Bracket Championship Series - College Football

Boise State needs to leave the WAC...

Boise State loses to TCU in an embarrassing game for both sides equally.  The game played last night in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl was very reminiscent of a high school football game.  Easy interception passes were dropped hitting the defensive players in the hands and chest.  Offensive plays that were executed like it was the first time they have tried this play in a game.  Although the game underperformed the expectations I assumed it would bring me in watching the Poinsettia Bowl game.  The commentary and insights also hit lows among Mark Mays and Rece Davis, thank god Lou Holtz was there to bring an intellect to the conversation.  And I do believe part of the lame annoucing was the fact that neither of the two, Mark Mays and Rece Davis, actually cared about either team or the game itself.  You can feel it.  Just an opinion... like the BCS rankings are, just an opinion.

To the point...
 
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) does not get the respect it deserves in the Bowl Championship Series.  Boise State Bronco's were undefeated in 2004 and 2006 and well on their way this season until last night.  They finished off their opponent in their respective bowl games TCU in '04 and Oklahoma in 06'.  It was the overtime defeat they gave Oklahoma in 2006 that gives the Boise State Bronco's their strongest argument for leaving the WAC and joining a strong FBS - Football Bowl Subdivision Conference.  The 2006 Boise team finished 6th in the nation that year.  Who knows, if there was a playoff in the NCAA Division I FBS that year, maybe the Bronco's could have made it to the finals.  I say they should make a bid for the PAC-10 conference.  Here they will play teams like USC, Oregon, Arizona, Cal, and Oregon State, and adding Boise State Bronco's to that conference would only bring a win-win situation to both sides, Boise State and the Pac-10.  Atleast if they win the Pac-10 conference they will get into a BCS bowl game.

Reality...

The BCS is geared toward 5 maybe 6 conferences out of the 11 conferences represented in the FBS and it favors Notre Dame specifically above all other schools.  These are the SEC, Big 12, Pac-10, Big 10, Big East and sometimes the ACC.  Other than that representation based on 10-x win/loss season and above amount to little respect for the remaining conferences.  Does a Sunbelt Conference 12-0 undefeated team equal to the undefeated Big 12 conference 12-0 team, maybe yes maybe no, but in the BCS, always NO!  In the bracketchampionshipseries.com - Woodside Bracket, they would have representation in the Tournament and we would find out if this undefeated Sun Belt team is the cinderella team.  Until the NCAA makes a recommendation to the BCS we won't ever know about these strong teams in weak conferences.  Also, more programs like Boise State that start putting up year over year success will have to start looking at stronger conferences that are geared to the BCS playing rules and biases.  And until a bracket championship series is set up the best two teams will never be represented in the final ranking from the BCS.  Atleast we won't know for sure if the best two teams are playing each other.  And I'll end this post with an opinion, albeit premature, the Utah Utes will be the next team that should be looking for a stronger conference than the Mountain West if they can put up another strong finish like 2008.

Why Playoffs are better than BCS two-team game...

A True National Champion - a champion team who had to over come playing the best teams in the nation at the end of the season.  No debates, No mythical champions.

Injuries - when a player gets injured and it is the teams star player, well the team still needs to win out for the National title.  Strong teams don't have weak athletes.  Football is like war the team that scores the most is victorious.

NCAA football does it in the other three leagues - NCAA Division I-AA, II and III all have playoffs that produce a True National Champion.  NCAA Division I-A needs to get over themselves and produce the same result.  |Bracket Div I-AA| |Bracket Div II| |Bracket Div III|

More Teams - more teams that are worthy are offered the chance to prove themselves on the field and not in the minds and opinions of sports writers and pundits.  BCS only offers the opportunity to just two teams that have the appearance of being a national champion.

Fans want it - majority of all fans want the playoff system over the BCS two team game.  Fans want to see it live and real on the field, who beats who, and how that team earned and deserves the National Championship.

Leaves only one team a chance to go undefeated all year - by finishing the season in a playoff all teams will have to eventually lose a game or become a National Champion.

Add to this list...

Injuries are why we should have a playoff system, the best team for the best game...

News flash a major starter for the Oklahoma Sooners is out for the BCS Mythical Championship game due to surgery.  Now shouldn't the voters who chose the top two teams in the Bowl Incomplete Series rankings known that there was this problem with DeMarco Murray before they casted their ballots.  Yes! Hell yes.  We hope DeMarco will return to his greatness as soon as possible.  I believe they should have known, but with the prestige and money that Oklahoma wants and needs, they kept this secret close to their hearts.  Conveniently this problem did not present itself until the day after the BCS rankings were released, Oklahoma knew this on December 6, 2008 and did not tell a soul, not December 8, 2008 like reported.  But, why would they tell anyone? 

Moving on...

