Nation of Blue

Football

BCS or Just BS?


With the Bowl season coming up, it seems like the fairness of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is the ‘topic du jour’ again. The BCS has been debated for years, but it doesn’t seem like there is any probability of change in sight. With teams like TCU and Boise State proving again that the BCS system is at best unfair, and at worst greedy. Last year, undefeated TCU faced undefeated Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. The only reason either of them were even in a bowl game was because they were undefeated – many pundits said they should have been playing for the National Championship. This year, poor Boise State was beaten by #19 Nevada… by 3 points… in overtime. As a result, instead of going to the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta or Orange Bowl (as they should), 11-1 Boise State will be going to the MAACO Bowl to face #19 Utah (who I’m sure the Broncos will demolish).

I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard comedian/author Bill Scheft (Sports Illustrated) discussing the BCS. He said that even the President weighed in on the subject while campaigning. He also said that what Barack Obama needs to do is invite the BCS presidents to the White House, and with them all together he should say “okay listen up, if you don’t have a playoff series set up within 12 months, I’m going to have all of your 501(c)(3) organizations audited. Do you think the IRS is going to approve of the Taj Mahal-type setups of your locker rooms and arenas for 501(c)(3) organizations?” We would have a playoff series by next year.

The problem is, the current setup is the only reason UK has seen the post-season for the last few years. Aside from the “Big 4” BCS games, the only requirement for the other 27 “bowls” is that you win 6 games – they don’t really mean anything else. As long as Kentucky has the required 6 wins, they will always play in a bowl, because their fans travel well and spend money. I love Kentucky football as much as the next guy, but do you think that if there was a true post-season, UK would have made it any of the past few years?

It’s not just Kentucky, I mean a lot of the Big 6 conference schools that make bowls every year would get their butts kicked by some of the better non-Big-6 schools, yet many of the Big 6 conference schools get bowl games while almost none of the non-Big-6 schools do. As UK fans, would you be willing to accept a “fairer” playoff system where the top 16 teams as determined by the RPI (regardless of conference affiliation) go to the playoffs/post-season if it meant that UK didn’t make it?

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