Boo the BCS

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” Although this quote by Bill Shankly, a Scottish soccer player, is in reference to soccer, it still captures what people think of American football. It breeds competition whether you are a player or a fan. For NFL fans Sunday is the best day of the week. For college football fans it is Saturday. Nothing is more exciting than a down to the last second game when your team pulls out the win and it is just as devastating when the field goal kicker misses an easy shot to lose the game.

I myself prefer to watch NFL game (Go Chargers!). And because I have my rugby games on Saturdays I miss many college games. As I am not a Pennsylvania native I like seeing Penn State lose and seeing how devastated their fans are. But what teams I support and don’t support is a different topic.

What I really dislike about football is the Bowl College Series at the collegiate level. It does not make sense. Most other sports use a logical playoff system like NCAA basketball and the NFL. In the BCS the two teams that play in the championship game are based upon rankings at the end of the season. Tournament style playoffs are much more exciting. Rankings or records are utilized to determine the initial matchups and then the winners move on.
With the BCS there is not as much excitement. There are more upsets with tournament style playoffs like in NCAA basketball for example. It is extremely exciting when an unranked team upsets a higher ranked team. This style of playoffs also allows more teams to reach the playoffs. In NCAA basketball 65 teams reach playoffs so every conference gets a bid. A play-in game brings the field to an even 64 teams. Every year there is always at least one upset. There are overtime games and games that come down to the buzzer. There are incredible shots, like ones made from half court.

The NFL also has tournament style playoffs. There are two divisions with four conferences in each: the NFC North, South, East and West, and the AFC North, South, East and West. With this as well there is more than one playoff game. Playoffs are much more exciting when there is more than one game to be played.

There is more competition with tournament style playoffs. It’s so exciting to win a game and know you’re moving on to the next round and it all culminates in the final championship game. I should know. The Shippensburg women’s rugby team is the 2008 and 2009 Division II Women’s National Champions. We work hard in the fall season when we play in our league games. In November we play our first round of playoffs. By winning in November we move on to the next round in the spring. It takes several more rounds to reach the national championship game. It is so exciting and exhilarating to reach the championship game. And when you win, it makes all those hard practices and tough games and endless sprints worth it.

With the BCS, a team works hard to try to make it to the bowl championship game. There are no other playoff games to try and make it to that final game. NCAA teams shouldn’t have an easy way out by only playing one game and then being declared national champions. The NCAA needs to move to a tournament style of play. Simple as that.