Friday, January 9, 2009

Editor's Note: BCS = Big Crying Shame

The college football season has come to an end, with Tim Tebow (below) and the Florida Gators defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the BCS Championship Game. You would think that would have put the season into the rear-view mirror of sports-talk stations and newspaper columnists, but it hasn't. This season has only increased the over-hyped quagmire that is the BCS system. While the AP poll is a separate entity from the BCS, the BCS dictates how the playing system works. And right now, the only way to know who the best team could be is to let a computer perform its calculations. Never mind the fact that football is human, and players can be injured. A computer ignores that, and looks at each game like each team is running on all cylinders. The only problem is they can't. Teams can lose key players, like Ohio State with Beanie Wells, or USC last year after John David Booty's pinky injury. The computer doesn't know what we know, yet it has as much say as the humans. If this season has done anything, it has proven the need for a playoff system. Let's face it, when you have 4 teams (USC, Texas, Utah, Florida) each claiming a share of the national title, the system doesn't work. At least if you put them on the field to decide, no one can complain that they deserve to be in the championship. Unfortunately, this makes too much sense. After all, the Big-10 and Pac-10, who have both gone down in stature and performance, get a share of money if their teams go to a BCS bowl game. And with the current system, they are assured money with the Rose Bowl's traditional Pac-10 vs. Big-10 matchup. These programs won't give up the money for a true champion. If there just happens to be a crossroads because of this greed, well that's a Big Crying Shame.

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