My BCS Clusterfrick, Pt. 2

I know that I've already ranted about the Bowl Championship Series, and its flaws, but I read a post I read online riled me up all over again. Here is the reply I shared:

This post officially turned me into an anti-BCS person mostly because of the "student athlete" argument. That load of junk has to be the most worn out, nonsensical argument ever crafted to defend the BCS.

Sure, it's a fact, but every NCAA sport is comprised of student athletes, but we still have March Madness, the Div I-AA-Div III Football playoffs, and so forth and so on. This argument pretty much says that Div I-A football athletes should be treated differently because they're either special or they're not bright enough to handle a playoff schedule like every other student athlete.

Granted, football does not have the same demands as basketball, volleyball, baseball, etc., but if Div I-AA schools can manage, some of which are larger, more prestigious, and more demanding than some Div. I-A schools, then why can't it work for the big boys?

Of course, the answer always comes back to one thing and that's money. The BCS bowls bring in tons of cash for the schools, the cities, the sponsors, etc. off of the blood, sweat and tears of the same student athletes that the system is built to "protect".  We can get into the debate about whether student athletes should receive a stipend, but that's a whole different can of worms.

I'd have more respect for the pro-BCSers if they just came out and said that it's all about making money, rather than trying to dupe us into believing that the broken system is in place to help the student athletes. If the NCAA really cared about these young adults, they'd be doing more to raise graduation rates rather than defending the BCS.

The whole "every team has the chance to become national champions" argument is a joke too because this very post admits that not every school is on the same level or playing field, so those that are not in one of the six BCS conferences really don't have the same opportunities. Any system that punishes a team for going undefeated by denying them a chance to play for the National Title is just illogical.

Plus, playoffs make sports great.  I know that comparing college football to the NFL is dicey at best, but could you imagine a world where the top AFC team automatically played the top NFC team? We wouldn't have those great underdog stories to share. It would just be the same hand full of teams playing one another over and over again. Without playoffs, a small market team like the San Antonio Spurs or the Tampa Bay Rays would probably never be taken seriously and kept out of the championship picture all together.

Let's just look at college sports. I cannot tell you which team won the NCAA Basketball Title last season, but I sure as heck remember George Mason making it to the Final Four because the little guy was given the chance to take on the big boys. Sure, it didn't result in a national title for GMU, but at least they were there.

Again, comparing Div. I-A football to any other sport is very much an apples and oranges situation, but if playoffs are such a bad idea, then why does EVERY other sport in America utilize them. Oh yeah, because we're taught in America that everyone should have the chance to reach their goals...unless you're TCU, Utah, or Boise State.