Ncaa Playoff System

Drew Vojslavek
English 1102-040
1 November 2010
New Playoff System
      NCAA Division 1 football is unique from all other sports in that it does not end its season with a playoff system that decides a champion. Instead, college football provides a system of polls combined with many computer formulas to determine the top-two teams in the country, who then face off in a major bowl game to decide the eventual champion. I think that the BCS football system should implement a playoff system to replace the current bowl system.
      Fans who support the current system say major college football is the one missing out by not taking advantage of the excitement generated by similar post-season tournaments in college sports while fans who are against the bowl system claim the system simply isn't fair because a true champion can only be determined on the field (Wheeler 2). Pro-BCS fans rest their arguments on the college football tradition the bowl games represent, along with the increased emphasis the lack of a playoff system puts on the regular season.
      The BCS was established in 1998 to help determine the national champion for college football while maintaining a bowl system that's nearly 100 years old (Rodgers 2). Six conferences, including the Big Ten, Pac-10, ACC, Big East, Big 12 and SEC committed their champions to play under the this system. Before the 2004 season, Conference USA, along with the Sun Belt, Mid-American, Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences joined the BCS (Rodgers 1).
      Advocates of the current system place a lot of emphasis on the actual football season. They say that by using the separate conferences it creates a playoff-like season that makes the

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entire season more exciting and more competitive. The system makes it so every single game counts, and in most cases losing one game can eliminate the team from the championship hunt.
Another reason they want to keep it the same is because of the... [continues]

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