College Football 2011: "What If" Scenarios and Fixing the Dang System

So the year ended and Auburn was crowned the national champions of college football after beating Oregon 22-19 in what was the first real championship game the BCS has put together in five years since Texas beat USC in the Rose Bowl. 

The underlying problem is that we as fans are still left wondering what could have been since there was yet another undefeated team in TCU, who by the way beat the Big 10 champion (second-strongest conference last year) Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

Look, one of the things that make college football so great year-round are these "what if" scenarios that fans continually argue about during the offseason—with all roads leading back to a playoff system to decide a winner to these arguments.

Are "what if" scenarios from years past driving you crazy?

Let's look at a few of the problems and explore a few easy solutions to this paper championship.

Fix the Dang System!

Now it is important that I state to the Blog Universe that I am not disputing that some of the teams that have won the national championship over the last 11 years were not worthy. Some of these teams were clearly the best teams in the country. 

For example: Florida, Alabama, Miami, FSU, Texas...The rest? Ehhhhh let's face it: We had questions.

The REAL problem that needs to be corrected is the way the opponents to these eventual national champions are determined. Too many times we are force-fed a media opinion of which conference is a "strong conference" instead of watching the play on the field.

But let's face it: Media bias is one of the many reasons why Oklahoma and Ohio State got in year after year only to get beat by a total of 179-85.  

To give you some other ideas of why the BCS continually misses the mark of giving us the best championship games each year, and why the No. 2 team is not always the issue:

Oklahoma and Ohio State were the No. 1 ranked team four out of the five years they were blown out. 

Here are the main three reasons why they keep getting it wrong:

1.  Preseason rankings.

2.  Strength of schedule for both conference and non-conference.  

3.  Instant media bias due to ratings.

Look, can this article overthrow the mighty BCS? No but if you're going to force us to have a champion at least try to make it fair.

The Flip Side

Now not trying to be all one-sided, so after speaking to many of those who support the BCS, here are the top reasons I have compiled from those who believe the BCS system works now and should not be changed:

1.  We get to see No. 1 vs. No. 2 every year.

2.  There would not be any sponsors for the bowl games in a playoff system.

3.  A team cannot say they are the champions of bowl game if there was a playoff (seriously who is bragging about being Sun Bowl champions?)

4.  The tradition would be lost with a playoff.

5.  And the most recent one I have heard: "The SEC would not be guaranteed a spot in the championship game."  Courtesy of a listener of the Paul Finebaum Show.

In fact, there is more than enough potential money in college football today to support a playoff, and sponsors would be lining up and drooling with each game getting a higher TV rating than the next to prove who is college football's best team.

Heck, if the NCAA was smart they would implement some kind of playoff to start really seeing the money. Has the NCAA ever seen the NFL ratings? Ummm impressive!

Here is a business tip, NCAA: Playoffs plus big ratings equals big money.

However, what is exciting for me is that the drama is building! 

Thanks to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (pictured above) who has created companies like Radical Football to work on finding a solution to the BCS stronghold. Plus, in books like "Death to the BCS" you can hear this debate getting louder and louder. So loud in fact that it has reached Capitol Hill and arguments against the BCS are being made. 

Finally our tax dollars at good work!

Don't Leave the Little Guys Out!

But before I go for those of you that are interested in playoffs, here are a few reasons why this system works:

1.  NFL: Green Bay Packers won the 2010 Super Bowl after making the playoffs as a Wild Card.

2.  NFL: In 2008 the NY Giants beat the media-crowned champion New England Patriots who were 18-0 before the game.

3.  NBA 2011 Playoffs: No.1 seed Spurs Lose to the No. 8 seed Memphis Grizzlies.

4.  NBA 2011 Playoffs: No.3 seed Dallas Mavericks beat the defending champions and No. 2 seed L.A. Lakers.

5.  March Madness (ANY YEAR): But looking at 2011 specifically, not one No. 1 seed made the championship game, yet national power UConn, who was unranked when the season began, won the whole dang thing.

Oh and for those of you saying that March Madness provides too many Cinderella stories, here is a list of the last 10 national champions not one Cinderella—all national powers:

2011	Connecticut	(32-9)
2010	Duke	(35-5)
2009	North Carolina	(34-4)
2008	Kansas	(37-3)
2007	Florida	(35-5)
2006	Florida	(33-6)
2005	North Carolina	(33-4)
2004	Connecticut	(33-6)
2003	Syracuse	(30-5)
2002	Maryland	(32-4)
2001	Duke	(35-4)

David did beat Goliath so BRING ON THE PLAYOFFS!

All of these items and so many more are being discussed, and a great way to get your opinion out there is to follow some blogs and state your opinions—you might be surprised who reads them. It's a shameless plug for myself but hey take a look at this.