Sports Product Review

I’m going to say it again and again, until someone figures it out. How can we make the January 1 bowl games relevant again and fix the terribly broken BCS Bowl Championship mess? It is easy. The top eight teams in the BCS standings play in the four major bowls on New Years Day. Next weekend, is the final four, and a week after that, a true National Championship.

When the BCS standings are released later today, the top eight will likely be:
1.    Florida (12 – 0)
2.    Alabama (12 – 0)
3.    Texas (12 – 0)
4.    TCU (12 – 0)
5.    Cincinnati (11 – 0)
6.    Boise State (12 – 0)
7.    Oregon (9 – 2)
8.    Ohio State (9 – 2)

Florida will have to play Alabama in what amounts to an elimination game. The winner will with almost no doubt play Texas in the National Championship. So even though there are three other teams undefeated, the Big Three are the only schools with a chance to play for it all. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Let’s say that next week Oregon beats Oregon State, Cincinnati takes care of Pitt, Texas trounces Nebraska and Florida holds off Alabama. Then, maybe the final BCS standings look like this:
1.    Florida (13 – 0)
2.    Texas (13 – 0)
3.    TCU (12 – 0)
4.    Cincinnati (12 – 0)
5.    Alabama (12 – 1)
6.    Boise State (12 – 0)
7.    Oregon (10 – 2)
8.    Ohio State (9 – 2)
Why not turn this mess into a tournament that could rival March Madness in intensity and legitimacy? Why not bring back the excitement to January 1st, when we used to wake up to a New Year and the greatest single day in sports? Why not end the BCS controversy in one fell swoop.

Here’s how it works: #1 plays # 8, #2 plays #7, and so forth in the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls. The top seeds get to choose their venues. So, in this case, Florida gets Ohio State and probably chooses to say in their home state in the Orange Bowl. Texas might choose any of the three remaining, but would be geographically closest to the Fiesta, where they’d take on Oregon, (what a game). Next, TCU opts for the Sugar vs. Boise State and finally, Alabama and Cincinnati round out the day in Pasadena.

If the seedings held out, you’d get Florida vs. Cincinnati in one semifinal, and Texas vs. TCU in the other. And if the games didn’t go according to seed – even more excitement.
I can think of a hundred reasons why this plan is what’s best for college football and only one why it isn’t: My plan doesn’t allow for prime-time BCS games the entire first week of January, when advertisers will pay huge money for commercials since they know their game has no competition and higher ratings.

But if we want to put an end to speculation and the mess that annually is the BCS, maybe the NCAA needs to be willing to give up a few dollars. In the long run, it its what’s best for the game, isn’t it worth it?

Source: BCS