Finally, after three feeble attempts at making even decent television viewing, the strange minds of the BCS have created a watchable game. It's no surprise it took that long, when you consider the corporate mantra of Bowl Games today: "If we make money, who cares if the games suck?". Answer: ME.
In the Rose Bowl, we were screwed over by tradition. OHHHH, THE TRADITION!! PAC-10 vs. BIG TEN. But we can't use the best team in the Big Ten, so let's use the second best team, even though they lost three times, one of those to Iowa. God forbid we line up USC with Georgia, a match-up that had TV talking heads and college football fans salivating from the moment they envisioned it.
So why does the BCS still exist? The same reason Bobby Petrino is always looking forward to the end of the season: money! The main complaint? The poor, malnutritioned bowl committee chairpersons might not make as much money if college football is fair. Oh, no! We better keep it the way it is.
As for the Sugar and Fiesta bowls, I must admit they seemed like decent games when they were first drawn. But clearly, with the month-long layoff (another BCS drawback), certain teams come back ready to play, and others do not. There is no guaranteed cure for this, as different teams will prepare in different ways. But, if there were an 8-team (or more) playoff, even bad early round games, (a la Sugar, Fiesta, Rose) would, if nothing else, quickly eliminate the teams either not ready to play (OU, Illinois), or not capable of winning on the non-WAC mainland (Hawaii). Then, we would be left with a blockbuster Final Four, one which would probably surpass the excitement created by college basketball's final weekend.
So why does the BCS still exist? The same reason Bobby Petrino is always looking forward to the end of the season: money! The main complaint? The poor, malnutritioned bowl committee chairpersons might not make as much money if college football is fair. Oh, no! We better keep it the way it is.
Well, as many writers and important people who have appeared on television have said, a tournament would probably make MORE MONEY than the dumb thing we have in place. Case in point: you're probably not making top dollar on television ads when people can't bear to watch the second halves of your bowl games. Last time I checked, the way ad revenue works is people have to actually tune in for you to make money. Like I said, tournament.
FedEx Orange Bowl thoughts tommorrow......
Photo courtesy of ESPN.com.
