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BCS: A Disservice To College Football Fans

Highlands Today Staff

Published: December 5, 2007

College football fans are among the most passionate and ardent supporters the sports world has to offer.

Stadiums the size of small cities are routinely filled every Saturday, and yearly clashes between rivals can make or break careers, turning 18-year old men into legends and providing fans memories that last a lifetime.

Feasting upon every snap is the college football fan, who, through their alliances, rarely agree on anything.

Except, of course, for their disdain for the Bowl Championship Series, a system that has fallen woefully short of providing a rabid fanbase the one thing it asks for each season: A clear-cut national champion in Division-I college football.

This year is no different.

As immediately as the BCS bowl games were announced on Sunday, the reaction to the computer system's shortcomings came as swift as an outside linebacker pouncing on a fumble.

How could Missouri, a team who was No. 1 in the nation on Saturday night, find themselves completely out of the BCS on Sunday morning? How did a lackluster team like Illinois sneak into the Rose Bowl? And shouldn't the only undefeated team in the nation, Hawaii, have a shot at playing for a national title?

This season, more than any past debacle the BCS has orchestrated in its 10-year existence, has proven that it's time for a change. A decade ago, college football's postseason was hijacked by university presidents and bowl commissioners, whose financial interests alone decide the matchups.

Clearly, a playoff system would fix this problem is one fell swoop, and bring a brand new level of excitement to the game.

We'll continue to support our favorite teams, but as long as the BCS is the system college football employs each season, we'll never know who the best team in the nation is.

We'll only know who the least respected fans are.

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