Reusse column: Goodbye, BCS. You didn't deserve all that venom.

per Reusse:

As much as we've loved to revile the BCS, there's only been one valid disagreement with the champion crowned:

After 2003, Southern Cal was left out in favor LSU and Oklahoma. LSU won the title game and with it the coaches poll (now run by USA Today). The sportswriters went with Southern Cal as the AP's national champion.

Sixteen years. One split champion. And now the system gets better with a four-team playoff.

As a matter of fact, the BCS will have crowned a clear-cut champion 94 percent of the time (15 or 16).

That certainly beats the voting system, which had such embarrassments as crowning BYU as the unanimous champion for 1984, after it beat Michigan - a 6-5, sixth-place team in the Big Ten - by 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl.

Goodbye, BCS. I didn't hate you as much as most.

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/PJR_Goodbye_BCS_You_didnt_deserve_all_that_venom120813

Go Gophers!!

I hate to admit but he's right. I also thought there should have been asterisk next to the BYU championship with the footnote saying "not really."

Couldn't agree more, especially about BYU's title. Also, he's right about the 4-team playoff, though I think a small elite group choosing the final four won't work. But four is better than two - and better than eight or more.

Most of the venom at the BCS was simply that it wasn't a playoff. It's certainly not an ideal way to crown a champion, but Reusse is right here, it's better than anything that came before it and usually got it right by the end of the season. I don't think you'll see any less argument with a four team playoff, as past the top two teams, there are usually 3-4 one loss teams that could make an argument to get in. With that said, I'm definitely glad to see a playoff come to fruition. It's only a matter of time before it goes to 8 teams, which I think is much better than 4. Michigan State showed Saturday that there's very little gap between anyone in the top ten.

the issue was not who in the end won it, but in selection of who gets to the game. there's no way you can even try to tell me notre dame was the second best team last year and it showed on the field. and that's just one example. good try reusse but you're missing the larger point

The amount of venom will be the same with a four team playoff. It solves nothing as far as the problem of arbitrarily deciding who gets to compete for the championship.

I thought the BCS was a half ass solution, at least the old way Jan. 1st met something and debating the best team always added intrigue. An 8 team playoff would work for me, but I'll settle for four.

Excited for 4, can't wait for 8, and will be plum when it hits 16.

If you hated the BCS just wait for this 4-team playoff.
This will be an orgy of political lobbying.

I hate to mention it but, 2011 saw 11-1 Oklahoma State, Conference Champion denied a BCS Championship bid, it went to an 11-1 Alabama Team who lost to LSU in the regular season and was not a Conference Champion. Tell someone in Stillwater, Oklahoma about how great the BCS has been.

It will be better when it gets to 8. Make sure every BCS conference champ is an automatic qualifier. That way every BCS team has the opportunity to 'play their way' into the tournament. If they finish second in con with a 12-1 record and get left out....tough sh!t. They had their chance.

husker70 said:

I hate to mention it but, 2011 saw 11-1 Oklahoma State, Conference Champion denied a BCS Championship bid, it went to an 11-1 Alabama Team who lost to LSU in the regular season and was not a Conference Champion. Tell someone in Stillwater, Oklahoma about how great the BCS has been.

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Sigh... This again. The quality loss is what got Bama in vs. OkieState. OkieState lost to IOWA STATE. Bama lost to a very very good LSU team (HONEYBADGER). I hate to say it, but Bama deserved the bid.

station19 said:

It will be better when it gets to 8. Make sure every BCS conference champ is an automatic qualifier. That way every BCS team has the opportunity to 'play their way' into the tournament. If they finish second in con with a 12-1 record and get left out....tough sh!t. They had their chance.

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Go to 8 with a conference champion auto-bid and the season becomes far less meaningful. Think OSU would have played their starters against Michigan this year if all it took was winning the next game to get in? Think MSU would have played theirs vs us? Auto-bids ignores quality of conference and non-conference opponents played. 4 teams is perfect - it gives the 1-2 teams who have a legitimate gripe for "playing in" (ex OkSt in 2011, Alabama and MSU in 2013, USC in 2003, etc) while ensuring that you must a) win all or all-but-one of your games to even have a chance and b) play a strong schedule (including non-conference) to ensure a top 4 ranking should you lose. I very much prefer the regular season on CFB to any other sport out there and would like to keep it that way.

How will the 4 teams in the playoff be decided? If it's anything like the bowl system, Gopher fans should be dreading the end of the BCS.

RailBaronYarr said:

Go to 8 with a conference champion auto-bid and the season becomes far less meaningful. Think OSU would have played their starters against Michigan this year if all it took was winning the next game to get in? Think MSU would have played theirs vs us? Auto-bids ignores quality of conference and non-conference opponents played. 4 teams is perfect - it gives the 1-2 teams who have a legitimate gripe for "playing in" (ex OkSt in 2011, Alabama and MSU in 2013, USC in 2003, etc) while ensuring that you must a) win all or all-but-one of your games to even have a chance and b) play a strong schedule (including non-conference) to ensure a top 4 ranking should you lose. I very much prefer the regular season on CFB to any other sport out there and would like to keep it that way.

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If MSU sitting guys gets the Gophers to 9-3 instead of 8-4 I'm fine with it. I think I prefer 6 super conferences (18 teams each)with each champion getting in and the top two teams getting a bye. Not only do you have to win your conference championship, but you have to win to get the bye.

MZBKA said:

How will the 4 teams in the playoff be decided? If it's anything like the bowl system, Gopher fans should be dreading the end of the BCS.

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A selection committee like the NCAA basketball will select the teams.

