BCS SOLUTION
| 12
|
by user AWeiner18
I have lived in Michigan my entire life. My father attended the University of Michigan and I was raised to be a fan of the Wolverines. When Lloyd Carr’s Wolverines got robbed when they were not voted to play in the championship game against Ohio State, I, unfortunately, added my name to the BCS Victims Group because it was clear that my team deserved to be in the game that is supposed to match the two best teams in the country.
I can now better connect with Utah, Auburn, and Boise State fans. I understand the feeling of being rejected for a chance to compete in the national championship. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) showed no mercy when they stabbed my heart into little pieces.
I have read several articles on this issue. I have read Michael Rosenberg’s “Old System beats BCS” article in the Detroit Free Press and have also read Sports Illustrated writer Phil Taylor’s “Playoff, Please”. Taylor suggested an eight-team tournament to determine the winner. Rosenberg suggested going back to the format where the winner of the Pac-10 faces the winner of the Big-10 in the Rose Bowl.
Both articles present two different proposals to fix this problem, but one fact remains clear: the BCS needs to go.
I have created a system that will eliminate the controversy. My system would eliminate the AP Top 25 and USA Today polls, split up conferences, and create an eight-team playoff. This step-by-step system involves lots of changes in college football but will vastly improve it’s inherent unfairness:
Split up the Big Ten, Pac-10, and Big East into two subdivisions determined by location
The six BCS conferences (meaning the six most competitive conferences in Division 1-A) are the Big Ten, Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12, Pacific-10 (Pac-10), and Southeastern Conference (SEC). Three out of six conferences have a championship game that determines the best team in their conference. I would first divide the Big Ten, Pac-10, and Big East into two divisions based on the college's geographic location. Here is what the Big Ten, Pac-10, and Big East would look like after being split up:
Big Ten East-Indiana (IN), Purdue (IN), Michigan (MI), Michigan State (MI), Ohio State (OH), Penn State (PA) West-Minnesota (MN), Iowa (IA), Wisconsin (WI), Northwestern (IL), Illinois (IL)
Big East East-Rutgers (NJ), Pittsburgh (PA), Connecticut (CT), Syracuse (NY) West-West Virginia (WV), Cincinnati (OH), Louisville (KY), South Florida (FL)
Pac-10 North-Stanford (No. CA), Washington (WA), Washington State (WA), Oregon (OR), Oregon State (OR) South-USC (CA), UCLA (CA), Arizona (AZ), Arizona State (AZ), California (CA)
After these divisions are split, each team is required to face the others teams within the subdivision. Take Michigan for example. With my schedule, Michigan would have to face Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Purdue, and Indiana every year and have three additional games to schedule. They could match up with Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. This format will increase the amount of rivalries within each conference and will balance the type of schedule the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 uses.
Looking at each conference, you can see that you still have rivalries within their own subdivision: Big Ten East-Indiana vs. Purdue, Indiana vs. Michigan State, Michigan vs. Michigan State, Michigan vs. Ohio State, Michigan State vs. Penn State West-Minnesota vs. Iowa, Minnesota vs. Wisconsin, Northwestern vs. Illinois
Big East East-Rutgers vs. Connecticut West-Cincinnati vs. Louisville
Pac-10 North-Washington vs. Washington State, Oregon vs. Oregon State South-Arizona vs. Arizona State, USC vs. UCLA
What about rivalries that are not in their subdivision (Stanford vs. California, Minnesota vs. Michigan, etc.)? The rivalries will still be intact because teams will have remaining games to use to schedule within their conference.
After splitting up the Big Ten, Pac-10, and Big East, these conferences will install a conference championship game, creating a Championship Week
By installing a conference championship game, these three conferences will not only share the same type of schedule as the other "BCS" conferences, but they will have a game to determine who the winner of the conference is. One of the major problems with the Big Ten is they hand the Big Ten championship to the team that has the best conference record. Wisconsin, whose lone loss was against Michigan, did not have an opportunity to face Ohio Statethis year. By installing a conference championship game, the winner of each conference would be the two winners of each subdivision.
Let's use Rutgers as an example. Rutgers faced their three subdivision opponents, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut, and defeated all three of them. Since they defeated all three, they would face Louisville, who defeated their three subdivision opponents (West Virginia, South Florida, Cincinnati) for the conference championship game. Rutgers defeated Louisville this season 28-25. This format would give Louisville an opportunity to have a rematch and would determine who the real winner is.
Conference championship games will help each conference because it is the Super Bowl of their conference. Fans would be interested to see a Rutgers, Louisville rematch, a intense match up between Ohio State and Wisconsin, and a rematch between USC and Oregon.
The winner of each "BCS" conference will automatically earn a spot in the eight-team tournament
After Championship Week, one Top 6 ranking will be released. This ranking will be determined by strength of schedule and overall ranking. Each "BCS" conference will have one representative in the Top 6.
Following the Top 6, a committee will choose four at-large teams
This committee, just like the college basketball committee, will take the other conference champions and compare their overall record and schedule and compare them to other teams. For example, Michigan would be an at-large team and would be compared to Boise State. By using this strategy, the Boise State's will have to play tougher teams if they truly want to be considered a Top 10 team. After picking the four teams, the committee is in charge of ranking the remaining four.
One week after Championship week, the four at-large teams will face off. The two winners will be sent to the eight-team playoff
These four at-large teams will face off between Championship Week and the first week of the tournament and would be held at either the top seed's home field or a national stadium like Ford Field.
Eight-team playoff determines the winner of College football
This tournament would start two weeks after the conference championship games, or Championship Week. After playing their first round at the top seed's home field, the games will shift to the Superdome, Miami Stadium, and University of Phoenix Stadium. My system will use still use the major BCS bowl games (Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Orange Bowl). The winner of the tournament is awarded the National Champion.
Note: The remaining bowl games will still be played. This replaces the BCS championship series. The Motor City Bowl and such will still be played so they can have a "postseason"
COMING SOON: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MY SYSTEM.
