Congress Wants to Fix the BCS?

Congress has been dealing with the worst economic crisis in our time. Today they took timeout to tackle one of the President’s extra curriculum ideas, changing the BCS bowl system to a playoff system. Representative Joe Barton of Texas is introducing a bill to say that the BCS cannot claim a champion without it coming from a playoff system. Congress held hearings on Friday, May 1^st discussing the current BCS bowl system with several members on both sides of the debate.

As much I appreciated congress tackling steroids in baseball and putting professional athletes to a character test to be held accountable for destroying the integrity of the American past time. I don’t think it is appropriate for congress or the President to intervene in sports to change the rules. The Mountain West Conference has hired a lobbying firm to lobby Congress for changes to the BCS system. I am not sure how much money each college of the conference has contributed to this effort, but I think there are more productive areas that the money could be contributed to and be more beneficial to the student-body of the MWC.

The big boys do own the BCS, the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big Twelve, the SEC and Pac Ten have automatic bids to the five BCS Bowls, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the National Championship Game. Selections are made According to computerized polls and the Associate Press Bowl and the Coaches’ Poll creating a score that fills the automatics bids. I don’t appreciate computers trying to decide by the numbers what people can decide by using history and experience, but it doesn’t bother me that in this case that the BCS system has tried to compare the two to create competitive games for not only the opportunity to make money, but also to provide the fans with an exciting experience. I probably come off as being bias being a fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes. That has participated in the last 2 out of 3 national championship games and has made numerous BCS appearances that to popular opinion have been because of the university’s reputation to sell tickets not always providing for a competitive game.

The system works. The BCS does the best it can to create a competitive game and the most competitive games are going to come from where the best players go. That is going to be to the biggest conferences because that is where the best athletes are going to find the biggest showcase of their talents to furthering their careers in professional football. On the outside it looks like there are only a select few schools that get the most money, but if you look at recruiting and the players involved the best players go to the biggest schools that are in the biggest conferences. You can’t make everyone happy, there are going to be schools and players in smaller conferences that always feel left out in a bowl system where there are approximately 36 bowls for schools with a .500 record or better can play in and get a share of money from the sponsors involved or a playoff system that pools more money together eliminating several bowls that could not compete against the viewership of a playoff.

Another part of the argument is what would happen to the exciting regular season which in many ways is a playoff for the teams competing in the toughest conditions. Playoffs often don’t go down to the wire deciding on when matchups are decided. Once the winner of a conference is declared the spot is filled. This will lead to some of the most historic games in history being played noncompetitively. Imagine the Ohio State vs. Michigan game being played by their third and fourth string players to preserve the first string for the playoffs. Conferences and coaches alike are going to be challenged how to play the student athlete in a longer season that could create more opportunities for injury to amateurs trying to further their careers.

Gene Bleymaier, Athletic Director for Boise State, noted that his school’s football team went undefeated several times , yet never got a chance to play for the national championship under the BCS. I understand the argument, but have little sympathy for a team that doesn’t play a top twenty five team except for maybe once or twice every other season. Boise State is a good football team and they did put together one team that beat a good Oklahoma team, but they will not do this on a regular basis. It is pure numbers. The 16, 925 undergraduate students Vs. Ohio State University’s 34, 479 undergraduate students (numbers provided by www.yahoo.com/education) cannot always bring in the top high school athletes in the country. This is not only about money, but also the student athlete. The larger universities benefit more students and this is going to decide for most football players where they are going to play football. The current bowls not only work for the market and sponsors involved, but also for the exposure of the football players involved. The undefeated seasons for Boise state has let them play in a bowl game each of those seasons. If there was a playoff the possibility that they would compete with other undefeated teams for a much more limited opportunity and increased pressure to win more than just one playoff game exist. You can beat Oklahoma once, one time in a season. Can you do it three times in a row? In a playoff it will become much harder for those schools to compete. In the current bowl system you can have the satisfaction that you collimated your winning season with the opportunity to win your final game against a school that on-paper you could beat or competitively play against in a highly publicized game. In a playoff a small school will eventually meet someone that outweighs them by a lot and though David might slay Goliath some-of-the-time it doesn’t happen enough to justify them getting the opportunity every time.

