03 May (2005)
Apparently the BCS Can Perfect Neither Means Nor Ends, or
In Other News, the BCS and the NCAA Filed For Divorce, Citing Irreconcilable Differences
These statements were recently brought to my attention:
“The BCS was never designed to pick the national champion.”
Robert Hemenway
Chairman, NCAA Board of Directors
Friday, 29 April 2005
“The Bowl Championship Series was created … (to provide) a guaranteed matchup between college football’s top teams in a true national championship game.”
BCS media guide
I’m slightly confused. The BCS believes the C in its name; the BCS believes it was created to crown a national champion. (It also believes it can accomplish that goal. But that’s another topic.) But it seems some members of the NCAA believe it had no such intention.
In one sense, that’s just wrong. All I remember hearing was that the BCS, through the many incarnations of its formula, would match the top two teams in its championship game. I don’t know why the word “championship” would be plastered all over the system if it didn’t intend to produce a champion.
At the same time, it seems clear that Mr. Hemenway feels the BCS is not capable of producing a legitimate champion. And I’m sure there are many others within the NCAA who are beginning to share that opinion, if they don’t already.
What we have, then, is a system (the BCS) that has been shown to be incapable of meeting its primary goal, and an organization (the NCAA) that must continue to work with that system despite a continued erosion of confidence — and, some would say, reason for confidence — in the system.
Isn’t it funny that the old two-poll system produced less controversy than does the BCS? Perhaps that’s because the polls did not lay claim to more authority than they had. The AP poll champion was the AP champion; the USAToday/ESPN (Coaches) poll champion was the Coaches champion. And most years, they agreed on the number one team. But the BCS champion, we’re told, is THE champion, yet it gives us little reason to believe that claim. The BCS is not omniscient in ranking football teams; the two polls never claimed to be. The BCS is a failure because its stated goal is simply not possible.
So tell me again: if the BCS excels only at producing disagreement and controversy, and if so many people, including some within the NCAA, believe it doesn’t work, then why must we continue to suffer under its rule?
Both statements are true. From the BCS standpoint they exist to crown a National Champ. From the NCAA standpoint the BCS exists to make money. It makes money like a champ. It will not be done away with because of the money. They will continue to tweak it. They may even change its name if the public gets tired of it. But the BCS is here to stay because it will continue to make tons of money.
Here’s the thing: it fails to crown a real national champ. It just crowns the champ of yet another poll, just like the old system. It is no more indisputable than the old system. As much as tv analysts like to blah, blah, blah about “the” champions, it doesn’t actually settle any more disputes than the two-poll system. So in that sense, the BCS is a miserable failure. And in the public eye, the BCS is a joke.
As far as making money, you’re right — it does make money. But if that’s the real goal, then wouldn’t playoffs actually make more money? Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want a playoff system in college football. I watch the NFL for playoffs. But if the point is to make money, then the BCS isn’t even the best option.
I’m not sure a playoff would make more money. See a true playoff could end up being Boise State versus Louisville. Or something like that. That doesn’t have as much money making potential. Can you imagine a National Championship Bowl that isn’t even sold out? Or one that gets lower ratings than whatever lousy sitcom is on? With the BCS, they can always pick the championship bowl participants.
It COULD end up as Louisville/Boise, but the thing about a playoff is that you really end up with the potential for a lot of good matchups, and you also minimize the potential of second-tier teams making it that far into the bracket. The odds are that Boise will not pull more than one big upset.
Also, I can remember more than one year in which most of the major bowls were real duds. Four major bowls throughout the day were just plain boring games. So the potential for a dud in a playoff is at the very least no more than it is in the bowl system.
Let me reiterate here: I do not want a playoff system. I’m just saying there are serious financial benefits in a playoff system, too, if it’s all about the money.