One of the reasons why there is a BCS instead of a straight playoff system is that there are other post season games “that matter”. Post season college football is more than just determining a national championship…it’s not like the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament…(unless they change the format to a playoff system.)
Saying that nobody cares about who goes to or wins the Rose Bowl is a silly statement that plenty of folks in Washington, South Bend, Iowa City and California would be more than happy to dispute…if for no other reason than financial payoff to the school and conference.
If Sofa King’s sulfur-scented scenario materializes, and Virginia Tech beats Miami on Saturday, then any bowl featuring Iowa is going to be big news.
The reason: A loss by Miami would likely put Georgia into the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. Georgia could enter that game ranked number 2 in the BCS standings, but number 3 in the polls, behind Iowa.
Which means you’d have (as far as the polls are concerned), number 1 Ohio State vs. number 3 Georgia in the Fiesta, and then number 2 Iowa playing somewhere else (presumably, the Rose Bowl).
Ah, now i see what you’re getting at, and i’m sure you’re totally correct. It’s not so much that my system wouldn’t work to produce a national champion if implemented, but rather that the delusions and egomania and self-importance and parochialsim that are so rife in college football would never allow the system in the first place. I’ll concede that my idea will never be considered, but stick with my assertion that it would be the most comprehensive and accurate way of determining the national champion, year in and year out, if that were the main consideration in college football. Nice talking to you about it.
Meanwhile, going back to the Notre Dame issue, while i understand now how and why they became so popular, the ubiquity of the Fighting Irish in the media has triggered a primitive impulse in me, so that i find myself forced to cheer for whichever team is playing against them. I know this is irrational, but i’m afraid i suffer the same affliction when it comes to the New York Yankees, and the St Louis Rams when Kurt Warner is QB.
So? Why is either Iowa or Georgia more deserving than the other? They seem to have had directly comparable seasons.
But if the conclusion is that there should be a real playoff with at least 4 teams in it, I certainly agree. There should, and can, and we’re getting there. But a playoff might still leave out the people who, even now, conveniently forget to mention their non-zero losses this year.
Ridiculous, you say? Without looking it up, who won last year’s non-title bowls? Only die-hard fans know, and none can say why it matters now. Fans care about going, sure, but there are no consequences for winning.
We need a real playoff system, like every other frickin’ team sport and every other level of football. Let’s quit screwing around, m’kay?
I suspect that many die hard fans care about winning as well. In Iowa’s case…many folks consider the Alamo Bowl (an even more “minor” bowl than this years Rose Bowl) victory last year a turning point in the Iowa program. Almost all of the televised Iowa games had the commentators saying so as well.
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No disagreement. Of course that wasn’t what this thread was about…
You said the Rose Bowl doesn’t matter. In my scenario, it would matter, because it could (in spite of the BCS) produce the number 1 team in both polls.
In my scenario, #3 Georgia plays #1 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Meanwhile, #2 Iowa plays either USC or Washington State in the Rose.
Now, say Georgia beats Ohio State, and Iowa wins the Rose Bowl. Iowa likely moves to #1 in both polls, no?
Conclusion: In my scenario, the Rose Bowl would produce the “national chmpion” (depending on how you want to define that term).
No. USC and WSU are seriously inferior opponents compared to OSU. Beating OSU would gain UGA more karma points than Iowa would gain. UGA would be the champ. Hence, the Fiesta Bowl would decide the winner.
Nope. The Coachs’ poll is bound by the BCS agreement to give the Sear’s Trophy to the winner of the BCS national championship game. The writers can do whatever the hell they want.
Hmm. Wasn’t aware of that. (But as a Georgia fan, I must say I am glad to hear it.)
Even so, in my scenario, the Rose Bowl would still “matter,” since it could produce the number 1 team in the AP poll (Iowa). And since (in the absence of a playoff system) the “National Championship” is still a mythical beast, that would be enough to give Iowa at least some claim on the title.
Yes, the chance is there, but it would take an incredible show of dominance from the Rose Bowl winner, and an incredible amount of ineptitude from the Fiesta Bowl winner for the AP to deviate from the Coaches on this, regardless of the scenario.
I’d love to see Iowa get a chance at it, but the odds are simply astronomical (though still finite).
