BCS needs to end

Typing up the schedule of televised sporting events each week is one of the simplest tasks I have to do.
It’s not difficult. It doesn’t take long. It’s unlikely to cause any problems.
But this week, the following events on the schedule jumped out at me.
Gildan New Mexico Bowl – Temple vs. Wyoming
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Ohio vs. Utah State
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – Louisiana-Lafayette vs. San Diego State
Frustrating.
It’s frustrating because it’s pointless.
Other than the teams and the schools involved, who cares?
And who can keep track of all of these mini bowls sponsored by clothing labels, truck companies and, of all things, root vegetables?
Honestly, the only potato bowl I’m interested in is the one they sell at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
If it hasn’t yet become obvious, I despise the bowl system and especially the Bowl Championship Series. It is a ridiculous way to decide college football’s champion, and it makes every other post-season game completely irrelevant.
And I know this is probably the millionth column written railing against this horrible system. But that’s all the more reason to write it. If we stop trying, we’re never going to get what we want.
What we want, at least what I want, is a playoff.
As has been documented many times, setting up a playoff would not be at all difficult:
• Set a mandatory end date for the regular season. Thanksgiving weekend would probably work.
• Use the BCS formula, another formula, or a selection committee, and choose eight teams to be placed in a standard tournament bracket.
• Have the higher-seeded schools host the opening round of the tournament two weeks after the end of the regular season. For me, matchups this year would include Clemson at LSU, Wisconsin at Alabama, Oregon at Oklahoma State and Boise State at Stanford.
• Play the semifinal games around New Year’s Day in the current major bowls — Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange — and rotate them every other year.
• Rotate the national title game between the four major bowl sites, just like it is now, and play it one week after the semifinal games.
There you have it. A college football national champion decided the way it should be, on the field.
In addition to this system, all of the other bowl games could remain in tact. If Temple and Wyoming want to go play each other in Albuquerque, or Ohio and Utah State would like to meet up in Boise, so be it.
Even the losers of the opening-round tournament games could participate in the other bowls.
Those in charge of the BCS come up with a variety of reasons why a playoff won’t work, but we all know the driving force is money. However, if they can’t figure out a way to make just as much money, if not more, from a playoff system they should probably be removed from their jobs.
And maybe that would be a good thing.[[In-content Ad]]