Since university presidents were very averse in the past, I don’t see sentiment changing anytime soon. How many games like BSU-Oklahoma must we see? Hmmm?
The idea that a playoff is going to somehow fix all the woes is becoming more and more, in my mind atleast, a myth. The tradeoffs that need to be made just don’t seem to justify the results. A better immediate fix would be to eliminate the human polls for the first part of the season.
Ain’t gonna happen for ten years at least. Remember, everything the power conferences and bowls have done over the past 15 years has been a way to avoid a playoff, not move toward one. The Bowl Alliance was formed to shut everyone up with a 1 v. 2 Bowl, then when that proved a flop when the Rose Bowl/Big Ten/Pac Ten opted out and, three years out of four, a No. 1 or 2 was out of the Alliance (Penn State, Arizona State, Michigan). This birthed the BCS. The expanded form started this year was a way to avoid Congressional Oversight. A playoff is the Big Six’s nightmare. They won’t do (or rather yield to it) it until compelled.
“…the BCS will not announce any significant changes to the postseason format until at least 2010…”
And how long will their memories prove to be then? BSU-OU will have faded into history by then. It will probably take a game like that every year before they will try to “fix” the BCS system again.
Imagine what the World Cup would be if they used such a screwy system as College American Football: Brasil would always be playing the final, against either Germany, Italy or Argentina.
Boooring
This line of argument makes me so freaking angry. Teams like Boise TRY to play “real competition.” They CAN’T, because most teams don’t want to play them (for fear of losing) and would rather play the likes of Western Carolina and Buffalo. And almost no one will play them home-and-home, so they are forced to accept the unfair situation of playing tons of road games. Then when they lose to a quality team on the road, people like you say they’re fraudulent and dismiss them out of hand. That’s the great double-standard: whereas big-money teams get numerous opportunities to redeem themselves and re-redeem themselves (see, e.g., USC this season), one bad road loss can set back perceptions of a team like Boise light-years, and because practically nobody wants to play them at home, they don’t get the chance to answer back the following year in a home-and-home. So teams like Boise are stuck between a rock and a hard place, because of the inherent inequities of the system and the wimpiness of most big-money teams when it comes to scheduling. If a big-money team deigns to play them at all, it’ll only be at the big-money team’s stadium, which is a huge, disproportionate risk for a “little guy” like Boise. But if they insist on fairness in scheduling (i.e., home-and-homes), very few of the big boys will play them… and then you blame THEM for not playing anyone!!
Let the Ohio States and LSUs and Nebraskas of the world “step up to real competition” and play Boise State, how about that? THEY are the ones who prevent those matchups from happening. THEY are the ones who are afraid. (See, e.g., Michigan State trying to weasel out of its scheduled game with Hawaii next year.)
Hell, let’s see Pete Carroll schedule a game on the blue field in Boise. Do it, coach! I’ll go to Idaho and cheer on my Trojans… it’ll be awesome.
It is sheer ignorance to blame Boise State for not scheduling more top-notch teams. They don’t have the power to just snap their fingers and schedule whoever they want. It’s the big-money programs that have that power, and most of them choose to use that power primarily to schedule cupcakes.
But why are we even talking about this vis a vis this year’s Boise State team? BOISE STATE PLAYED “REAL COMPETITION” AND WON! It was called the Fiesta Bowl, and it was a damn good game, you may have heard about it.
Boise State has earned your respect. That you won’t give it to them says a lot about you, and nothing about Boise State.
I think we should do away with polls until at least week 6 (and Heisman hype, if at all possible!) That’s something that can be changed now. Instead of rankings, the media will have to focus on other things, and I think it would be fun to hear how different people would rank the teams as the first six weeks play out. We just don’t need a preseason or official poll until later. Every team that jumps out to 6-0 or 5-1, rather than “traditional” powerhouses only, would be in a better position to rise if they continue to win.
Um Riccardo, how is the following, used to determine which region gets which number of qualifing spots in the tournament, any less problematic than the current problems in college football:
For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations’ teams, but also subject to lobbying from the confederations.
Sooo you have a group who arbitrarily decides which confederation has better teams, before they have played each other mind you, and after that confederations can try and argue their way to more spots? Yeah, much better system…
The world cup is far from perfect, but at least, once the various regional qualifiers are done, the remaining 32 temas get to play, and the results come from the field, not from computer rankings or coaches polls.
I’m sorry but your diatribe concerning Boise St. is silly. You say mid-majors “can’t” schedule quality opponents, yet off the top of my head I recall BYU, Hawaii, Southern Miss, and Houston scheduling quality home-homes in the past several years.
Also, plenty of mid-majors have been playing one-sided deals for years with no complaints. Fresno State has built a reputation out of it and it has actually helped their recruiting. I don’t get where you get the idea that a one-sided loss has lasting ramifications. Boise State can easily schedule one tough away game per season to boost their SOS. It really isn’t too much to ask.
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January 9th, 2007 at 1:16:57 pm
I would venture to guess that the President of BSU would be interested in play-offs.
January 9th, 2007 at 1:50:53 pm
The OSU-Florida game was as much an argument for a playoff as the Boise State game.
January 9th, 2007 at 1:55:23 pm
The idea that a playoff is going to somehow fix all the woes is becoming more and more, in my mind atleast, a myth. The tradeoffs that need to be made just don’t seem to justify the results. A better immediate fix would be to eliminate the human polls for the first part of the season.
