Final Words

Last words on the college football scene:

• Yes, I pulled for the Ducks. They're my favorite team west of Seymour.
• Something about this Auburn team makes me feel dirty-- like I need to bathe to clean myself off after watching them.
• I would vote TCU First Place in my poll if I were a voter. Just to stir the pot.

And I offer you my alternate postseason:

• Eight team playoff
  
• Champion of each automatic qualifying conference gets in (I would make all the conferences have a championship game).
  
• Two at large qualifiers determined by the BCS Rankings. Teams from Non-automatic qualifying conferences are guaranteed a spot if they are in the top five.
  
• Higher ranked team hosts in their home stadium in first round.
• Semifinals are at the sites of the Fiesta, Rose, Orange and Sugar Bowls on a rotating basis. The two bowls not hosting that year have first choice of match-ups between non-playoff teams.
• Finals rotate among the 4 BCS Bowls each year.
  
• Other teams can go to their bowls (there are 35 total bowls).
  

In my world, the college football postseason would have looked like this:

• #8 Connecticut (Big East Champ) at # 1 Auburn (SEC Champ)
  
• #5 Wisconsin (Big Ten Champ) at #4 Stanford (at large)
• #6 Oklahoma (Big12 Champ) at #3 TCU (at large)
  
• #7 Virginia Tech (ACC Champ) at #2 Oregon (Pac10 Champ)

Semifinals would be:

• Rose Bowl: #5 Wisconsin, #1 Auburn
  
• Sugar Bowl: #3 TCU vs # 2 Oregon
  

While the other BCS bowls invited these non-qualifiers:

• Fiesta Bowl: LSU vs Boise State
  
• Orange: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

The finals in Tempe would then have had:

• TCU vs Auburn

Final score: TCU 25, Auburn 24

Too bad it won't happen. The Conference Presidents say it will extend the season too long and make kids miss class. That despite that the FCS (formerly Division 1-AA) does it every year and no one questions the class time that Duke and Baylor missed last year in the NCAA Basketball tournament. The Conferences also like their contracts with the bowls and ESPN that pay them handsomely, even if most schools lose money attending the bowls.

The BCS is un-American. It is set up for the rich to get richer and limit access for the poor (sorry Mountain West and WAC Conferences). There are no Cinderellas in the BCS. No Baylors.

We who have power will capitalize on our position to increase our prestige while limiting or eliminating competition. That's the BCS. On second thought, maybe it's more American than I first gave it credit for...

Can you tell I hate the BCS?