Undefeated: Why The BCS Rankings Are So Unreliable

It happens every Saturday. Top ranked teams fall victim to lower ranked teams. It's one of the things that makes college football so unpredictable and so exciting, you just never know who will be dethroned on any given day. If the BCS rankings had any validity, there would not be this much volatility. Teams go in and out and up and down in the rankings so fast it's dizzying! 

The reason of course, is that it is mostly impossible to compare and rank teams across conferences. The strength of the conferences varies by a wide margin and is quite dynamic. Non-conference schedules vary from so easy it's pathetic to so hard it's insane. One team could go 0-3 against ranked teams in their non-conference schedule and while another goes 3-0 with sure wins. Yet with our addiction to rankings based on win-loss records, we run the risk of seriously over-ranking some and under ranking others. It provides for regional bias. That is why we get shockers almost every weekend. Our system for ranking teams is invalid. It's too subjective.

The hard truth is, we really have no idea who is #1 even after the BCS is done. During the season, the rankings are simply fodder for incredulity. Does anyone really believe that Boise State could beat USC, Ohio State, Michigan and Georgia? They are a great team no question, but to be ranked ahead of those others based upon a win-loss record that includes Miami (OH), Bowling Green and UC-Davis is misleading. Yet that is what the rankings suggest. It is true that many top programs schedule an easy game occasionally, but not three.  Does Fresno State ever have an easy schedule?

What is needed is a playoff system. Let every conference champion play in an elimination tournament. That would be a far better way to determine the national champion. It would also give teams from non-BCS conferences a shot. It levels the playing field for all. The runners up could still have non BCS bowls. This system would be infinitely more fair and would give us college FB addicts more games to watch!