by Owen Ernest

Every spring, college basketball fans turn their attention towards Selection Sunday and the iconic March Madness for the NCAA basketball championships. So why not instill a similar system in football? College football is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in America, but the system by which a champion is decided is largely debated. Since 1998, the National Championship has been played between the top 2 teams in the Bowl Championship Series Standings. The BCS standings are compiled by a mathematical formula comprised of 3 numbers, the Harris Interactive Poll, the USA Today poll and the average of 6 computer rankings.

This system has worked well in some instances, for example in 2005, only two undefeated teams remained at the end of the season. The University of Texas Longhorns and University of Southern California Trojans were both led by future 1st round quarterbacks and USC had a Heisman trophy winning running back, because of there unblemished records they were an easy decision for the participants of the championship game. Obviously, when Texas beat USC 41-38 in the Rose Bowl in one the most thrilling football games of all-time, there was no doubt that the two best teams had battled for the National Championship.

The computers had gotten lucky with only two legitimate teams left at the end of the 2005 season.  It is when there are multiple unbeatens or a plethora of one-loss power squads that the waters are clouded.  The 2005 season was an exception, not the norm. In 2007, there were at least 3 and maybe even 4 teams that deserved to play for the National Championship, but with the current system, there was no way to appease everyone in the college football world with the final computer decided match up, two teams would play for the crystal ball and two would not because of a mathematical calculation. LSU, which lost 2 games during the regular season, was chosen to play for the National Title after winning the widely regarded toughest conference in the nation, the South Eastern Conference. The BCS chose Ohio State, a 1-loss team out of the weaker Big Ten conference as there opponent. The Buckeye’s were chosen over a tough 2-loss Georgia team from the SEC as well as a 2-loss Oklahoma Sooner club that was coming off a Big 12 championship and riding a string of blowout victories, most notably over number two Missouri one week before in the Big 12 Championship match up, days before the final BCS numbers. Many experts saw an overmatched Ohio State team that lacked the pure speed and athleticism to be effective against the Bayou Bengal’s of Louisiana State. In the end, LSU demolished Ohio State 38-24 in what was the second consecutive year that Ohio State had gotten crushed in the Championship game by an SEC opponent, Florida had throttled then unbeaten Ohio State in 2006. This outcome raised more controversy and one simple conclusion for many, the system is flawed.

College football is yearning for a better system to determine the best in the land.  Every year as bowl season approaches coaches, players, and fans alike call for a change, a playoff format perhaps.  Specifically, an 8-team playoff that would include the winners of the 6 major conferences, the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, Pac-10 and the Big East with the other two spots being filled by the top two remaining teams from whatever conference. After the teams are selected, the BCS system could still be used to establish the seeding 1 through 8 and the playoff would carry out like the scintillating March Madness and climax with a championship game between the proven two best teams and there could be no controversy.

This is not the be all end all of issues for College Football, one problem is that people worry that the student-athletes would get too physically beat up from playing so many games in one season. College football seasons last 12 to 14 games depending on if there is a conference championship or a trip to a bowl game. With the current format, bowl games are scheduled for late December and early January, almost a month after the regular season ends giving players’ time to rest from the physical beat down of games and recharge. Instead of this, the playoff system could start a week after conference championship games with the quarterfinal round. Two weeks later, the semifinals could be played. Then on New Year’s Day, which is known as the biggist college football day of the year, they could play the National Championship game. President elect Barack Obama has recently promoted a college football playoff, and as he has said many times, it’s time for a change.