January 9th, 2007 at 1:58:32 pm
Ain’t gonna happen for ten years at least. Remember, everything the power conferences and bowls have done over the past 15 years has been a way to avoid a playoff, not move toward one. The Bowl Alliance was formed to shut everyone up with a 1 v. 2 Bowl, then when that proved a flop when the Rose Bowl/Big Ten/Pac Ten opted out and, three years out of four, a No. 1 or 2 was out of the Alliance (Penn State, Arizona State, Michigan). This birthed the BCS. The expanded form started this year was a way to avoid Congressional Oversight. A playoff is the Big Six’s nightmare. They won’t do (or rather yield to it) it until compelled.
January 9th, 2007 at 2:24:22 pm
“…the BCS will not announce any significant changes to the postseason format until at least 2010…”
And how long will their memories prove to be then? BSU-OU will have faded into history by then. It will probably take a game like that every year before they will try to “fix” the BCS system again.
January 9th, 2007 at 3:57:04 pm
A better immediate fix would be to eliminate the human polls for the first part of the season.
But David, that hasn’t done anything: the Harris poll didn’t look very different from the Coaches or AP poll…
The problem is your standard human biases: regional, temporal, familiarirty, etc.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:07:29 pm
They should have 64 team tournament starting in September. And the winner plays USC for the national championship at the end.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:14:07 pm
Imagine what the World Cup would be if they used such a screwy system as College American Football: Brasil would always be playing the final, against either Germany, Italy or Argentina.
Boooring
January 9th, 2007 at 4:21:11 pm
Hopefully never.
Let the Boise States of the world step up to real competition before they start claiming disrespect
January 9th, 2007 at 4:28:01 pm
This line of argument makes me so freaking angry. Teams like Boise TRY to play “real competition.” They CAN’T, because most teams don’t want to play them (for fear of losing) and would rather play the likes of Western Carolina and Buffalo. And almost no one will play them home-and-home, so they are forced to accept the unfair situation of playing tons of road games. Then when they lose to a quality team on the road, people like you say they’re fraudulent and dismiss them out of hand. That’s the great double-standard: whereas big-money teams get numerous opportunities to redeem themselves and re-redeem themselves (see, e.g., USC this season), one bad road loss can set back perceptions of a team like Boise light-years, and because practically nobody wants to play them at home, they don’t get the chance to answer back the following year in a home-and-home. So teams like Boise are stuck between a rock and a hard place, because of the inherent inequities of the system and the wimpiness of most big-money teams when it comes to scheduling. If a big-money team deigns to play them at all, it’ll only be at the big-money team’s stadium, which is a huge, disproportionate risk for a “little guy” like Boise. But if they insist on fairness in scheduling (i.e., home-and-homes), very few of the big boys will play them… and then you blame THEM for not playing anyone!!
Let the Ohio States and LSUs and Nebraskas of the world “step up to real competition” and play Boise State, how about that? THEY are the ones who prevent those matchups from happening. THEY are the ones who are afraid. (See, e.g., Michigan State trying to weasel out of its scheduled game with Hawaii next year.)
Hell, let’s see Pete Carroll schedule a game on the blue field in Boise. Do it, coach! I’ll go to Idaho and cheer on my Trojans… it’ll be awesome.
It is sheer ignorance to blame Boise State for not scheduling more top-notch teams. They don’t have the power to just snap their fingers and schedule whoever they want. It’s the big-money programs that have that power, and most of them choose to use that power primarily to schedule cupcakes.
But why are we even talking about this vis a vis this year’s Boise State team? BOISE STATE PLAYED “REAL COMPETITION” AND WON! It was called the Fiesta Bowl, and it was a damn good game, you may have heard about it.
Boise State has earned your respect. That you won’t give it to them says a lot about you, and nothing about Boise State.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:34:11 pm
I think we should do away with polls until at least week 6 (and Heisman hype, if at all possible!) That’s something that can be changed now. Instead of rankings, the media will have to focus on other things, and I think it would be fun to hear how different people would rank the teams as the first six weeks play out. We just don’t need a preseason or official poll until later. Every team that jumps out to 6-0 or 5-1, rather than “traditional” powerhouses only, would be in a better position to rise if they continue to win.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:43:28 pm
Um Riccardo, how is the following, used to determine which region gets which number of qualifing spots in the tournament, any less problematic than the current problems in college football:
For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations’ teams, but also subject to lobbying from the confederations.
Sooo you have a group who arbitrarily decides which confederation has better teams, before they have played each other mind you, and after that confederations can try and argue their way to more spots? Yeah, much better system…
January 9th, 2007 at 11:48:46 pm
[…] the best we’re going to get. Further thoughts from Kim Priestap and Brendan Loy Bookmark to: […]
January 11th, 2007 at 1:14:21 am
David K
The world cup is far from perfect, but at least, once the various regional qualifiers are done, the remaining 32 temas get to play, and the results come from the field, not from computer rankings or coaches polls.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:06:42 am
Brendan,
I’m sorry but your diatribe concerning Boise St. is silly. You say mid-majors “can’t” schedule quality opponents, yet off the top of my head I recall BYU, Hawaii, Southern Miss, and Houston scheduling quality home-homes in the past several years.
Also, plenty of mid-majors have been playing one-sided deals for years with no complaints. Fresno State has built a reputation out of it and it has actually helped their recruiting. I don’t get where you get the idea that a one-sided loss has lasting ramifications. Boise State can easily schedule one tough away game per season to boost their SOS. It really isn’t too much to ask.