When there’s a problem it’s human nature to conjure up solutions. Whenever one seems to fit, the bandwagon better be large enough to support everyone jumping on. One such bandwagon is the idea of a College Football Playoff to replace the BCS. I hate to be the only naysayer on the planet, but I don’t think it would solve a thing. Let me elaborate for those of you dropping your coffee cups and cursing me as a supporter of the current system.

No, I do not think the BCS is perfect. Anyone who doesn’t see that pretty much doesn’t follow college football, but let’s get real for a second here. Right now, the biggest problem with the BCS process is the “odd man out” theory. For instance, last year an undefeated Auburn team got stuck in the Sugar Bowl while undefeated USC and undefeated Oklahoma battled, er, well at least one team battled in the Orange Bowl (USC embarrassed Oklahoma and the Big 12 in general with a 55-19 rout). Although Auburn coach Tommy Tubberville (may I suggest he start going by “Tom” as to not sound like a Disney character) bought his team “championship” rings, they had as much significance as those pictures you buy at Six Flags theme parks where you get your face superimposed on an issue of Sports Illustrated with the caption “world’s greatest quarterback” written underneath. I’m not knocking the achievement, just making the point that an undefeated team did not get to compete for the title.

Or there was the LSU/USC/OU debacle of 2003, where the coaches and the media had USC ranked number one, but the mystery computers had them third, and the team everyone knew to be the best, had to waste an afternoon destroying Michigan in the Rose Bowl, only to split the title and have to hear LSU fans claiming a computer coronation and a crystal ball trophy (ADT) made them the “true champs.”

The system is broke, but will a playoff fix it? I’m not convinced. Let’s say we adopt the popular eight-team tournament and we knock off two non-conference games (let’s say the ones where LSU plays UL-Lafayette, etc) and we just eliminate down to a champion. The problem won’t get solved, it gets transferred from the debate of who’s number two and number three to who’s number eight and number nine. For me, it’s harder to evaluate the one and two loss teams lurking around the bottom of the top ten than the top three teams. Let’s take a look at this year to make my point.

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realfootball365
By Zack Jerome