Here we go again....

Well I’m back and better than ever. Last night was the last night of my semester. In perhaps the hardest semester of my graduate career, I was able to pull out a ‘B’ in my ECON class and an ‘A’ in my Finance class. The funny thing is between the two classes, the Finance class was the one I was worried the most about. We started with 24 students in that class… by the end of the semester we were down to 9 students (we few, we happy few, we band of brothers… and sisters). So now I only have one class left until all of you will have to call me Master Greg (or Master G).

(****I interrupt this blog to tell you this: As I’m typing this I’m watching my own little MacGyver marathon. What can I say, I love the show. Anyway, the DVD I have in right now is from the 3rd season. Some guy is in a jet and the bad guys are shooting him down. The cockpit scenes are from MacGyver… the scenes of the jets are straight from Top Gun. Even the scene of Maverick slamming on breaks so the MIG flies by him.*****)

So, Saturday is the first day of the “Bowl season”. This is a time that I admit used to be special to me before so many bowls came along that all you had to do was win 6 games to be “rewarded” with a bowl game. But that’s neither here nor there. The thing I really hate is the BCS. Why? Because it claims to crown a National Champion. Here’s the thing, I’m a fan of a playoff system. Not an “And 1” system, not an 8 team playoff, but a 16 team playoff. It’s something I have been demanding for years now. I’m not the only one who has been calling for this. Some of you have as well. So has this guy (I posted this last week, I think). There are many arguments for the BCS… I will answer some of them here:

1. It’s better than the old system. - This would be a great argument… if I was in favor of the old system. Since I’m not fighting for the old system, this argument isn’t relevant.

2. It will make the season too long… kids will have to miss too many classes. – This argument is so stupid, I’m shocked people don’t laugh when they say it. Really, take a look at college basketball and baseball… those kids take classes too. Oh, and this argument would have been better back before they added an extra regular season game and (for some at least) a conference championship game. That kind of hurts that argument.

3. My favorite argument came from Bill Curry (who guys on ESPN called an “expert”). When asked how the other NCAA football divisions were able to have a playoff system and Division 1-A couldn’t, Curry answered: “The other divisions can split scholarships, Division 1 –A (FBS) can’t do that”. - While Bill Curry might be a nice person, I feel he is a moron.

4. Teams would still complain. – Big difference between a team complaining about not getting an At-Large bid and an undefeated team complaining.

5. The bowls are too good for college football. - So keep them. They will matter just as much as they do now.

6. There is no money in a playoff system. - Yeah, what company (or companies) would want to have their name associated with a college football playoff system? Stupid.

7. It would mean too much travel for fans. - Yeah, fans will travel to Boise freakin’ Idaho for a game that doesn’t mean crap but there’s no way they’d travel for a playoff game that could lead to a National Championship. Right.

8. Every game matters/The regular season is a playoff. – Let’s assume the regular season is a playoff. That would mean that as soon as a team loses a game, none of their remaining games matter. So, the regular season is a playoff… in that case, let’s take a look at this (BCS “Champ” Bold, all undefeated teams listed):

1998 (first year of BCS… I think… at least the first version of it) – We have Co-National Champions: Tennessee and Tulane. I guess the “playoff” this year didn’t end with the two undefeated teams playing each other. Oops.

1999 – Co-National Champions: FSU and Marshall. These two teams didn’t play each other either. Oops again.

2000 – National Champion: Oklahoma. Hey, it worked! Kinda. See, the Sooners still had to play FSU in the “Championship Game” even though FSU already had one loss. Not sure how that “playoff” worked.

2001 – National Champion: Miami. Hey, it worked again! Not really (see previous year… same thing, different team… this time Nebraska was the one loss team with the loss that didn’t really matter).

2002 – National Champion: Ohio State. There’s an old saying about a blind squirrel finding a nut…

2003 – National Champion: None. LSU (with one loss).

2004 – Co-National Champions: USC, Auburn, & Utah. USC ended up beating Oklahoma (who was also undefeated at the time) in the “National Championship Game”.

2005 – National Champion: Texas. Yay, BCS!

2006 – National Champion: Boise State! Except the BCS claims Florida is the National Champ for that year… with a 12-1 record. Guess their one loss didn’t count.

2007 – None. LSU (with 2 losses)

2008 – Co-National Champions: Utah & Florida (Florida had one loss).

2009 – Still up in the air, but at least 2 teams will end up undefeated… possibly three teams. Of course, only two of them are playing in the “National Championship Game”.

Now, here’s the thing… it’s not that I think a team should have to go undefeated to be national champion, but if the regular season is a playoff… well, I do think a team should have to go undefeated in the playoffs to win a national championship.