Obama Wants Playoffs

Strange BCS bedfellows

Facing frustration, stalemate and outright defeat on numerous fronts — that isn’t the only way of looking at his first year in office, but it seems to have some currency in the media of late — you’d think President Obama and his administration would be looking for an easy win, maybe some change and some hope, right about now.

We have just the thing for them.

It’s a sure thing that would allow the Democrats to seize the initiative, to work in a genuinely bipartisan way with the Republicans and to produce a popular and beneficial change for the nation. It is, of course, the Bowl Championship Series, an issue that Obama discussed repeatedly during the campaign in 2008 but has left on the back burner ever since.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=munson/100211

No, the most important press conference at any Bowl Championship Series title game is one in which an ESPN executive shows up. In my mind, the only hope of revamping the most mindless, short-sighted and ill-conceived creation in the history of sports — college football’s current bowl system — is if the biggest entity in sports broadcasting takes advantage of its new four-year relationship with the BCS and does the following:

1. Tells university presidents, athletic directors and coaches that they’re missing out on a wonderful opportunity called an eight-team postseason tournament, which would trigger much higher revenues, much larger TV ratings and considerably more national interest than the discombobulated slop presently trotted out. If necessary, slap these people silly, bop them on their heads with a hammer or make them sit a room with Lou Holtz for a week, anything to prompt dramatic reform in a system that is killing — yes, killing — the sport.

http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/2010/01/06/espn-must-push-bcs-to-adopt-playoffs/

HAMDEN, Conn. — A majority of college football fans want to scrap the current Bowl Championship Series and replace it with a playoff system that’s similar to college basketball, according to a new national poll released Tuesday.

The Quinnipiac University survey shows 63 percent favor getting rid of the current system, while 26 percent want to keep it. When asked how much they liked the bowl game process, the poll showed fans are mixed.

“College football fans are not in love with the current system in which two teams that play for the national championship are picked by computers, sportswriters and coaches,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Settle the question on the field, voters say more than two-to-one.”

While more fans may favor a playoff system, they don’t necessarily want Congress to get involved. The poll shows 48 percent believe it is a bad idea if federal lawmakers force college football to start a playoff system; 45 percent say it’s a good idea.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4779279

David Schoenfield: OK, let’s get this out of the way: A playoff system isn’t going to happen. We know most fans want one, but you may as well dream about Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer spending a week together on Marco Island. So the real debate here is whether the current BCS system is better than the old bowl system, when conference winners all had automatic bowl tie-ins.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill_schoenfield/090806&sportCat=ncfAu

Patrick Ledbetter from Orlando, Fla., writes: Tim, you’re missing the point on the BCS and Orrin Hatch. Forget the money for a minute. Without a playoff system, you’ll never know who really was the best in any given year. Relying on computer rankings and top 25 polls from AP sports writers instead of letting the teams play it out on the field is wrong. And here’s how I’d do it. Take the final 16 teams at the end of the year and start pairing them off, exactly like the NCAA basketball tournament does. Each game where the teams play each other would be considered a “bowl” game. Start the process in early December with the current smaller bowls and keep going. The bigger of the current bowls would always be reserved for playing the last of the playoff games and they could rotate for who gets to host the actual championship game each year. The NCAA basketball system would work perfectly for college football.

Tim Griffin: Patrick, I don’t know if I necessarily agree with you. First, I don’t think many bowls that don’t have a chance for a national championship game or a high playoff would be interested in signing off on something like this. These games are important for their home cities and provide a reason for fans to travel to watch their teams play. Do you really think that many fans will have the time and inclination to travel over three straight weeks — with the expensive plane tickets bought on short notice to boot — to really make consecutive trips like that?

Another item I find problematic would be taking 16 teams for a playoff. If that’s the case, won’t the 17th or 18th best team claim it had just as viable a chance as those at the end of the playoff?

I’m not necessarily sure I agree the playoff is the best idea. The major reason why is because the regular season acts as a de facto playoff system. I think college football has the best regular season in all of sports. It begins with excitement in the first week of the season and only gets better as the season continues. I would hate to see that diminshed in any way.

But if I was forced to go along with a playoff system, how about a four-game playoff after the major bowl games? That would allow the major bowls to have a viable part in the playoff system. I think this idea makes the most sense to continue what we currently have.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/big12/0-11-53/Tim-s-mailbag–Can-Hawkins-really-lead-CU-to-10-wins-in-2009-.html

In 1981, a recent Denison University graduate named George Bodenheimer started work as a driver in the mail room at a small but ambitious all-sports cable network based in Bristol, Conn.

Today, Bodenheimer, 51, oversees a cash-rich sports media empire so large and so influential that he’s the Orlando Sentinel’s choice as the most powerful person in college sports.

Bodenheimer said one thing ESPN won’t do is act as a catalyst for a playoff system in college football.

“Obviously, the decision on a college football playoff rests with the universities and specifically the presidents,” he said. “Obviously, we’re here to televise whatever format the presidents decide is the best one for their college system to play in, and that’s the role we’ll serve.”

