Why Upsets Are Ruining College Football

Upsets in college football are very exciting. Unfortunately, in the long run, they are detrimental to the sport. They are akin to winning a large sum of money and using the windfall to buy a plasma television instead of saving it for the future.

No. 1-ranked USC losing to Oregon State or No. 4-ranked Florida losing to Ole Miss may have been enjoyable to watch, but the experience will quickly be forgotten. However, USC or Florida finishing the season undefeated and achieving historical significance would be an experience to last a lifetime.

In 2007, seven teams ranked number one or number two lost. This trend is already continuing in 2008, where this past week alone seven teams ranked in the top 25 lost. The days of once-in-a-lifetime teams like Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma, Bear Bryant’s Alabama, or Tom Osborne’s Nebraska are over.

That’s a shame—because instead of watching history, you’re watching mediocrity.

Every college football season should have a dominant team that can stand up to the test of time, not a slew of teams limping through conference play losing to inferior and irrelevant opponents.

Now, you should never complain about a problem unless you have a solution. Here are the solutions to fix this problem: 1) regulate scholarships for non-BCS schools; 2) limit the number of televised games for non-BCS conferences; and the most important one, 3) prohibit the use of the spread formation, which is ruining college football.

The spread formation is the great equalizer, but college football doesn’t need equalization. It needs domination.

Rules need to change to eliminate the rash of upsets that blight college football. What is best for college football is not the underdog, but a traditional powerhouse going undefeated, preferably with an average margin of victory around 20 points and a Heisman trophy candidate in the backfield.

A team for the ages is always better than an upset right now.