There is no reason to blame this on the BCS. The BCS is nothing more than a name for what always was. A fable:
Once upon a time there was no television. There were football teams. At the end of particularly good seasons, they would argue over who was better. So they decided to settle the matter on the field with a game. It occurred them that it would be more fun to have these games at vacation destinations. Local chambers of commerce liked it too. Oranges. Miami. Cotton. Sugar. Peaches. New Orleans. Atlanta.
This continued for many years. All the people were very happy.
Then one day, someone invented TV. The folks in New York who ran TV thought it would be a good idea to broadcast these bowl games. It was very successful. Everyone was even happier than before. The people who ran the TV business thought that maybe we could show more games, regular season games. That worked. Certain games were so popular, like Notre Dame, that they showed the game live on Saturday, and an abridged repeat version the following Sunday morning. The people liked that.
The bowls picked the teams they liked. TV helped make those teams popular to the masses. Generations watched together on special occasions like New Years, and during the entire holiday season. Bonds were formed.
Still, arguments persisted about who was the best. So, all the parties involved got together and formed this ranking system using computers, writers and coaches. This way they could assure that the number one most popular team could play the number two most popular team, and the bowls would share with each other who gets to field the game with their partners in TV. The merchants funded the whole thing with advertising dollars. And so the BCS was "invented."
The BCS, in a form very close to its current form - extremely close - always existed. The antithesis of the BCS is a playoff. No one who participates in the BCS wants that. They look at the NCAA basketball playoffs, and shudder that teams like George Mason, and Butler, might actually win it all. That's no good for anyone. They would rather control the names of the teams that might actually get in.
If there was no BCS as it exists today, there would be no greater access to bowls to programs like Indiana, BC, Oregon State, Arizona, Wake Forest, Virginia, Pitt, Connecticut - than there is today. No access. It is not the fault of the "BCS."
Once upon a time there was no television. There were football teams. At the end of particularly good seasons, they would argue over who was better. So they decided to settle the matter on the field with a game. It occurred them that it would be more fun to have these games at vacation destinations. Local chambers of commerce liked it too. Oranges. Miami. Cotton. Sugar. Peaches. New Orleans. Atlanta.
This continued for many years. All the people were very happy.
Then one day, someone invented TV. The folks in New York who ran TV thought it would be a good idea to broadcast these bowl games. It was very successful. Everyone was even happier than before. The people who ran the TV business thought that maybe we could show more games, regular season games. That worked. Certain games were so popular, like Notre Dame, that they showed the game live on Saturday, and an abridged repeat version the following Sunday morning. The people liked that.
The bowls picked the teams they liked. TV helped make those teams popular to the masses. Generations watched together on special occasions like New Years, and during the entire holiday season. Bonds were formed.
Still, arguments persisted about who was the best. So, all the parties involved got together and formed this ranking system using computers, writers and coaches. This way they could assure that the number one most popular team could play the number two most popular team, and the bowls would share with each other who gets to field the game with their partners in TV. The merchants funded the whole thing with advertising dollars. And so the BCS was "invented."
The BCS, in a form very close to its current form - extremely close - always existed. The antithesis of the BCS is a playoff. No one who participates in the BCS wants that. They look at the NCAA basketball playoffs, and shudder that teams like George Mason, and Butler, might actually win it all. That's no good for anyone. They would rather control the names of the teams that might actually get in.
If there was no BCS as it exists today, there would be no greater access to bowls to programs like Indiana, BC, Oregon State, Arizona, Wake Forest, Virginia, Pitt, Connecticut - than there is today. No access. It is not the fault of the "BCS."
