BCS Bashing

Hello everyone. My name is Nick ("Hi, Nick!"), and I'm a BCS enthusiast. Please don't judge me. It's not my fault--it's a disease. And I'm fighting the good cause. With you're help, I've been clean and sober from bashing the BCS for 247 days...

I know you've all heard the arguments for both sides. You've probably heard most of the BCS complaints about 20 times each, and most of the supporting statements only thrice. Well I had too, or I thought I had. And then the trump card was played (on ESPN of all places, where you are more likely to hear the third-string special teams gunner from the 1986 SMU team complain about the BCS format than you are to see more than 3 highlights of last night's MLB playoff game) by Tim Cowlishaw in early September on Around the Horn. And I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something like this:
"Welcome to the biggest and best sports tournament of the year. No, it's not March yet. No, I don't mean the MLB playoffs. The college football SEASON has kicked off."

That's what the BCS is. You don't know a 64 or 16 or even 4 team playoff--you already have it. Think about it--if you lose, you're out. So don't lose.

I'm not saying that the system is perfect. It certainly needs to be tweaked (e.g. eliminating preseason polls and pollsters rewarding difficult schedules), but I think that most of the imperfections are due to the polls, and not the BCS format. Even if you went to a post-season tournament, you'd still have to use some sort of judgment to determine the teams that qualify, no matter if your tournament is 2 teams or 32.

So when you're watching college football this weekend, think about this: what is a bigger game--LSU vs. Florida or Ohio St. vs. Purdue? Give me a 16-team tournament, and it's not. LSU and Florida are guaranteed spots in the field, and this would only be a battle over seeding. Ohio St. could be fighting for their tournament life. Which game do I want to watch more? Which game do I want to matter?

I'm thankful that tOSU isn't in position to "get hot" in December and make a tournament run for another national championship. I'm thankful that LSU/Florida IS a game with national championship implications. Ohio St. already had their tournament run; it's Darwinism, and sports, at its best.