w*****2
发帖数: 1458 | 1 Go ahead, hate on the BCS all you want. Cry and complain (and, you know,
secretly pray) that the latest college football upset, Oklahoma State
falling to Iowa State late Friday night in double-overtime, will destroy the
current system for determining a champion.
Say that you were duped (like Jon Stashower did on ESPN radio Saturday
morning) because he was sold on a de facto national championship semifinal
game a few weeks ago when LSU played at Alabama, when, in fact, it might end
up being the actual national championship game, making the first meeting
meaningless. Truth be told, it was radio hosts like Stashower that called
LSU at Alabama a national championship semifinal game. He should be angry at
himself.
Call into a sports-talk show and tell the host how, without a playoff system
, college football can't determine a real champion. Of course, you'll still
watch the BCS national championship game, but that doesn't really matter,
does it?
Well, actually it does matter because it means college football is getting
exactly what it wants. As long as you watch the BCS title game, no one
associated with college football cares how much you complain about it
beforehand. They'll count their money while you whine about needing a
football playoff.
I love college basketball. Not another sport comes within a half-court shot
of the game, in my opinion. Still, there are issues that come with having a
tournament.
A tournament isn't necessarily the best way to determine a champion. It's
simply one way to do it. And, for three weeks, it may be the most exciting
way to do it. But it's not the only way to do it.
Last year Connecticut won the men's basketball national championship,
despite not finishing in the top half of its own conference. But the Huskies
played like champions for three weeks (they also played .500 ball in the
Big East during the regular season).
Last year, in college football, Auburn played like a champion for 14 weeks,
winning the SEC along the way.
Which is a better indication of who is the best team in their sport? The
sport with a national champion that wasn't even a regular-season conference
champion? Or the sport with an undefeated national champion? It's worth
noting though, that both teams were still champions.
And does it really matter who wins the Dec. 3 basketball showdown between
North Carolina and Kentucky? When March rolls around, the winner of that
December game will quite likely be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But
guess what? So will the loser.
But Oklahoma State falls on a Friday night in November and the Cowboys
chances at a national championship are gone. A week later, we'll pay
attention to LSU and Arkansas because a win by the Razorbacks eliminates all
of the undefeated teams that matter in college football (sorry Houston).
If LSU beat Arkansas, then it most likely faces Georgia on Dec. 3 with the
same thing on the line. Roy Williams and the Tar Heels won't face back-to-
back games with that much on the line until March. College football teams
play games like that on a weekly basis throughout the season.
If LSU does stumble in one of those games, columnists will start writing
about which one-loss teams are deserving of a chance to play for the
national championship in college football. Sports-talk shows will watch
their phone systems short circuit with so many fans calling to lobby for
their team or against their rival. ESPN will probably devote an hour-long
special to the subject, bringing on Trevor Matich and Mark May to debate the
merits of Stanford and Oregon and Oklahoma.
You won't see that if Clemson beats Duke on the basketball court in January.
Bob Knight won't go on the air to break down the best teams in college
basketball now that the Blue Devils have stumbled. In fact, it probably won'
t be the top story on the 11 p.m. SportsCenter. Duke lost. Oh well, they'll
play again in a few days.
So maybe college football has it right. From late August all the way through
Thanksgiving people are talking about the sport. And that's more than a
month before the actual national championship game. Every weekend there is a
game that will have an impact on the sport. It keeps college football in
the spotlight from day one of the season all the way through the
championship game.
Genius. Pure genius. |
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