What makes a sport a "sport"?
I've always thought a key criteria is that there has to be a way to determine a clear-cut winner, and a statistically-measured way to crown a champion.
Cheerleading, figure skating, and gymnastics, in my view, aren’t sports. I do, however, consider gymnasts, skaters, and cheerleaders athletes who participate in competitions.
The difference between a competition and a sport is simple: A competition is judged. When a gymnast gets on the floor or the rings, a panel judges him, and he's scored according to opinion.
College football uses the BCS Poll to determine bowl placement. The AP Poll is no longer a factor, but the USA Today Coaches' Poll plays huge role.
And so long as it continues to do so, college football will be a competition, not a sport.
The inclusion of polls in the BCS formula leaves room for error, grievance, and favoritism. This year was especially troublesome, as many teams that normally wouldn't be in the national spotlight staked claims to high rankings—only to plummet in the polls in the event of a loss.
The polls are biased based on the history of a program, especially at the beginning of the year. The BCS Poll doesn't come out until Week Six, but the Coaches’ Poll is active from Week One.
If a coach is busy preparing his team, does he really have time to sit and judge other teams' talent—or are big names more important?
The year started with arguably the biggest upset in college football history, when Appalachian State defeated Michigan. What isn't talked about, though, is that Appy State had won two straight national championships at the time—and won a third this year.
Did losing to a two-time national champion really warrant such a drastic drop in ranking? If not—what gives?
The loss wasn't supposed to happen. Since the Wolverines were supposed to win and didn't, they were abandoned by the voters.
Sounds like opinion and bias to me.
I'm not one of these people who clamor for a playoff system. It’s not going to happen anytime soon. The closest thing may be the “Plus-One” system the NCAA is considering, but that won't be an option until at least 2009, when the BCS contract expires.
The good news is that these issues can be resolved by a handful of minor changes:
1. Division I-A schools should no longer be allowed to play Division I-AA schools. They're in different leagues. Would the New England Patriots ever play an Arena League team?
2. Keep the BCS Poll but eliminate the Coaches’ Poll as a factor. Keep the human element out of it.
3. Standardize conferences. Some Conferences have championship games; some don't. The BCS picture may have looked very different if there hadn't been ACC, Big 12, and SEC Championship games. This is a decision that is made by the conferences and shouldn't be.
4. All non-BCS bowls should be determined by conference standing, not by poll rankings.
For college football to become a sport instead of a competition, we need to eliminate the human factor of the BCS. Otherwise, we might as well quit keeping score and put judges on the sidelines instead.
Just like they do in figure skating.
Fixing College FB: Keep the BCS, Scrap the Polls
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from 4 months ago
Love it. I can't stand the subjective polls. I also hate that what matters most is "when" you lose. If you start a season 12-0 but then lose a game, you have no shot at the title. But if you start 0-1 and then win 12 straight, you're probably the #1 team. In the NFL, 13-3 is 13-3 no matter when your losses occur and you'll probably get a first round bye either way.
from 4 months ago
The thing I love about the BCS is that it makes every game important even that early game against lowly buffalo or Utah state. Also I feel there is no need for an extended playoff system, with the exception of this year it has always been no more than 4 teams that clearly sepearte themselves from the pack.
from 4 months ago
Only problem: most non-BCS bowls are done by conference standing...and most BCS bowls are. SEC Champ to Sugar, ACC to Orange, Big XII to Fiesta and Big Ten and Pac-10 to Rose.
from 4 months ago
I can't believe I'm even taking time to address this tripe, but:
[Division I-A schools should no longer be allowed to play Division I-AA schools. They're in different leagues. Would the New England Patriots ever play an Arena League team?]
Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, Rich Gannon, Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, Michael Westbrook, etc. These are guys who played in your "Arena League" level. The top FCS (nee "I-AA") programs are BETTER than most of the non-BCS teams in the FBS (nee "I-A"). And BCS teams like Michigan, Iowa State, Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern, Colorado, Mississippi State, Stanford, and Duke have lost to teams from the "different league" in recent years.
Sorry, your No. 1 was so off-base I couldn't bring myself to read any further. Better luck next time.
from 4 months ago
The reason for the statement was that the only reason most schools schedule the 1-AA teams as a thought that they are a garunteed win. If you read the article completely you would realize that I actually complimented APPY stated heavily and I am not taking away from 1-AA. I didnt insenuate that one is better I simply stated the patriots would never play an arena team because they are in different leagues and that isnt meant as "He is in a different league" I literally meant it is two different leagues.
The fact that some teams lost to 1-AA is their own fault for scheduling these teams and nt taking them seriously and at no time did I ever disprespect the quality of player that comes for these leagues.
You misunderstood the entire point of the article
from 4 months ago
Screw the BCS (bullshit computer stats), should have PLAYOFFS much like March Madness...for the National Championship! I agree with "Anonymouos, that to include ALL teams IA and IIA conference champions to the playoff!...
Come on now... why is Illinois in the Rose Bowl? Georgia should've been #2 and playing for the title... thx to the BCS polls... blecht
from 2 months ago
well written.
good ideas.
think about this ....... at team is number 4 they have won their last 6 games by 75 points. 3 against ranked opponents and 2 more against teams who had benn ranked sometime in the season. they don't play and they don't lose and they move from 4 to 5 in the polls when two teams in front of them lose....a college football first
another team is 4-2 in their last 6 games. in fact they lost their last game at home giving up 50 pts to an unranked opponent. the same week the first team went from 4 to 5, they go from 7 to 2 and get into the national championship game.
it's not a sport nor a competion. it's a fucking joke.
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