The College Football Playoff (CFP) is the system in American college football that will determine a national champion for the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), beginning in the 2014 season.[2] Under the playoff, four teams will play in two semifinal games, with the winners advancing to the new College Football Championship Game.[3] Six bowl games — the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Chick-fil-A Bowl — will rotate as hosts for the semifinal games. The rotation is set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose and Sugar, then Orange and Cotton, and then Fiesta and Chick-fil-A. The semifinals, plus the other four top-tier bowls not hosting semifinals, will be marketed as the "New Year's Six",[4] with three bowls played daily, typically on consecutive days around New Year's Day.[3]

The championship game will be played on the first Monday that is six or more days after the semifinals.[5] The game's venue will be selected based on bids submitted by cities, similarly to the Super Bowl or Final Four, with AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas hosting the first title game on January 12, 2015.[6] The winner will be awarded a new trophy instead of the AFCA "crystal football", which has been given to the coaching group's national champion selection since 1986; officials wanted a new trophy that was unconnected with the previous championship system.[7]

Unlike college football's current title system, the Bowl Championship Series, the new format will not use computer rankings or polls in the selection of its 12 participating teams. Rather, a committee of 13 people will select and seed the teams.[8] The playoff system will be the first to determine the top-level NCAA football championship by a bracket competition. The new format is known as a Plus-One system, a proposal which became popular in 2011 as a replacement for the BCS.

The playoff system will be in place through at least the 2025 season per a contract with ESPN, which owns the rights to broadcast all games.[9] The network reportedly paid $7.3 billion overall for the 12-year TV rights.[10]

RailBaronYarr said:

Go to 8 with a conference champion auto-bid and the season becomes far less meaningful. Think OSU would have played their starters against Michigan this year if all it took was winning the next game to get in? Think MSU would have played theirs vs us? Auto-bids ignores quality of conference and non-conference opponents played. 4 teams is perfect - it gives the 1-2 teams who have a legitimate gripe for "playing in" (ex OkSt in 2011, Alabama and MSU in 2013, USC in 2003, etc) while ensuring that you must a) win all or all-but-one of your games to even have a chance and b) play a strong schedule (including non-conference) to ensure a top 4 ranking should you lose. I very much prefer the regular season on CFB to any other sport out there and would like to keep it that way.

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I hate the argument about making the regular season less meaningful. As it stands now, a 2 loss team (and most 1 loss teams) have virtually 0 chance to play for a championship. That means that every game played between two teams who have each lost at least two games is meaningless. And, for the various mid-major teams (and USC) who have played perfect seasons but got shut out of the title, they managed to play 0 meaningful games despite never losing. If you still have to win your conference championship, you don't have very much wiggle room to lose in conference, so those games are just as important. As for the out of conference, in a playoff the #1 seed would get to play a home game against the weakest conference champ in they country, virtually a bye with free ticket revenue. I think that gives plenty of incentive to give 100% out of conference.

Many many more fans will watch a 4 team playoff than a few college football fans that do now.. I can't wait for a 8 team playoff and we will be set.. but a 4 team is a good start.

gopherhoopsguy said:

Many many more fans will watch a 4 team playoff than a few college football fans that do now.. I can't wait for a 8 team playoff and we will be set.. but a 4 team is a good start.

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I'm leaning towards this. And I am a guy who wasn't happy with a college football playoff (because I liked, and still like the Bowls). But I feel that with a 8 team playoff, there's plenty of teams that could still play in Bowl games (although I'm not sure if that's what'll happen).

MZBKA said:

How will the 4 teams in the playoff be decided? If it's anything like the bowl system, Gopher fans should be dreading the end of the BCS.

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I read somewhere the new system is stricter on which teams bowls can select from a conference. That teams with the better record have to be selected ahead of ones with worse records.

bleedsmaroonandgold said:

I hate the argument about making the regular season less meaningful. As it stands now, a 2 loss team (and most 1 loss teams) have virtually 0 chance to play for a championship. That means that every game played between two teams who have each lost at least two games is meaningless. And, for the various mid-major teams (and USC) who have played perfect seasons but got shut out of the title, they managed to play 0 meaningful games despite never losing. If you still have to win your conference championship, you don't have very much wiggle room to lose in conference, so those games are just as important. As for the out of conference, in a playoff the #1 seed would get to play a home game against the weakest conference champ in they country, virtually a bye with free ticket revenue. I think that gives plenty of incentive to give 100% out of conference.

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That's a fair counterpoint. However, using your logic, you move from a handful of teams with meaningful games (4) to a slightly larger handful with meaningful games (8). I come from the perspective that what makes college football unique and, IMO, better than the NFL is the rivalries, the fact that no team, 11-0 or 2-10, lets up on the gas - particularly at the end of the season. I gave 2 examples of games this season where I think an 8 team playoff (by conference champions or straight selection committee) would result in less meaningful games where the strategy would be (just as NFL teams do) to pull starters, let up on the gas, not care if you lose. Beyond that, college football places importance on things outside the national championship. Winning your conference is still meaningful (similar to rivalry games). Winning the B1G is more meaningful to a college football fan than winning the NFC North (or, for that matter winning the B1G in college basketball). Why? Because it's not just a means to the playoffs. That's my take, but I can see the other side (particularly the equity perspective for mid-level teams).

NFL teams will rest their starters when winning or losing does not affect their seed in the playoffs. If they seed could be made better with a win or worse with a loss, they will not rest their starters. This is because the NFL uses seeding based purely on the number of wins and losses. In college it would be different. If an Ohio State coach benched his starters against Michigan, fans would be burning him in effigy, but that's a different issue.

With an 8-team playoff, Ohio State might have been assured of a playoff spot even if they had lost to Michigan in the final regular season game, but they would have been a lower seed. Thus they would have had ample reason not to bench the starters, even if avoiding being burned in effigy wasn't enough motivation.