And This Is Why The BCS & Polls In General Are Dumb
by Sean Keeley on Dec 7, 2009 12:09 PM EST
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Can you imagine if each year's Super Bowl contestants were left up to a vote between the coaches of every team? What do you think would happen? Teams would have a significant bias for teams they had played, teams in their division and even for other coaches whom they were friends with or felt deserved something just because they had put in some years. In a sense, that's how we determine who plays for the national title in college. You already knew this, but when you dig in to the polls, namely the Coaches Poll, you truly get to see just how biased, and just plain wrong the whole process truly is.
Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly voted his team No. 1, the only coach to do so. But fellow Big East coaches Greg Schiano and Jim Leavitt tried to help the Bearcats out by putting them at No. 2.
Hey, I'm all for Big East cronyism in general. Unofficially, we should all be voting our teams No. 1. Hell, if asked, all Big East coaches should say the national title game should be between Cincinnati and West Virginia. But there's no way in hell those coaches should be able to vote in a way that actually influences the teams.
And we know this is going to happen every year. We know it and we continue to allow it and then we have to listen to jerk-offs talk about how good the system is. It's one thing that these types of things influence who plays in what game, but when you also factor in the financial difference between playing in the national title game, a regular BCS bowl or a non-BCS bowl, these biased opinions are openly dictating where millions of dollars go.
College football lives in 2009 but still acts like it's living in 1949. Sorry, the Internetz and the 24-news cycle we live in does not allow these types of actions to go unnoticed anymore. It's been said before and it bears repeating...this is the most un-American process of any sport that we have. You do not advance based on what you do on the field. You advance based on perception and the biased opinion of a select few who have an agenda.
Ugh, I promised myself I wouldn't write a "you know what really grinds my gears about college football" post. There's just so many obviously dumb and idiotic reasons to hate the entire process that you can only hold out for so long.
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I think idiotsonsports had a good idea to solve the problem: don’t go to the games.
This would especially be effective in the TCU-Boise State “Separate but Equal” Bowl. If the BCS isn’t going to let these schools have a crack at the powerhouses, then the fans should raise their collective middle finger and not give the bowl any money.
Go, fight, and win.
by Alex O on Dec 7, 2009 12:17 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Unfortunately
If the fans don’t go (at least up to each school’s ticket allotment) then the schools are getting screwed in addition to the BCS. The bottom line is that if the “non-AQs” and their fans who have limited ability to travel and fill stadiums to begin with begin to not go at all, the BCS and the Big 6 will be even more territorial and possessive than they are now.
-Alan
http://www.overthepylon.net
True...
…although the teams’ non-participation in the bowls would probably go a lot further. Show up, shake hands, collect the check, make the statement, go home. Not in a million years, though.
by burntorangehorn on Dec 7, 2009 3:31 PM EST up reply actions
we need cincinnati to win
if they have the chance I hope they run the score up on Florida. making tebow cry is easy, they need to make spikes cry.
Agreed
Couldn’t agree more. The Boise St-TCU game makes me so angry at the college football establishment. Split up the Florida/Cinci game so it’s Florida/Boise State in one and Cinci/TCU in the other. It’s just so absurd that these ‘small conference’ teams get grilled all year about their BCS Credentials because they haven’t played enough BCS teams and then, after they do everything they can and finish undefeated, they are insulted by having to play one-another instead of given the respect of playing a major conference team to show if they really can play with the big boys.
Also, haven’t teams like TCU and Boise St had trouble scheduling non-conference games against the major BCS conference teams? It’s because teams in the SEC, Big 12, etc have tough games in their conference and it’s hard to justify the risk of losing to a good non-conference team if they want to make it to the BCS game. The only way they can risk it is if the team is from another BCS conference. Because imagine that Florida played TCU in week 1 and lost. And then imagine that TCU lost ONE game in-conference. Florida’s loss looks that much worse. But if Florida loses to, say, a BCS conference team like Texas it doesn’t hurt their standing nearly as much.
Just look at what happened to Oklahoma after they lost to BYU – dropped from 3 to 13. Or the better, more obvious, example is how far Oregon fell after losing to Boise St. – 16 to OUT of the top 25. Compare that to what happened when Ohio St lost to USC – they dropped from 6 all the way to the basement…to 8. Sure, USC was ranked higher than BYU or Boise St at the time. But it begs the question – WHY?! As we all have found out by now, preseason rankings mean NOTHING in college sports – in fact, regular season rankings probably mean nothing. Anyway, it all goes back to reputation, perception ( and money). If you look back at those loses now, obviously Oklahoma is a special circumstance because they also lost their QB that game. But Oregon did make it back and finished better because Boise St was for real. And Ohio St also did…but I think looking back, the argument could easily be made that the USC loss looks a hell of a lot worse for Ohio St than the Boise St loss looks for Oregon (Blount aside).
I get upset about this nonsense too.