This injury to DeMarco Murray is a major set-back for the Oklahoma Sooners, I am hearing a bunch of crap about depth in this position for Oklahoma, this is just red herring to justify that this years BCS National Title game is just as good as it was before the injury was known to the public.   The real toll is the psychological toll it will have for both these teams.  For Florida, they just received some of the best news it has heard all season, for Oklahoma, the players are taking a set back, whether it is small, large whatever, they are starting to doubt there ability to put up the points.  The longer this goes between performances the larger the doubts will grow and have an impact on the teams offense.  If Oklahoma is stopped on the first two drives without any points, I mean, zilch, zero, nada... the impact will sink into the offense and the Sooners defense will need to boost it with a turnover for a touchdown. 

Down to the point...

Injuries are a part of the game and in a playoff structure like, www.bracketchampionshipseries.com's -- Woodside Bracket, the injuries will be taken into account.  For example, if a team lets take, oh I don't know, um, hmmmmm, Oklahoma! for example, loses their star running back during the bracket playoff, each and every game after the injury will determine if Oklahoma is worthy of staying in the hunt for the National Championship.  How would that be determined, well by winning of course.  The papers and sports pundits proclaim that Oklahoma has depth at running back, if that is true, then the Woodside Bracket would validate these opinions or not through wins.  BCS football is all about appearances with 80 percent based on performance, and the final BCS rankings is solely based 100% on appearances, who looks like the top two teams.  That is like saying in politics that someone looks presidential.  It doesn't mean squat.  Yes these two teams, Florida and Oklahoma, are great, but not that great.  Texas has a valid argument against Florida, but not Oklahoma.  And Florida, really should not be in this game at all, hell they lost to a non-rank team at home.  That last statement is truely mine, just an opinion, see why BCS football is incomplete and why the www.bracketchampionshipseries.com --- Woodside Bracket is the best option.

Big Ten Commissioner says Playoff System will be end of Bowl games... Not True in the Bracket Championship Series - BCS.

I sit here today pondering what the BCS commissioners must go through this time of year.  Is it the phone calls to and from the different organizations setting up contacts and sending out orders of who and what is important and who and what is not?  Or is it the voices of those who question the BCS - Bowl Championship Series bouncing back and forth on the minds of the commissioners.  If it is the latter the commissioners must than look to their gut and realize that what is keeping this on their minds is their gut feeling of the inconsistencies that are inherent to the BCS process.  The comissioners are good little soldiers, defending a position they hold onto and charging with their statements that this is correct and a just solution for the college football post season although finishing those statements with a caveat, a but-monkey. For example, I read today in a column by Mike Lopresti at USA Today, who questioned the Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany and here is his "Post-Season Playoff will make a lot of money, but..." Jim Delaney, "Every other sport has devalued the regular season. You look at college basketball, and I would say there's probably one must-see game during the regular season. Duke-North Carolina. What else? We don't have that in college football. We have a lot of must-see games. CBS is covering it. NBC is covering it. ABC is covering it. ESPN is covering it. Fox is covering it. All regular-season games."  Source here USA Today  Well Jim that is a good but-monkey, in fact it made me realize that there is a better way to set up the Bracket Championship Series - BCS. We set up a bye-tier for the best 8 teams in the Bracket Championship Series - Tournament base on the BCS rankings.  The first 8-teams based on the BCS rankings will be placed in the bye-tier and another 16-teams can be placed in the starting-tier. Example |Bracket Here| for the uninformed.  We make the top 8 seeds play one less game in the post season bracket.  This maintains the regular seasons importance.  One flaw in Jim's logic is that he is comparing college basketball with college football, this comparison cannot ever be made in terms of fan loyalty, game rivalry or the meer pagentry of the sport of college football.  Jim is trying to moral equate the two sports, which is an erroneous, football fans put more effort behind one college football game than any college basketball fan can put behind one basketball game.  Football fans will show up to the stadium without tickets and listen or watch the game while tailgating a few hundred yards away from where the actual game is being played -- that is loyalty.  You do not see this in any college basketball game, let alone all season long! 

Congressman proposing bill to end Bowl Championship Series...

House Rep. Joe Barton - Texas is trying it again, first time in December, 2005, here.  Now the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee suggests that the Bowl Championship Series should go.  I agree.  Read More...

(FBS) Football Bowl Subdivision & Notre Dame

FBS Independent Schools

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This means that FBS independents do not schedule each other for competition like conference schools do. There are considerably fewer independent schools than in years past; many independent schools later join (or attempt to join) established conferences, usually in order to gain a share of television revenue and access to bowl games that agree to take teams from certain conferences.

All Division I FBS independents are eligible for a BCS bowl provided they meet BCS eligibility requirements. Currently, those requirements are finishing in the top 14 of the final BCS standings and there being at least one slot not filled through automatic provisions.^[1] Notre Dame can receive an automatic bid by finishing in the top 8 of the final standings. Notre Dame also has other bowl agreements as part of its affiliation with the Big East, and Navy and Army have agreements with the EagleBank Bowl.^[2]

Reasons for being independent.