He disputes the notion that ESPN, through its deals with the SEC and to televise the BCS, is helping to increase the distance between the wealthiest schools in sports and those from mid-majors.

“As far as our role in the community and in the business, we have more and more outlets to air collegiate product on,” he said. “We provide opportunity for schools like UCF in effect to play their way on as their programs grow. It’s up to them to manage how they can grow, but we have opportunities to help them grow.”

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-sportspower11071109jul11,0,5579839.story

This week, a U.S. Senate panel will probe whether to restructure the college football championship system – a move that could increase cable television contracts already worth nearly half a billion dollars.

At the request of football fan Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday will examine whether the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, violates antitrust laws in how it picks teams to compete and divvies up the revenue.

Under the current system, nearly half of all college football teams divide a portion of BCS revenues from television and sponsorship contracts. A much larger share, however, goes to teams from the six largest football conferences, including the PAC-10 and the Big East.

“This money goes to benefit some schools and create disadvantages for others,” Hatch said in a statement Thursday.

Since its founding in 1998, the bowl system automatically qualifies the best team in each of the six biggest football conferences plus the University of Notre Dame. It uses computer rankings and polls to fill in the remaining slots – a system that critics argue can exclude some of the best teams from smaller conferences.

Last year’s University of Utah Utes, the nation’s only undefeated team, did not earn a spot in the national championship, but trounced legendary football powerhouse Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, 31-17.

Sports fans like to spar over whether the system truly pits the two best teams in the national championship. But both sides agree that transforming the current model into a playoff structure would likely send both television ratings and cable television contracts soaring.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200907061050DOWJONESDJONLINE000392_FORTUNE5.htm

Conference commissioners have been meeting this week in Colorado Springs with the Mountain West’s proposal on the agenda, but presidents would get the final say on any changes.

After undefeated Utah was left out of last season’s BCS title game, Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson put forth a plan that would utilize an eight-team playoff using current BCS bowls. The proposal also would scrap the current selection process, setting up a 12-member committee and throwing out the polls and computer rankings.

However, existing TV contracts with Fox (this season) and ESPN (the following four seasons) probably would preclude significant changes in the system for at least five years.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-06-16-bcs-presidents_N.htm

MWC Commish Craig Thompson pitches playoff at BCS Meeting

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4087617

PASADENA, Calif. — If this were Hollywood, then Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson would have swooped into town, given his “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” speech, and then watched as college football’s conscience-stricken power brokers changed their minds and voted for a playoff.

However, this is Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl, 15 miles and five BCS games away from Hollywood. Thompson’s fellow BCS commissioners listened Tuesday morning to his proposal for an eight-team playoff and other changes to the current system. They agreed to take the proposal back to their respective memberships for their spring meetings. They will reconvene in June in Colorado Springs.

And no one expects much to change.

After all, the BCS already has agreed to continue the current format through the 2013 season. ACC commissioner John Swofford, the BCS coordinator, described the BCS’s relationship with its two television networks and four bowls as “very, very stable and in excellent shape.” Yet out of a sense of collegiality, the commissioners agreed to take the MWC proposal back to their schools. Thompson’s presentation, and the subsequent discussion, lasted approximately 90 minutes.

There was little doubt about the outcome, but the Sugar Bowl, the BCS and ESPN made it official Wednesday, extending their contract through the 2013 season.

The contract includes the BCS Championship Game to be played in the Superdome on Jan. 9, 2012, three months before New Orleans will be the site of the NCAA basketball Final Four.

The Sugar Bowl agreement also extends the BCS’ contracts with the Fiesta and Orange Bowls. The Rose Bowl’s spot in the upcoming rotation already was in place.

“This is a banner day for the Sugar Bowl, the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana,” Sugar Bowl President Richard Smith said. “We are very excited to continue our role in the BCS.”

Terms of the Sugar Bowl’s bid were not announced, but Paul Hoolahan, the bowl’s chief executive officer, said they were “about as favorable to the bowl as we could have possibly imagined.”

The BCS announced last spring that it will retain the same format with the same bowls that has been place the past four years, subject to working out contract details and the settlement of the TV contract for the next four-year cycle that begins in 2010.

After ESPN obtained the rights for all of the BCS games, which it currently shares with Fox, those negotiations continued until they were finalized this week.

“The Sugar Bowl has been a great partner of the BCS since its inception,” said John Swofford, ACC commissioner and BCS coordinator. “We are delighted to be continuing the relationship for the next cycle.”

Hoolahan added that ESPN is in negotiations with current title sponsor Allstate to extend that contract. It expires after this season.

“I’m sure they’d like to get their ducks in a row as soon as possible,” Hoolahan said. “So they’re probably working hard in their negotiations.”

Wednesday’s announcement does not end the effort by the Mountain West Conference for the BCS to institute an eight-team playoff in place of the current format. That issue will be determined when the BCS governing body — the commissioners of the 11 Division I-A conferences plus Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick — hold its annual spring meeting next month.

http://blog.nola.com/tpsports/2009/03/sugar_bowl_bcs_espn_extend_con.html