But I think more than anything, what bothers me about the bowl system is that the second to last college football game of the season. On Jan 6, after the other BCS bowls except for the championship, the only game on is the effing GMAC Bowl which pits Central Michigan against the men of Troy. Check out what titans of college football Troy beat and what cupcakes they lost to. What a joke.
#1 solution
No polls between January 10, 2009, and October 1, 2009. Any entity issuing such a poll loses the right to be counted in the BCS standings.
Nice Work
I almost did a post on this myself, but it feels like we’re all beating our heads against a wall. Everyone but a few select people who get rich of this thing hate it, yet we’re powerless to do anything about it. I can’t even get into bowl season any more, its all so pointless
No!
College football would be better served by scrapping the polls from the BCS formula and setting up a selection committee much like the NCAA tournament, where administrators and retired coaches could watch all the games all season and then determine which teams are the most deserving
Just make a damn playoff and get rid of the 30 consolation games!
Why can't you have both?
Scrap the BCS. 8 team playoff. First round at the sites of the current four BCS games. Semis and Finals at predetermined sites (for which you can either use pro or college stadiums, but go with what the Super Bowl does and keep it in warm climates or in a dome)
And keep the traditional bowl system around that. I wouldn’t know what to do with my Jewish self on XMas Day without Bowl Games to watch.
For now, the sport really needs to find a way to scrap the current system’s ability to reward teams for being perceived to be good. If Cincy or TCU had started off the pre-season polls ranked ahead of Texas, they’d be in the title game. It’s silly to reward teams for that.
I just emailed my friend about a playoff
His idea was 16 team, every conference gets an auto-bid.
My idea is 12-team, top 4 seeds get a bye into the quarters, 2 team per conference limit. BCS conf winners get an auto-bid. Any non-BCS team ranked in the top 10 gets an auto-bid. Set up brackets to avoid rematches early. Here’s what I came up with:
1. Bama
8. Oregon/9. GT
4. TCU
5.Boise/12. Iowa
2. Texas
7. Ohio St/10. VPI
3. Cinci
6. Florida/11. BYU
BYU is 14th in the BCS, and West Virginia is 16th, so it’s a tough call who would get in between those 2. PSU, LSU, Miami can complain about the 2 team per conference limit.
Frankly
I don’t know that Boise State deserves a crack at the title game, but TCU might. You know how we would know? If they let each team square off against a big boy from the BCS. But this matchup between the two schools is the ultimate fuck you from the power brokers at the BCS. Never has a dumber system been devised for crowning a champion in the history of team sports, and yet, how many articles and columns have run like this, but to no avail? They have no intention of changing things – ever.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
Six Team Playoff
no one outside the top six teams deserves a shot at the national title. This year would be perfect for that.
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
That makes
Far too much sense.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
Mark May
Damn I wish Pitt was in Cincinnati’s spot instead. Mark May was on today desperately trying to defend the BCS. I can’t imagine he would be doing the same if Pitt was undefeated going against Florida for absolutely nothing.
Starting rankings also matter, which makes the BCS even more of a joke
As noted in The New York Times (and reached me via The Big Lead):
Perhaps the biggest reason Texas will be lined up across from Alabama is … brand names are rewarded for their history in modern college football. The Longhorns began the season No. 2 in the country largely because of the return of the dynamic quarterback Colt McCoy … While Texas’ best win came against No. 20 Nebraska, Cincinnati had victories at No. 16 Oregon State and at No. 17 Pittsburgh. T.C.U. torched No. 15 Brigham Young and No. 23 Utah and should get credit for scheduling games at Clemson and Virginia. Boise State beat No. 7 Oregon, meaning that three other undefeated teams can claim better wins than Texas. The problem is in the preseason polls: Cincinnati began the year unranked, Boise State was No. 14 and T.C.U. was No. 17.
I never liked the 4-8 team playoff, so I'll take it a step further....
16 teams…but not the top 16 BCS teams.
Do it Hoops style.
11 Conference winners + the top 5 BCS non-conference champions.
9 – game regular season games incl 1 non-conference tune-up & 8 in-conference
(7 if they want conf championship game)
This back-ends juicy non-conference matchups.
Anybody who doesn’t get in the Championship Playoff can still get offers to several independently sponsored tournaments or exhibition games.
Obviously all tourneys will have consolation brackets so people can get their games in.
By the time its said and done everyone will have played 12-14 games.
The pedigree schools want money? How much do you think they’ll make running 5 deep against escalating opponents. Tons.
If they’re worried about losing home games, or the Bowl committees are worried about games at their venues, just run the first 2 rounds of the Championship bracket at home of higher seed, the you can get the wealthy alum base to travel to TWO games.
The 'Cuse is in tha house, oh my God oh my God.
Fuck Health Care
Obama needs to push College Football Reform.
by ryanwk628 on Dec 7, 2009 2:40 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
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