The criticism for the BCS has been widespread throughout college football analysts and coaches and even some politicians.
College football analysts Brent Musburger said, "My dream scenario -- and it's not going to happen -- would be to take eight conference champions, and only conference champions, and play the quarterfinals of a tournament on campuses in mid-December. The four losers would remain bowl-eligible. The four winners would advance to semifinals on New Year's Day with exclusive TV windows. Then, like now, one week later, there would be the national championship game."
Just this week Stanford coach David Shaw said, "Bottom line is, the BCS is flawed... I don't understand it. Most of the people I talk to don't understand it. Most of the people that are explaining it don't completely understand it... All I've heard all year is the computers don't like Stanford. Well, the computers haven't programmed themselves."
Politicians from Utah have been extremely outspoken against the BCS. In 2009, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch questioned and explored if the BCS violated anti-trust laws. In 2011, Shurtleff announced that he would file an anti-trust lawsuit against the BCS for "serious anti-trust violations" and this lawsuit was supported by 21 high profile economists and anti-trust experts.
Although President Barack Obama supports a college football playoff, he doesn't believe that the BCS should be up for legal debate like many of the politicians from Utah. Obama said, “If you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season and many of them have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear, decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system... I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football. You know, I am fed up with these computer rankings, and this and that and the other. Get eight teams. The top eight teams right at the end. You've got a playoff. Decide on a national champion."
Although criticism for the BCS seems to be much more widespread in the public, there is still a lot of support for the system.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney is one of the most outspoken supporters of the BCS. Delaney said, "There is nothing more powerful than the regular season in college football. All the games that were local are now regional. The regional games are now national. The level of interest of young people, 12-17, was measured recently. I think NASCAR and the NFL gained 1%. College Football gained 9%. I understand the paradigm of the American sports fan is to play it out. I know we're swimming upstream on it. But we've grown the fan base, we've grown the regular season and we've maintained the postseason... The majority of the presidents and faculty and athletic directors and coaches in the Big Ten believe in the Rose Bowl and believe in the bowl system."
Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman added that no system can be implemented where every conference and every school is "going to have as competitive a chance as others- I mean that's just the reality of the world."
This weekend figures to bring out the best and the worst of the BCS. It is going to show why all of the critics of the BCS are right, while showing at the same time why all of the supporters of the BCS are right. Confusing? Chaotic? Crazy? Welcome to the BCS.
For the critics of the BCS, this weekend is going to once again show how every team in the FBS doesn't have an equal opportunity to reach the National Championship and how non-AQ schools (schools from conference other than the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, or Pac-12) will never have the chance for a national title. It is also going to show how the regular season is extremely important for only some teams and not every team.
The Houston Cougars are currently sitting at 11-0 (7-0 in Conference USA) and have one of the most prolific offenses in recent history. The Cougars offense, lead by Heisman trophy candidate Case Keenum, has been racking up unprecedented numbers. In 11 victories this season, Keenum has thrown for over 300 yards in every game and has thrown for over 400 yards in 5 of those games. Keenum leads the FBS in passing yards, as he has already thrown for over 4,000 yards, and he also leads the FBS in touchdowns with 38. The Cougars are scoring a ridiculous number of points, as they lead the nation in scoring at over 53 points per game. Since 2004, just Western Kentucky and Hawaii in 2007 have scored more points per game than the Cougars. In 7 conference victories, Houston is averaging over 58 points per game. The Cougars lead the FBS in total yards and total yards per game at 618.3. No team since 2004 has averaged more yards per game than the Cougars. Houston leads the FBS in passing yards as well with over 465 per game. Since 2004, just Texas Tech in 2007 has averaged more passing yards per game than the Cougars. Despite the fact that the Cougars are undefeated and are putting up these unprecedented and incredible numbers, they are not going to have a chance to play in the National Championship this year in New Orleans. Currently in the BCS standings, the Cougars are ranked 8th. It would take a loss by all 6 one loss teams to get the Cougars to number 2 in the BCS rankings and in a position to make the title game and the chances of this happening is unbelievable slim. Therefore, Houston's game this weekend against a solid Tulsa team, which hasn't lost a game in Conference USA as well, is not going to have the importance that it should because it doesn't have National Championship implications. Once again, a team that is undefeated will not win a National title, which has happened 6 times since 2004.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney said that college football is "the most important regular season in all of sport." However, BCS critics say that the regular season is "the most important regular season in all of sports" for the few teams who are competing to get into the BCS National Championship or into a BCS bowl game. For the teams that are not going to land in one of the five BCS games, the regular season losses its importance. There are a number of very good games this week that are not significant because college football lacks a playoff. #25 Texas at Texas A&M, Iowa at #21 Nebraska, and Texas Tech at #18 Baylor are all great football games. However, since none of these teams have legitimate opportunities to make a BCS bowl game, the games lose their importance.
For the supporters of the BCS, the weekend’s slate of games is going to prove why the BCS causes more excitement in the regular season than any other sport. It is going to show why, like Jim Delaney said, "There is nothing more powerful than the regular season in college football."
If there was an 8 team playoff in college football, the LSU and Arkansas game would lose its appeal. Both teams would make the playoffs and their battle this weekend in Baton Rouge would just be for seeding. However, with the current BCS in place, the excitement surrounding the game is unbelievable because of all of the different possibilities that will result after the conclusion of the game, especially if the Tigers fall to the Razorbacks. With a Razorback victory coupled with an Alabama win over Auburn, there would be a three-way tie atop the SEC west standings with LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas. Therefore, the team with the lowest BCS ranking would be eliminated and then the tie between the two higher ranked BCS teams would be broken by their head-to-head result. If LSU does fall to Arkansas chaos and madness will ensue. Thus, everybody is going to have their eyes glued on the game in Baton Rouge because of its monumental importance in the National Championship race, which is just what the BCS wants.
