Monday, December 5, 2011

"Playoffs?"

Will there ever be playoffs in college football? I hope so, but I don't think so. Division 1 football is the only college sport left without a playoff system in place. Even lower divisions of football have playoffs. If the NFL adopted the NCAA's bowl system, fans nationwide would be outraged.

The current system does not always do what it is supposed to do. The lone job of the bowl system is (supposed) to be to put the two best teams against each other in the National Championship game. Schools like Boise State, Utah, and Texas Christian don't get a fair shot in this system. This year, 7th ranked Boise State was left out of a BCS bowl. That means four times in the last eight years, they were ranked in the top 10 and left out. The Big East can keep cranking our mediocre teams and still get automatic bids into BCS games. This isn't supposed to happen. There has to be a systematic change.

There can still be playoffs and bowl games. Schools, networks, and the NCAA can still make way more money than they deserve. Player's academics won't have to be affected anymore than they already are. The are tons of ways to make it would and I'll leave it up to people smarter than me to decide on which way is best.

All I am saying is that a playoff system would better benefit the fans (get to watch more meaningful games with better matchups), better for the networks ("March Madness" in NCAA basketball gets huge coverage, why wouldn't this?), better for the schools (more national exposure), and better for the players (again, more exposure and greater chances of making it to the NFL. Players would be able to showcase their skills on a bigger stage and provide more tape for NFL scouts and executives.) So, why hasn't this happened yet and when will it?