The BCS should stay the way it is. They can always tweak the computers and the polls to accept the current trend to create the best opportunity for everyone involved that can competitively play against each other. The worst thing about the argument is that everyone is forgetting the players that are involved on the field. Everyone is just squabbling over their piece-of-the-pie and since the little brother feels like it is only getting table scraps they are crying. This isn’t an argument that our President should be trying to get involved in. There are much more important matters that require his attention. We should just continue to let the players decided this on the field.

Rose Bowl Says Penn St. Violated Media Rules

Rose Bowl officials say Penn State violated two media access agreements at this year’s game.
Continue reading at College Sports for NBC4i.com

Penn State Blue White Game preview: Defensive Line

Penn State usually doesn’t lose players early to the NFL Draft, which made it all the more shocking when All-Big Ten defensive ends Aaron Maybin and Maurice Evans decided to go pro following the Rose Bowl.

The loss of those two players, particularly Maybin, a mere sophomore, sent chills up Penn State fans’ spines. They were supposed to be in Blue and White for at least one more season, if not…
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football

Rose Bowl to address Penn State violations

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
The Rose Bowl issued a statement Tuesday regarding two violations by Penn State at last year's game against USC. Not sure why it's taken nearly four months to acknowledge these issues, but here's the full statement from Rose Bowl Director of Media Gina Chappin:
At the Rose Bowl Game held on January 1, 2009, Penn State University failed to…
Continue reading at ESPN.com – Big Ten – Blog

OSU avoids fine over Tressel’s shielding of Pryor

On Monday, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline reported the Rose Bowl fined Penn State for refusing to open its locker room to the media after the game, a violation of the contract between the bowl and the school. You can…
Continue reading at Blogging the Buckeyes

Paterno talks secondary struggles, scheduling

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
Penn State lost all four starters from a secondary that held up for most of last season before being shredded by USC in the Rose Bowl.
Halfway through spring practice, the Nittany Lions are still picking up the pieces in the back half.
"I'm very concerned about it," head coach Joe Paterno said Tuesday. "We have a long, long way to go…
Continue reading at ESPN.com – Big Ten – Blog

Destination: Champaign

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
The Big Ten road tour continues this morning as I make my way down scenic I-57 toward the Champaign-Urbana area. 
I'm going to spend the afternoon with the Illinois Fighting Illini, who hope to rebound from a disappointing 5-7 season following a surprise run to the Rose Bowl in 2007. The schedule features interviews with head coach Ron Zook, his…
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Seven Ways Big Ten Football Can Resurrect Itself

After two laughable national championship efforts by Ohio State, and two awful Rose Bowl appearances by Penn State and Illinois, Big Ten football is a joke in the world of NCAA Nation.

And the pundits haven’t even a Big Ten winner factored into next year’s national championship game—or in the country’s top 10.

Here’s seven ways the Big Ten can better.

1. Ohio…
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football

Daryll Clark Looks to Lead Penn State in 2009

One of the best, or worst, parts about spring practice is that everybody seems to put out some articles about the evolving leadership of the team heading into 2009. Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did just that with a feature on quarterback Daryll Clark on Sunday.

Musselman recaps Clark’s thoughts on the Rose Bowl loss and discusses how Clark will be looked upon as more of a leader…
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football

Spring Questions: Big Ten Edition

What does Ron Zook do with Juice Williams?

Williams is a great talent at quarterback for the Illini, but he just can’t seem to take that step to elite status. In his sophomore year, he was so inconsistent that Zook actually pulled him in some games in favor of Eddie McGee. It was the same year that Illinois played in the Rose Bowl.

Last season Williams kept a firm grasp on the starting…
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football

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