The BCS Could be Worse
10-15-07
by: Mark


The first BCS poll came out this week. There’s a chance that some football fans won't be happy with the results, and things are only going to get worse in the coming weeks. I’m torn as to how a national champion should be decided. The BCS is flawed. A playoff would be even more inefficient. No matter what the system is, there will be major flaws because a perfect system is impossible.

I am fine with the concept of a human poll. I don’t think voters hold biases toward certain teams as much as many claim. However, I think polls become suspect because voters tend to vote based on how well they can justify being wrong, NOT based on how good the teams actually are.

For example; you’re thinking about investing in a company and you have two options. One prospective company is lead by a nerdy guy with a brilliant idea. The other company is lead by a guy in a nice suit with an MBA who has a boring idea. Who would you invest in? If it were your own money, It’d probably be the nerdy guy with the brilliant idea. If you were picking on behalf of someone else (possibly a company you work for), you’d probably pick the guy in the fancy suit. Why? Because if the company failed, it’d be easy to justify your bad decision to whoever’s money you invested.

In 2004, I wouldn’t be surprised it most AP voters and coaches believed Auburn was playing better than USC or Oklahoma at the end of the season. However, since USC and Oklahoma were ranked 1 and 2 throughout the season, voters could justify being wrong easier than if they had Auburn jump Oklahoma at some point and Auburn turned out to be a bust in the Orange bowl*.

How can the current system be fixed? I have no idea. What we fans sometimes have a hard time understanding is things could be far worse. Heck, the NCAA and BCS could be controlled by Democrats or Republicans. I can imagine some of the things they’d do to screw up the greatest sport in the world by trying to improve it.

Democrats would establish a minimum yardage law for all runningbacks. This law would require coaches to make their players run at least three yards every carry. They would reason that this is a good thing because more players will get more yards and more yards mean more wins. Nevermind the fact that coaches will be forced to cut many talented backs for not being worth three yards per carry. This wouldn’t be a problem for the democrats since they’d feel good for making sure all running backs earn a minimum three yards per carry.

Why is college football so great? Republicans would tell you ‘traditional powerhouses’ help keep the game strong. Because they believe this, they’d do whatever they could to keep the powerhouses strong. Obviously, a ‘traditional powerhouse’ is defined by the republicans in power. So, whenever a team like Notre Dame or Alabama begins to lose, the Republicans would give them extra wins as a sort of corporate welfare – you know, for the betterment of the entire sport.

Some teams use ‘alternative playbooks’ such as the spread offense. Democrats would create rules making penalties against these teams count double. This is because penalties against the alternative playbooks will be considered ‘hate penalties’. Similarly, penalties against traditional playbooks will be treated less severe since the team committing the penalty probably had a rough childhood. Republicans out for the betterment of college football would insist all playbooks to be authorized by the NCAA since they would think it’s the NCAA’s duty, not the coaches’, to deem plays good or bad.

Republicans despise basketball players. Not only would they forbid basketball players to switch to football, they’ll forbid basketball players from watching football games and would force schools to build walls between the football stadiums and basketball coliseums. Similarly, democrats love basketball players. They would enact rules that force coaches to use football scholarships on basketball players.

Democrats recognize the great risk teams face when going for it on fourth down. For the team’s own safety, they’ll forbid coaches to go for it no matter how dire the situation. Republicans are staunch supporters of the NCAA rulebook’s ‘second amendment’, even to the point of allowing the team’s waterboy to call for it.

Yes. I'm exaggerating ever so slightly on a few of these, but you probably already knew I don't let things like facts get in the way of football analogies.

In conclusion, the more complex the rules are, the trickier things get. Maybe we should go back to the pre-BCS bowl system – like the founding fathers intended.

E-mail Mark at mark@theauburner.com

Also, Auburn v. LSU tickets are still being offered by our sponsor.

*This was a bad example. We all know the 2005 Orange Bowl was staged and filmed in a warehouse in New Mexico before the 2004 season even started.