"The only major sporting event without a playoff system to identify its true champion that I know of is NCAA Division 1 football," said state Rep. Quincy Murphy, D-Augusta"The only sensible way to determine a national champion in any sport is to develop a playoff system that allows teams to meet on the field," the resolution reads. "The fans of college football deserve a true national champion to be crowned after winning the title on the field of play and not in a popularity poll."
"When you think about the economic impact of collegiate sports, we're talking about multimillion dollars," said state Rep. Joe Wilkinson, a Sandy Springs Republican. "And from that standpoint, it's worth 10 minutes."
Georgia was ranked fourth in the BCS entering the last week of the season, behind Missouri, West Virginia and Ohio State. When Missouri and West Virginia lost, Georgia did not rise to second behind Ohio State but dropped to fifth in the BCS. Southeastern Conference champion LSU vaulted from seventh to second.
The Bulldogs went on to rout previously undefeated Hawaii 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl.
It seems that the only time people complain about the BCS system is when THIER team is the one getting screwed. Hawaii fans claimed thier undefeated team deserved a shot at the national championhip, but the team got crushed the first time they played an opponant with any talent.
LSU jumped high in the rankings the final week because they played in the SEC championship game, thus giving them a one-game advantage over some other schools. USC had one less victory than LSU, but the same number of losses.. because the Pac10 does not have an additional conferance championship game. Perhaps USC could level the playing field by simply beating the crap out of the winner of the WAC prior to the start of Bowl Season.
A playoff system will never happen in NCAA Football. Sure it would generate a ton of cash for the schools involved, but many schools would suddenly lose out on a lot of revenue.
Sponsors do not want a playoff system. A playoff system would de-value many bowl games by highlighting the insignificance of the game. The five games in the BCS series all claim to be the biggest game of the year. A playoff system would create a single undisputed championship game each year, and would thus instantly make it a much more expensive promotional opportunity for sponsors.We already have far too many bowl games which are struggling to find sponsors. Some bowl games seem to have a new sponsor each year, thus changing the name of the game and further confusing the public.
A playoff system would also result in additional games for the students... and we must keep in mind that we are talking about College Students here, not professional athletes. Tha vast majority of them will move on to carreers in other fields (as the NCAA likes to remind us with its public service announcments during televised games.) These students already spend enough time away from campus and many struggle to keep current on assignments and class carriculum. More games.. even one or two more for a few schools.. could hinder the academic studies of the players.
Even with a playoff system, some schools would still gripe about being left out. Would we allow only conferance winners? Which conferances would be represented? What about the winner of DIV I? Appalatian St has 3 straight national championships... that should certainly recieve some consideration. And just how would bracket and seeding be determined? And wha venues would host each game? There are just too many topics for debate.
The NCAA will never have a full playoff system in football because it would not leave the NCAA much room to manipulate the matchups. Right now, they have the ability to create bowl matchups for the CS series that they feel would be the most compelling and will generate the most revenue. I am convinved that if the BCS championship game was not held in New Orleans this year, LSU would not have played in the game. We would have seen Ohio St choke against Georgia, USC, or Oklahoma. But the NCAA is wise enough to know that LSU playing for a championship on its own turf would generate more money than any other scenario at the moment. LSU won convincingly, and I congratulate them on thier championship. We cannot blame the players for the flaws in the system. If other teams wanted in the game, they should have won more games during the season or played tougher schedules.
