The ScooterBlog

I’m not a Michigan fan, nor am I a huge OSU fanboy, even though I do like OSU’s team this year, but Michigan fans should be screaming louder for a playoff system then anyone else. They got stuck in a split National Championship nine years ago, and now once again, they could be on the outside looking in hoping for a “split” title.

Yes, Florida beat a decent Arkansas team 38-28 to win the SEC Championship. Yes, they finally showed signs of offense that they have not shown in quite a long time (unless they’re playing Western Carolina), but did they do enough strictly on the merits of their game to leapfrog Michigan? I don’t necessarily think so, and voting on the opinion that you didn’t want to see a rematch is a complete prosecution of what the BCS is supposed to be about, pitting the #1 and #2 teams against each other.

So thus, if Florida does beat OSU, and Michigan beats USC soundly, the chance for a split national title exists, the same split that happened just three years ago using the BCS system. If this was supposed to fix these problems, having a split every three years isn’t solving anything.

While I also understand some of the arguments about a playoff system and it taking more time, or taking some of the luster off of the regular season, I don’t necessarily see that as true. If you look back at this season, it would have made only the OSU-Michigan less significant. Every other game that I can think of, outside of LSU-Florida, had 2 teams in which you could argue at least one team would be out of a playoff if they lost, if it was an 8-team thing. The idea that it takes the athlete-student (let’s be honest here) away from the classroom is a cop-out. College Football is a money business, and yes, the students matter, but I would venture to say the money matters more.

For that matter … if you did an 8-team playoff, who would you put into it? My list …

1) Ohio State
2) Michigan
3) Florida
4) USC
5) Louisville
6) Boise State
7) Oklahoma
Wake Forest

(I figure, 6 conference champions, 2 at-large bids and/or non-BCS school rules would apply)

I do get that LSU gets screwed out of this, being #4 in the BCS, but hey, if you make the conference titles or undefeated seasons worth something (if they’re rated high enough), then almost every game keeps its significance.

Losing the bowl system? Not a chance … either make all seven games part of the bowls, OR make first round games home games to higher seed, then play a “third place game”, and you can fill your four BCS bowls that way.

It also removes the pressure to feel like you have to vote for a game, you vote for a team based on their real placement. You’d still have your “bubble” arguments, and you’d have teams playing conference championships to have a shot to win it all. Even that 9-6 Wake Forest-Georgia Tech game would have great meaning.

Ok, I just solved the problem in about 10 minutes. Can someone get the BCS conference presidents on a conference call with me?