Bring on the Chaos

2013 will mark a pivotal moment not only for the die-hard college football fans but even the casual ones.  2013 will mark the last season of the current BCS contract out of the most recent four year deal.  Earlier this week, officials of the BCS met to discuss possible structural changes to the current system.  A number of different ideas were put out on the table including a playoff system, yet that did not seem to be the most popular idea.  

It is time for a new system.  

The majority of sources were stating the idea of getting rid of the qualifying BCS conferences.  This would allow the national championship game be up for grabs.  Essentially, this would give Houston, a current undefeated team with strength of schedule equivalent to the Little Giants, a chance to raise the crystal ball.  Sound ridiculous, I think so too. The way I see it, we would be rewarding a Conference USA team for playing a cupcake schedule all year long, it just doesn’t seem right.

 If the BCS system is so keen on giving these schools a chance to play for the national title, than the correct thing to do would be to set up a playoff system.  Although they might play a bunch of daisies during the season, they would have to face the gauntlet in the postseason playing the likes of Alabama and USC.  In my mind as well as many others, a playoff system would make so much sense.  Then why is this not being considered as a number one option?

Maybe in their eyes, they have always gotten the right matchups and never had a problem with two teams who have played for the national championship.  Looking back in the 13 years of the BCS, there have been only two years of real controversy. The first was the 2004 – 2005 college football season when Oklahoma was demolished by USC in the national title.  Both teams were undefeated yet there was a third, Auburn, who ended up finishing the season undefeated after winning the Sugar bowl.  I know shocking, an undefeated SEC team not being picked for the title game.  That scenario in the past couple of years would be unheard of.  The second year of dispute was the 2007 – 2008 season when there was no undefeated team and people were wondering who would be selected to play Ohio State in the title game.  It ended up being a two loss LSU team that took it to the Buckeyes triggering the fall from grace for the Big Ten.

A playoff system would prevent any discrepancy
in the future in who should play in the national title game. 

That being said, I think we know what needs to happen.  We need to give the BCS officials a reason to push for the playoff.  The media, celebrities, and fans have all stated their case for a playoff but it will never get done if it doesn’t come from the source, the BCS.  For this type of push, every fan needs to pray for chaos.  We need a scenario that the BCS formula cannot handle and the servers end up short circuiting.  Then and only then will we see a push from the BCS officials.  

 Although we are 11 weeks into the season, it is still very likely that this could happen this year. There could be a possible scenario where everyone would be scratching their head with who to place in the national title game.  Let’s start with the top two teams, because if they win out, it is certain they will be playing on January 9^th.  I have never bought into Oklahoma State as they do not have a great defense nor have they faced one.  I think we see them losing to the Sooners on the last game of the season which would knock them out of the race.  LSU still has to play Arkansas which is the 6^th team in the country and most likely a red-hot Georgia team in the SEC championship game.  If LSU knocks off Arkansas that would knock the Razorbacks out of the title talk but then if LSU loses to Georgia, they would most likely not get a bid.

Alabama Auburn is a fierce rivalry and no game
is a guaranteed win for either team in any season. 

So if those two teams lose, who would replace them?  Right now, 99% of America would say it would be an Alabama-Oregon championship game.  Many people are overlooking Bama’s last game of the season, at Aubrun.  Although, Auburn is nothing what it was last year, Roll Tide/War Eagle is one of the most intense rivalries in all of college sports and it is on the Tiger’s turf.  Out of the top four teams, Oregon has the easiest route to New Orleans.  Their toughest opponent left is USC at home but if they the Ducks do not come to play, they could easily be upset and see their title hopes dashed.  If the above scenario happens, 5 of the top 6 teams in the country could go down in the last three weeks, and then who do you pick?

Maybe it would be an undefeated Houston team to get the bid, but many think they will lose to Southern Mississippi at the end of the season?  How about Oklahoma who lost to a 28 point underdog earlier in the season? I personally don’t think the voters want to see Oklahoma get clobbered in another national title game.  Then there is Clemson but I see them losing at South Carolina next week. How about Virginia Tech, the only other top ten ACC team? Well they have to face Clemson in the ACC title game.  They lost by three touchdowns to them earlier in the year.  

Try and tell me you would not have fun filling out
this bracket in your office pool. 

As you can see, there are possibilities for chaos to occur in the remaining three weeks.  7 out of the top 8 teams could lose by the first weekend in December.  If this scenario would occur, I have no idea who I would want to see in the national title game.  I also have no idea how the computers would come up with the top two teams, hopefully the servers would overheat from the madness and crash.  Yet, in the end, we would need the top two teams to cause a national outcry for a playoff.  We need controversy, we need anarchy and then once we have it, the BCS officials will seriously consider a playoff.