Should the National Collegiate Athletic Association have Football Playoffs - Essay Example

NCAA football has grown tremendously over the past few years, perhaps in large part due to the growth of the sport of football as a whole. Football has become America’s new pastime, which has caused for people to want to see the NFL stars of tomorrow on a regular basis. Despite this growth, the sport has not been able to truly evolve to the next level because there, often times, is not a true national champion. This is because since there are not any playoffs at the end of the season, the two teams who meet in the national championship come down to a vote. This almost always leaves a worthy contender out of the national championship game, making a team’s wonderful season seem like a waste. While there are reasons for this, such as the NCAA’s rich tradition of presenting prestigious bowls like the Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar, the pros of having a playoff at the end of the season outweigh the cons, making an NCAA playoff something that should happen in the near future. There are some who believe that the Bowl Championship Series is a valid way of deciding a national champion. Since a ranking that is composed of the human elements “the Harris Interactive College Football Poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coachs Poll” (BCS Know How), and the BCS computers is applied to all of the teams, those who support the BCS system believe that it truly does choose the two best teams in the country to play for the national championship. This, however, is completely up for debate, as there have been some recent examples of teams who seemingly deserved to be in the national championship game being snubbed, and even a recent case where two national champions were crowned. In the 2003 season, there were three high profile one-loss teams in the nation at the end of the regular season, LSU, Oklahoma, and USC, with each of these teams believing that they should be playing for the national championship. Even though USC was ranked first in the AP poll, it was ranked third overall in the BCS standings, and even though Oklahoma lost in the Big Twelve Championship game, because of its placement in the other polls and was excluded from the BCS championship game. How is worked out was that USC ended up third despite “having finished the regular season #1 in both polls and averaged #2.67 on the computers. LSU was #2 in both polls and averaged #1.93 on the computers, and Oklahoma was #3 in both polls and averaged #1.17 on the computers“ (Callaghan et al. 892). Upon winning the Rose Bowl that season, USC remained first in the AP poll and, therefore, it shared the national title with LSU. This caused for the structure of the Bowl Championship Series to change, but problems remained intact after this. The very next season, “Southeastern Conference champion Auburn was undefeated in 2004 but was shut out of the BCS title game, which matched USC against Oklahoma. Utah also finished the season undefeated but could not play for the title“ (AP). Even as recently as the 2007 season, controversy has erupted, causing for discussions of a possible playoff system to emerge. The 2007 national championship game was played between Ohio State and LSU, even though teams like USC, Georgia, and Virginia Tech could have laid claim to playing in this game. The controversy will no doubt continue until a playoff system is implemented. Another reason why certain traditionalists do not wish to see a playoff system is because the bowls that are currently in place are so prestigious. For example, the Rose Bowl has been played for in every season since 1902, when “the Tournament of Roses decided to enhance the day’s festivities by adding a football game – the first post season college football game ever held” (Rose Bowl History) and the organizers do not wish to see it become less important. Currently, the Rose Bowl is played between the PAC-10 and the Big Ten champions, unless either of those teams is playing in the national championship game. If a playoff system were to be implemented, this game would hold less meaning because it would probably be awarded to a team that is not involved in the playoffs. Arguments like this, however, stand in the way of progress for NCAA football as a whole. Awarding a true national champion is much more important than the history of the Rose Bowl and the Rose Bowl would not have to be excluded from consideration. The winner of one of the semi-final games could be awarded the Rose Bowl, which is very similar to how this bowl is currently awarded. The winner of the Rose Bowl is never the national champion anymore, so awarding the Bowl for a semi-final win would be exactly the same, while still ensuring that an important game will be included along with the Rose Bowl festivities. This is once again a situation where the progression of the sport must be considered ahead of any nostalgia, as there is far too much controversy present to keep the same system in place. Those who support the BCS also believe that in most cases, that a true national champion is crowned at the end of the season. These same people also believe that the entire NCAA football season is like a playoff because one loss can eliminate a team from national championship consideration in any given season. While this is a somewhat valid argument, there are also seasons, such as this last season, where even two losses do not eliminate a team from consideration. In fact, Ohio State lost its final regular season game and still gained a spot in the national championship game because the Big Ten Conference does not play a championship game of its own. Kansas, on the other hand, lost its last regular season game as well, but its conference, the Big Twelve, holds a championship game. Kansas did not make this game because of their late regular season loss and, therefore, were not included in the conference championship game, essentially eliminating them from BCS Championship Game consideration. Ohio State, therefore, made it to the championship game because other teams lost, not because they won. This is something that the heads of the NCAA must work to eliminate because there must be a truly deserving national champion crowned every season. Even this last season’s national champions, the LSU Tigers, lost a late season game to Arkansas and made it to the national title game because of teams that were ranked ahead of them losing even later in the season, not because of who they beat. Politics and conference loyalties can often determine who plays in the big game every season and this is something that needs to end because it does not crown a true national champion every season. NCAA is in desperate need of a football playoff because of the tremendous amount of controversy that the current system brings about. The BCS system is very flawed and it will, often time, bring one or two undeserving teams to the national championship game. This leave other teams excluded from championship consideration, which can be frustrating because these teams could just as easily be playing for a championship. Those who do not support a playoff often cite reasons like the prestigious nature of the other bowls, the voting system’s complexity, and the regular season already being similar to a playoff as reasons why a playoff system is not needed, but these reasons all hold back the evolution of the sport. The BCS voting system is completely unreliable because it allows for personal preference to become a deciding factor, the other bowl games can still be played, even with a playoff, and the regular season is not like a playoff because it allows for teams who lose early in the season to recover more easily than teams who lose late in the season. Also, teams that do not have to play in a conference championship game are given an advantage, as it is one less competitive game that they have to play. By having the top sixteen teams in the country play a few extra games to decide a national championship, the NCAA could eliminate the controversy and the confusing by allowing the teams to decide on a true national champion on the field. Works Cited AP. "Congress to look into deeply flawed BCS system". ESPN.com. 2 December 2005. Viewed 16 April 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2245440 BCS Know How. "The BCS Formula". Viewed 16 April 2008. http://bcsknowhow.com/# Callaghan, Thomas; Mucha, Peter J.; and Porter, Mason A. "The Bowl Championship Series: A Mathematical Review". Notices of the AMS. Vol. 51, No. 8. September 2004. PP. 887-893. Viewed 16 April 2008. http://www.ams.org/notices/200408/fea-mucha.pdf Rose Bowl History. Viewed 16 April 2008. http://www.rosebowlhistory.org/ Read More