PRO: We need a playoff

College football, we have a problem.

And once again this year’s bowls proved why there must be a playoff in the sport.

We had a once-beaten Florida team decimating undefeated Ohio State in the championship game, making us wonder whether Louisiana State, USC, or if you really want to be imaginative, Boise State could have done the same thing. And then there are the people who were calling for a Michigan-Ohio State rematch.

Who wouldn’t have loved to see Boise State advance in a playoff system and take on a squad like the Buckeyes, a la George Mason/Connecticut, in college basketball?

Although my esteemed colleague thinks you can’t compare college basketball and college football, we’re comparing college football, not having a playoff with professional basketball, baseball, football, hockey and college basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis and even Division II and III football as well as every other college sport having one.

The solution is an eight-team playoff, much like a plan originally touted by Sports Illustrated. Teams would be seeded one through eight by their final BCS standings.

One commonly discussed issue is travel concerns for alumni as many do not want to travel for three games. Giving the top four teams home games not only would keep regular season games incredibly important, it also guarantees top attendance to early games and saves the home alumni’s money for future trips.

Then play two semifinal games and the championship game along with another top game not involving playoff teams at the rotating current BCS sites, the Fiesta, Rose, Orange and Sugar bowls.

This plan also keeps the bowl system intact so schools like Arizona with no prayer at the playoff still have something to play for and can get a winning season rewarded.

Sure, the regular season may not be as important, but if you lose twice you better have played quite a schedule. Right now it’s impossible to determine the two most deserving teams when everyone plays such different schedules, but you get a more accurate picture when you’re choosing eight.

Anyone think Ohio State would have gone undefeated in the SEC? Me neither. And the refs wouldn’t have blown Oklahoma’s season under this system.

Everyone, well except Casey, wants it, so when the current TV contract expires, it’s time for college football to finally do what’s right and make a playoff.

Michael Schwartz
sports editor

CON: The BCS rocks, period

There’s a little list somewhere in my head of things I love. It goes something like this: My family, a movie named Eulogy and the Colorado Avalanche.

Recently, it donned on me that there’s been a recent addition, because I absolutely love college football’s current system.

A playoff? Please. We’re talking about a playoff?

The BCS rocks. Period.

How can an argument for one even be made after what transpired on New Year’s Day, with Boise State lateraling and – errr – Statue-of-Libertying its way to college football lore?

You think the thought to go for two would’ve even crossed Boise State head coach Chris Peterson’s mind had his Broncos been playing the Sooners in the first round of an eight-team playoff?

Let’s face it. College football has indelibly been intertwined with bowl games from the start; they’re what make it whole.

Before anyone brings up George Mason, let me point out one thing: That was basketball, we’re talking about football. Please don’t compare between sports.

Should college football turn to a playoff system, it would turn into a battle of who has the best medical staff: Last one with a starting quarterback wins!

A playoff would ruin the everyday importance of college football. Think about it, how many other sports have do-or-die match-ups in Week 1 – Week 1 – of the season?

Sure, there are the cases when the BCS has turned into BS (see: 2002, 2003, etc., etc.) but it’s not like college football was perfect before 1998, when the current system was implemented.

Hey, in 1925 Alabama and Dartmouth shared the title. The next year, Alabama shared it with Stanford. And guess what? It was a three-peat in 1927, when Illinois and Yale were both crowned. 1928? Yep. Georgia Tech and Yale.

In the 1970s, two different National Champions were crowned in four separate years.

It happened again in 1990 and 1991, again in 1997 and, most recently, in 2003.

Look, the BCS continues college football’s tradition of imperfection, but I couldn’t care less. It’s part of what makes college football great.

Ryan Casey
assistant sports editor