Sports Product Review

Everyone complains about the BCS, but conventional wisdom is that at least it’s better than what we had before. I’m not so sure. This year, the BCS, (or, Bowl Controversy Scenario), failed miserably. Sure, if Ohio State beats Florida, BCS proponents can say the system provided us a clear-cut, undefeated National Champion. But if I’m a Michigan fan, after giving Ohio State everything they could handle in Columbus, how can you convince me my team wouldn’t have beaten the Buckeyes on a neutral field and taken the crystal trophy to Ann Arbor? There is no way to know. And what if Florida wins? Those won’t be coyotes, but Wolverines, you hear howling in the Arizona night. And since it appears there will never be an eight-team playoff, what is my solution? Fasten your seatbelts, NCAA Presidents. This earth-shattering idea is ahead of its time and may be too progressive…but listen closely and see if you can follow along. What if…we went ahead...and went back to the old-fashioned bowl game format? Scoff if you will, but not until you analyze this season’s games under the new, old system.

This year’s Rose Bowl in the traditional format? Ohio State vs. USC. Sugar Bowl? Michigan vs. Florida. Who wouldn’t want to see those two games? And get this: Want a clear-cut National Champion? You’ve got it. If Ohio State wins, they’re the champs. They ran the table, they won their conference, beat the Pac-10 Champs, end of story. But if USC wins, now the Sugar Bowl takes on a whole new meaning. 

Sure, you can look at last year and correctly point out that the BCS gave us the thrilling USC – Texas game for the ages, and that the old system would have pitted USC vs. Ohio State in the Rose and Texas vs. an at-large in the Orange. Fair enough. But that was a lucky break for the BCS, not a by-product of a good product. And to ensure we’d still get that game, my solution would have one added twist. In any season, after the final four bowls are played, if there are two teams and only two teams remaining with identical undefeated or one-loss records, those two will then play a plus-one the following week for the National Championship. The only exception would be if they had already met, in which case head-to-head prevails. In the above scenario, if OSU wins, they're the champs and the Sugar Bowl is for runner-up. If SC and Michigan win, OSU is still the National Champion by virtue of November's 42-39 win at The Horseshoe. If SC wins, and Florida beats Michigan, we'd end up where we are today with the Gators - Buckeyes in the title game. But at least we would know that Florida is deserving. Goodbye controversy.

Critics of the old process say that too much was left in the hands of the voters and that the National Championship was often too subjective, which was true. But is the new system any different? Michigan fans don't think so. Did the BCS satisfy Auburn or USC fans when they were excluded from title games in which they felt they belonged? If you look back at BCS history, sticking with the old-fashioned bowl game match-ups would have provided us with more thrilling (and traditional) games, and, in many cases, an only-one-left-standing conclusion. But if January 2^nd rolled around without a definitive winner, a plus-one would have likely settled the deal. And the mention of January 2^nd brings me to my strongest argument for going back to the old days.

New Year’s Day. The BCS doesn’t work. Nearly everyone who doesn’t have a vested interest will admit that. But what it has done is robbed us of what used to be the greatest day in sports. Remember what it was like groggily getting out of bed January 1, knowing that the holidays were over, that soon it was back to work or back to school, but then remembering with hazy joy that today was a succulent, all-you-can eat buffet of college football championships? There were years that four teams, playing in four different games on Jan. 1, all had a legitimate shot at the trophy, depending on how things shook out. The drama and intensity of those games often built to an evening Orange Bowl crescendo that made basketball’s Final Four seem minor league by comparison. Post-BCS? When is the last time you watched a non-National Championship Orange Bowl game with any interest? Give me my morning Cotton and Gator Bowl appetizers, followed by an overlapping Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and late-night Orange feast. Let the voters vote. Let the media fan the flames. It can’t be any worse than it is now. In fact, it would be a whole lot better.