BCS: They get it right

BCS: They get it right

By Ryan Kister

I wish I was a fly on the wall listening to the 12 people in room 303 on floor 3 in the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. This is where the BCS made history last week. The 11 FBS commissioners and the Notre Dame’s athletic director hammered out a 4- team playoff.

"They were aware of the historical significance," says BCS executive director Bill Hancock. "It was done very thoughtfully. They knew."

↑The winner gets the Coaches Trophy↑

One will play four and two will play three. The four highest-ranked teams have a chance! That's a definite improvement on what we have now.  It was originally the #1 and #2 seeds in the BCS poll that week.

No more frustrated teams, athletic departments, or alumni like Auburn’s (12-0, #3, 2004) Cincinnati’s and TCUs (both 12-0 in 2009, ranked #3 and #4 respectfully) and no more Boise State (13-0, in 2010) missing an opportunity to prove themselves the best.  With the new system, all of these teams would have had an opportunity to participate in the bowl championship bracket and possibly proving that they were the number one team.

The scheduling is simple. The semifinals will be played on January 1^st, no matter what day of the week it is. The championship will be a week later, so students won’t miss class.  No more worrying for parents and academician! 

Some people think that the #1 and #2 get to host the semifinals in the bowls they’re attached to now. If the top ranked team is from the Big 12, the Fiesta bowl will hold one. If the top-ranked team is from the SEC, the Sugar Bowl will get one, and so on.  This could not be further from the truth. 

“The most unfair part of the BCS bowls is that they're never north. They're always in the SPF 50 towns. It's unfair to teams like Ohio State and Notre Dame, teams that are built for the snow and the wind and the 4-yard nose-bending gain, to always have to go south to win titles. So we fix that right now,” says Rick Riley, ESPN columnist.

The last 5 venues for the National Championship were: the Louisiana Superdome, Dolphin Stadium, the Rose Bowl, University of Phoenix Stadium, and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which are located in the southern part(s) of the United States.

The BCS got it right.

Some things still need to be worked out. The BCS directors are going to decide whether to keep the formula, revise it, or use a selection committee. The BCS is also going to use the same system as last year with one exception: no computers. You don’t want the same piece of technology that creates viruses picking your college football champ?