BCS Rankings: Potential Plus 1 Format Would Be Breakthrough for BCS Format

The Alabama and LSU matchup in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game on Monday night was an embarrassment for college football and signaled that the current system needs retooling.

I felt like I had seen this game before, and well, that's because I had. These SEC powers were probably the two best teams in the country, but there needs to be a more fair way to allow more deserving teams a shot at becoming champions.

According to the New York Times, BCS officials will meet to talk about potential changes to the current system, and it looks some aspects of the BCS process could be different next season.

“I think there will be some change,”  Bill Hancock, the executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, said. “Now will it be seismic? No one knows.”

The plus-one format would be a breakthrough for the BCS format because it would give more deserving teams a shot at becoming champions.

The plus-one format wouldn't be a major change to the current system, and here's why.

You play four, or maybe even five, BCS bowls like normal, then present one final BCS standings. The top two ranked teams in the final BCS standings would then play for the national title.

Why is this much better than the current system?

Well, it allows us to see which teams are for real. Last season, TCU finished 13-0 after beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. The Horned Frogs finished the season with Auburn as the only two undefeated teams. However, the Tigers were the only team that could call themselves champions, despite not being the only unbeaten team.

That is incredibly unfair. One of the dumbest things about college football is that it's the only sport where you can play through a perfect season yet not play for the championship.

In the plus-one format, TCU would have played Auburn for the national title, which would have been a matchup between the only two unbeaten teams, both of whom proved themselves in BCS bowl games.

A plus-one format keeps the bowl system in place, which is good for sponsors, television networks and conferences such as the Big Ten and Pac-12, who don't want to give up on or diminish the importance of the Rose Bowl.

This plus-one format helps multiple teams prove that they are a worthy candidate to play for the national title. This way, if two teams from the same conference end up in the national title game (just like this season), there will be less controversy than there was this season because the teams will have earned their way to the big game.

The plus-one format isn't perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. After a joke of a BCS championship this season, changes needed to be made so the system is more fair and more accurately determines who the best two teams in the country are.

The plus-one format could open the door for a playoff, but that's a good thing, because, in the end, that's the format that works best.

However, a drastic change isn't likely going to happen, so the BCS should take a baby-steps approach and adopt a plus-one system to help the sport progress.

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