Dear NCAA,
I’m sure this time of year you are being inundated with fans who are screaming at the farce that is the BCS. Sorry to do this, but add me to the list. The BCS isn’t a system to guarantee the top teams play each other, rather it’s a popularity contest. How else can you explain Virginia Tech and Michigan receiving at large bids while higher ranked BCS teams play in one of college football’s “waste of time” bowls. The fact that Virginia Tech just got trounced by Clemson on Saturday only adds salt to the BCS’s wound.
So how can we fix this mess? Well, first off you tell the Pac 12 and Big 10 presidents you’re having a playoff whether they like it or not. Each participating university and conference will receive more money from my proposed system and EVERY game will be watched by millions which means more TV revenue for all.
I would suggest dropping all conference championships, but if you really want them, fine. The first official order of business is killing the automatic BCS bid to select conference champions. West Virginia and the Big East do not belong, plain and simple. The Big East has never really belonged, but they always earned a spot. That is a slap in the face to every other college football team, especially when Boise State, TCU, Baylor, Kansas State, Arkansas, South Carolina and more would likely beat any Big East team like a drum.
The top 16 teams in the final BCS rankings will make my proposed playoff system, where the top seed, this year would be LSU, would play the 16th ranked team. Number 2 would play number 15, etc. If the SEC has four teams in the top 16, as they do now, then all four play. There shouldn’t be a penalty for being better than the competition. The top 8 seeds get home games in the first round. They have earned it. It gives them additional revenue and a much deserved home field advantage.
The second and third round games would be held at your top BCS bowl sites plus a few more mega-stadiums like Cowboys Stadium, the Georgia Dome, etc. The Championship game would be held at a site that goes to the highest bidder, much like the Super Bowl or the Final Four. This would bring in millions more in revenue and every game would be must see TV, which would drive television contracts into the stratosphere. Each conference would get a minimum piece of the pie with higher payouts to the schools and conferences who are involved in the playoffs.
Like any proposal you will have your opponents, such as schools who aren’t allowed in. Well, tough. This isn’t elementary athletics where every kid gets a trophy. What about all the meaningless bowl games? Well, if the “Meineke Car Care Bowl” really thinks it is necessary to have 6-6 Texas A&M face 6-6 Northwestern, let them. No one watches the NIT either and you still have it.
Whatever you do, don’t give us the argument that exams and missing class is to blame for not having a playoff. No one is buying it. It doesn’t affect the other NCAA playoffs which require time away from school.
So implement this plan and everyone wins. Every school and conference makes more money, the networks get higher ratings and the fans will finally know who really is the NCAA Football Champion.
Thank you,
John M. King
