I will make this short and sweet. Could the sports media please stop complaining about how every Thanksgiving airs an NFL game in Detroit and how the BCS is “unfair” or that it needs to be replaced with a playoff system?
Regarding Detroit, it is a Thanksgiving tradition for the Lions to host a Thanksgiving game. Yes, they are really bad now (and have been for about a decade) but if the NFL were to implement a flexible schedule game for Thanksgiving then the tradition value will be lost. The NFL really does not have very many traditions but a game in Dallas and a game in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day are two of them. I do not consider myself a “tradition” guy but I like that there are at least two things I can count on happening every NFL season. Leave the Lions alone, they will someday be good again. Hopefully.
Regarding the BCS tournament, a playoff system will not fix anything. The NFL has a playoff system and Earth’s largest sporting event (the Super Bowl) and rarely does the “best team” win. If the ’01 Rams and ’01 Patriots were to play the Super Bowl ten times, the Rams would win nine of them. Same goes for the ’98 Falcons—they had no business beating the ’98 Vikings… and yet they did in spite of their clear inferiority (just to cite two huge examples of the last ten years).
Turning men’s college football into a pro-looking league complete with a pro-looking playoff format will completely ruin Rivalry Week in the long run. For those of you who do not know Rivalry Week is the last week of the season which produces Florida-Florida State, Michigan-Ohio State, Auburn-Alabama, USC-Notre Dame, Cal-Stanford, Harvard-Yale, and so on. College football is founded on rivalries. With a playoff system in place, a scenario in which a #3 ranked Ohio State team that has already clinched a playoff spot that visits Ann Arbor may decide to rest starters in the second half if nothing is on the line.
I wish ESPN would realize this when they keep pimping their “analysts” to bemoan about the current system and wish aloud that a playoff system is the “only way to fix this mess.” Just remember, every action has a residual effect, however small or large. And if the NCAA were to implement a BCS playoff format everyone should be ready for games that would normally be a big deal to become “just another game.”
And, at the end of the day, which is more important–that Michigan-Ohio State games still matter or that Texas may not get a shot at the title game for one year even though they beat Oklahoma? (Oklahoma is currently ranked higher in the standings at #2, whereas Texas is at #3.)
Whatever your thoughts are as a college football fan, just know that the sport as you know it is about to become something you probably do not want it to. You think you will want a playoff system but its side effects will almost certainly make the sport suffer. And if you think that this is some hyperbolic opinion read Jason Whitlock’s excellent article about ESPN last week. His opinion about how they are handling the Heisman trophy is spot-on. And, oh by the way, ESPN just bought the rights to the BCS games starting in a few years so if you are looking for someone to look out for the best interest of the sport you will be sadly mistaken.
Enjoy the sport while you still can because, for some unknown reason, people think college football needs to be more like the Final Four. Which is like saying that our Presidential elections should done up like American Idol if only because that show is consistently more popular than the debates.