I used to be a member of the full-fledged hate the BCS group, however I have swung 180 degrees. I think the BCS is good for college football. Do I think a 12 or 16 team playoff would be better? Yes, I am unsure my feelings about an 8 team playoff.
The arguments against the BCS are that it keeps the money in the power conferences, limited access to all D1 (or FBS) teams, and has not always matched up the two best teams in the country.
I would suggest that the BCS has done a better job of sharing money and access than any other set up in the history of college football. From 1970-1997 a total of 4 teams gained entrance into the bowls that comprise the BCS. One of those being Houston form the SWC in 1976, IMO if the SWC were around today it would be an auto-bid BCS league. Another was Louisville in 1990, which is now a member of a BCS conference. That means that in the 28 years prior to the formation of the BCS taking the 4 would be BCS bowls means there were 224 bowl invites to the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose, 1.8% of which went to teams from none BCS conferences, or 1.3% went to teams that are not currently in BCS conferences.
Since the formation of the BCS in 1998 season as most know 4 teams have made it from non-BCS conferences. With the addition of the BCS championship game in 2006 there have been 94 BCS invites given out with 4.3% being given to non-BCS conference teams (this includes 1 BCS invite given to a non-BCS team in 2008 season, if 2 non-BCS teams get invites in the 2008 season it is 5.3% of invites). No more BYU in 1983, 1984, 1996, Utah 1994 or Air Force 1985. These teams weren’t even considered to gain access to the elite bowls.
So access to the prestige and money of the big bowl games is far greater now than it ever has been in the past, as well as the interest in bowl games. In 1997 the last year without the BCS there were 20 bowl games, this year there will be 34 bowl games, that means more money and exposure for all of college football. With the requirement being lowered to earning a ranking of 12 or higher I think it is probable to see a team from a non-BCS conference gaining access every season to the BCS games. This is why I am unsure of an 8-team playoff. I think it would resemble the first few years of the BCS when there were many flaws and access was not truly available to all.
Info taken from espn.com and cfbdatawarehouse.com
The arguments against the BCS are that it keeps the money in the power conferences, limited access to all D1 (or FBS) teams, and has not always matched up the two best teams in the country.
I would suggest that the BCS has done a better job of sharing money and access than any other set up in the history of college football. From 1970-1997 a total of 4 teams gained entrance into the bowls that comprise the BCS. One of those being Houston form the SWC in 1976, IMO if the SWC were around today it would be an auto-bid BCS league. Another was Louisville in 1990, which is now a member of a BCS conference. That means that in the 28 years prior to the formation of the BCS taking the 4 would be BCS bowls means there were 224 bowl invites to the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose, 1.8% of which went to teams from none BCS conferences, or 1.3% went to teams that are not currently in BCS conferences.
Since the formation of the BCS in 1998 season as most know 4 teams have made it from non-BCS conferences. With the addition of the BCS championship game in 2006 there have been 94 BCS invites given out with 4.3% being given to non-BCS conference teams (this includes 1 BCS invite given to a non-BCS team in 2008 season, if 2 non-BCS teams get invites in the 2008 season it is 5.3% of invites). No more BYU in 1983, 1984, 1996, Utah 1994 or Air Force 1985. These teams weren’t even considered to gain access to the elite bowls.
So access to the prestige and money of the big bowl games is far greater now than it ever has been in the past, as well as the interest in bowl games. In 1997 the last year without the BCS there were 20 bowl games, this year there will be 34 bowl games, that means more money and exposure for all of college football. With the requirement being lowered to earning a ranking of 12 or higher I think it is probable to see a team from a non-BCS conference gaining access every season to the BCS games. This is why I am unsure of an 8-team playoff. I think it would resemble the first few years of the BCS when there were many flaws and access was not truly available to all.
Info taken from espn.com and cfbdatawarehouse.com
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