beat the Bulldogs with some breathing room, 35-21. A few weeks later, they got their chance at revenge against Nevada, their only loss from a season ago, and beat them easily 30-10. Last week, they beat a high-powered Air Force triple option 37-26, and their only test left is TCU in a few weeks. News flash: They’re going to win out. The question is, will they get a chance to play for the title?

     They better. I don’t want to sit back and analyze every remaining game for the current top 10 college football teams in America. That makes me sick. Any team can lose on any given day, and upsets WILL happen. You have to trust that as a fan. So, I’ll sit back and enjoy the ride, and I’ll watch Stanford get upset by Notre Dame and I’ll watch Oklahoma come back to upset Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Wow, didn’t I just say I wasn’t looking ahead?

     So what I’ve just done is provided you with the necessary information to decide for yourself whether or not the BCS is fair. If you’re still unsure, think about it this way: If three teams go undefeated, one of those automatically won’t be playing for a championship. Does this diminish the championship status if 2 undefeated teams exist at the end of the postseason? Does it diminish the status of college football as a whole? Does it make it less “worth it” to teams? Or can they actually buy into “this bowl matters”? You decide.

     My opinion? We need change, and we need it now. Some ESPN employees disagree, however, and their main argument is money. Obviously players, coaches, teams, and fan bases would prefer a traditional 8 or 16 team playoff. Notice how a similar system exists in every other major team sport; it’s like that for a reason. But money triumphs, in the end. There are around 30-35 bowls and the system in place makes a lot of money on every game, theoretically. So, if the money is so important, I don’t see why we can’t take the 4 biggest bowls, also known as the BCS-qualified bowls, take the 8 teams that would be playing in those bowl games, and form a tournament? This way, a true champion is decided, and the NCAA and all its partners, along with TV revenue, still get those big fancy checks at the end of January.

     I’m a high school student. I’m not going to act like I know and understand all of the intricacies of TV revenue, bowl game revenue, or even how NCAA partners factor into all of this. I’m just a boy in an AP Economics class. But, I am smart enough to realize that those minor bowls do make a lot of money. Otherwise, they would be totally unnecessary, and most likely wouldn’t exist--nobody wants to see Minnesota face off with Virginia in the Gaylord Hotels' Music City Bowl. 

     In my proposal, the NCAA would drop the top 4 bowl games and create an 8-team tournament out of the 8 best teams. The first round would be four games, with the second round being two games, and the third round being the true championship. That’s it, a 3-week postseason, which is actually a shorter period than what it is now. It could start a week before Christmas, and resume right after New Year’s, so that student athletes could spend 4-7 days at home for the holidays. It’d end right around the same time that it does in the current system. So, why not, NCAA? My plan isn’t perfect, but neither is the BCS. The BCS is unfair and it needs to be thrown out as soon as possible. But, again, I’m just a simple high school boy with big dreams. I can’t possibly initiate a change like this. That is why we need leadership from the top. We need the NCAA and all of those special college football employees at ESPN to start talking, and start considering other options.

     We can’t be afraid of change; conferences are realigning, and the postseason needs to start its makeover as well. Until that happens, we have time to sit back, relax, and cheer our asses off for the Cinderella week in, and week out. Viva Los Broncos!

- Brian Simpson