In recent years, most Independent FBS schools have joined a conference for two primary reasons - in order to gain a guaranteed share of television and bowl revenues, and for ease of scheduling. The three Independent FBS schools that are remaining independent (or returned to independent status), all have unique circumstances that circumvent their need for conference affiliation.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame is one of the most nationally prominent programs in the country. Due to its national popularity built over many years, Notre Dame is the only individual school to have its own national television contract,^[3][4] and is the only individual school to be part of the BCS coalition (including a guaranteed payout from the BCS). All these factors help make Notre Dame the most financially valuable football program in the country, thus negating the need for Notre Dame to secure revenue by joining a conference. ^[5][6]

From a scheduling standpoint, Notre Dame has longstanding rivalries with many different programs around the country, including annual rivalry games with USC, Michigan, Michigan State, Navy, and Purdue. They also have semi-recurring rivalries with Air Force, Army, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Pitt, and in recent years, Stanford. Finally, all Notre Dame home games and most of their away games are nationally televised, meaning that even teams that do not have a rivalry with Notre Dame have a strong financial incentive to schedule them. These factors make it much easier for Notre Dame to fill their schedule on an annual basis than it would be for most other teams. Additionally, if Notre Dame were to join a conference, it would likely have to eliminate or reduce the frequency of several rivalries

Army and Navy

The other two perennially Independent programs are two of the service academies, Army and Navy. Because the service academies are fully funded by the federal government, they do not have the financial requirements that most other schools have, where television and bowl appearances are important sources of revenue and advertising for both the football program and the school. Therefore, they do not have any financial incentive to join a conference.

Because of the unique nature of the service academies, scheduling is less of an issue than for most schools. From a scheduling standpoint, both of these service academies already have annual games guaranteed with each other and with Air Force. In addition, Navy has an annual rivalry game with Notre Dame and Army has a semi-regular rivalry with Notre Dame. Finally, despite the two programs lack of prominence in recent years, television rights for the Army-Navy Game, because of the tradition associated with it, serves as a major revenue source for the programs. The service academies also use their football programs for general recruiting purposes. Without being tied to a conference schedule, and because of their geographically dispersed fan base (potentially all Navy and Army affiliates, respectively), the Academies are able to more easily schedule games around the country than would be possible for other teams.

Western Kentucky

The Hilltoppers are an Independent school because they are making the transition from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (see Division I-A) and will move to the Sun Belt Conference in 2009.   wikipedia source

 

BCS Top 25 Ranking - End of Regular Season

 1. Oklahoma 12-1

 2. Florida 12-1

 3. Texas 11-1

 4. Alabama 12-1

 5. USC 11-1

 6. Utah 12-0

 7. Texas Tech 11-1

 8. Penn State 11-1

 9. Boise State 12-0

 10. Ohio State 10-2

 11. TCU 10-2

 12. Cincinnati 11-2

 13. Oklahoma State 9-3

 14. Georgia Tech 9-3

 15. Georgia 9-3

 16. BYU 10-2

 17. Oregon 9-3

 18. Michigan State 9-3

 19. Virginia Tech 9-4

 20. Pittsburg 9-3

 21. Missouri 9-4

 22. Ball state 12-1

 23. Northwestern 9-3

 24. Boston College 9-4

 25. Mississippi 8-4

Who got Screwed 2008?

The Bowl Championship Series rankings are out.  And the bowl games have their matchups.  Which one of your schools got screwed? Justify it!

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Bowl Championship Series -- Incomplete

BracketChampionshipSeries.com is a website and blog spot for the discussion and creating ideas to persuade the BCS Football Organization to have a playoff system in the Division 1-A College Football.  Specifically our goal is to create a voice and a financial force to put pressure on the BCS Governance to complete the BCS-Bracket Tournament idea.  The Bowl Championship Series that is currently held every year between a #1 and a #2 team is incomplete without a bracketed tournament of 24 teams.  What would make the BCS complete is to add the Bracketed Tournament.

I have put my idea out here on this site with the blog to make it better.  Your discussions and suggestions will greatly improve this idea to completion by blogging and debating with each other.  This site will add specific pages and content for discussion and post press releases when the relevance is necessary.  Also this site will compile a list of successes as we continue down this journey.  Each and everytime this blog is listed on ESPN, FOX Sports or any other news outlet or mass media, we need to know about it.  So vent your voice for-or-against this BCS-Bracket Tournament idea.  The more debate we get the better a program we all can create and give to the BCS Governance to adopt.  So search the blog and post your ideas and voice your opinion now.

 

Thank you,

 

www.BracketChampionshipSeries.com