Bowl games are losing more of their luster each season. It’s a fad that has gone way out of style.

No one cares enough about an 8-4 state university team playing another 8-4 state university 2,000 miles from each other at a neutral site, except for students and some alumni.

TV ratings will tell the story best. If the Bowl games aren’t going to generate advertising, then essentially, they are worthless.

Meaningless games have to have something to watch for. It used to be they were held on New Year’s Day and that meant something. But, New Year’s Day games are seen less and less each year. (This year, there aren’t any at all due to New Year’s Day falling on a Sunday and the NFL has that day to itself.)

There are 35 bowl games this year with the culmination of #’s 1 and 2, LSU and Alabama, playing on January 9th. It is the only game that really has anything on the line, other than pride.

Pride is hard to measure and not always enjoyable to watch. Football fans show the most interest in watching a game for the suspense. When a game has something riding on it, there’s a reason to care.

Bowl Championship Series (BCS) followers will note that there has been a lot of talk for a plus-one game. There have been different derivations offered, but the most popular one has been a ‘Final Four’-like model, which has a semi-final and then a final. This is a great idea and it may work well, but it won’t solve the deadwood Bowl games dilemma.

Alumni and student bodies will support these college Bowl games, but they aren’t enough to save them. Times are changing and what used to be important is no longer of the same interest to sports fans. There are too many other options for entertainment out there.

What needs to happen is to put a limit on the amount of bowl games. It is an issue of supply and demand and there are too many Bowl games as it is now.

A one and done tournament with the top 20 teams would work best. The bottom eight teams can play for a chance at the final sixteen teams. The top 12 teams get a bye.

College football needs to shorten its season to 12 games maximum, including conference championships. It was always an 11-game season for years up to the 1990s and now it has become 13 regular season games for many schools.

So, the tournament can start in early December and continue on through the end of the month at various neutral Bowl sites, until the Championship game in the beginning or second week of January. A good idea would be to try and have the semi-final games on New Year’s Day.

A total of 19 Bowl games are needed. This is plenty and each of them will mean something.

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* – Image credit: By John Terhune/Journal & Courier via JCOnline.com

Howard Alperin is Managing Editor of www.AmericanizeSoccer.com

There is no debate that LSU should be playing in the national championship game because they played an extremely difficult schedule and went undefeated.  The team that LSU is going to play, however, is creating quite a controversy.

Many people (including myself) feel that Alabama should not get another shot at a team that already defeated them for a possible national championship. Oklahoma State has a real argument that they did not get a fair shake from the current BCS system and that they should be the 1-loss team playing for the title.

If college football had a playoff this is how it might look this season.

Here is how I configured my playoff scenario:

The format that I used took from the NCAA tournament in college basketball, and I broke it down into four regions.  In each region there would be 4 teams and each team would be seeded 1 through 4.  The regions would be very simple: north, south, east and west.  There are no automatic bids and only the top 16 teams will be seeded.

The teams that will be eligible for a 1-seed are the best teams that won their conference companionship.  Only conference champions will be the top seeds in their regions because they should be rewarded for their accomplishment.  Unless you win your conference, the highest seed that you will be able to receive is a 2-seed.

The 1-seeds will be assigned to a region based on their geographical location and the rest of teams will be placed so no region has more than two teams from the same conference.

Here are the regions, teams and seeds, and the opening round matchups for a hypothetical 2011 college football playoff.

NORTH REGION 

• #1 Wisconsin vs #4 Michigan
• #2 Stanford vs #3 Kansas State

EAST REGION

• #1 LSU vs #4 Michigan State
• #2 USC vs #3 Clemson

SOUTH REGION

• #1 Oklahoma State vs #4 Georgia
• #2 Alabama vs #3 TCU

WEST REGION

• #1 Oregon vs #4 Boise State
• #2 Arkansas vs #3 Houston

When creating the first round matchups, I tried to avoid teams from the same conference playing for the second or even third time.  I did have Wisconsin against Michigan, two teams from the Big Ten playing in the first round, but since they did not meet in the regular season it wouldn’t diminish from the game.

Another thing that I tried to do when creating the teams for each region was to have matchups that would get sizeable TV ratings.  For example, in the West region I put Boise State against Oregon because every college football fan would watch to see those offenses go against eachother.

The winner of the North region would play winner of the South region for the chance to play in the title game and the same thing would apply for the East and West regions.

This is just one playoff scenario that would create a fair and equal way to decide who the national champions should be.  There are many ways that a playoff could be implemented for college football, and any one of them would be better than the current BCS system that is in place.

College football needs to change their current structure because too many teams that have legit chances at winning a national championships are not getting an opportunity to play for one. Computers should not decide who should play for a title but it should be settled on the field just like every other sport that is played.

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* – BCS photo credit: via Cutler’s Corner 

Let’s pretend that the BCS system was created in order to determine the best team in the country.

I know…it’s quite a leap…but try and follow me along on this extended hypothetical.

If the BCS is supposed to pit the two best teams in the nation against each other in the national championship game, then this year, it will have worked if LSU and Alabama end up meeting to decide the BCS National Championship.

Image credit: Icon SMI via Saturday Down South

Why The Alabama-LSU Rematch Should Happen

Of course, this raises the ire of fans around the country who care more about pageantry, tradition, and excitement than they do about crowning a true champion.  After all, “The Game of the Century” was quite boring.

“Alabama already had their chance.  Give it to someone else.”

“How could you have a national champion that didn’t even win their conference championship?”

RiMarcus Reilly* even wrote this “insightful” piece that was completely devoid of fact and logical thought…but at least he did explain to us that there could be more exciting games to watch than LSU/Alabama.

Look, I understand that Alabama/LSU 2.0 might be undesirable.  It may make for a more boring game than say, Oregon vs. Houston.  Those reasons given above may actually make sense in other years too.

But look at this year, 2011, and answer me this question: what college football team (besides LSU) do you HONESTLY think is better than Alabama?

Let’s just go over all the options one by one.

Unfortunately we must throw out any teams with more than one loss, so even though Wisconsin lost two incredibly tough games, and teams like Arkansas, Oregon, and Oklahoma are good, they HAVE to be left out of this conversation.

Boise State

Their schedule is so weak (67th in the nation), they had to run the table in order to get into the final game.  They couldn’t.  If Boise HAD run the table, I would have loved to put them in the national championship game.  They ran all over a very good Georgia team early on, and I think Kellen Moore is one of the best college QBs we have seen in a while.  Unfortunately, they lost to TCU.  They can’t seriously be considered as a better candidate than Alabama.

Houston

The most intriguing team of the bunch.  12-0.  Undefeated.  Fantastic QB.  This is the only team I would actually consider putting into the championship game besides Alabama.  Unfortunately, their strength of schedule is worse than Boise State’s (75th in the nation).  Sorry Case Keenum, not only will you be overlooked for the Heisman, but you also won’t get the chance to show your stuff against a legit SEC defense.

Virginia Tech

They have fewer quality wins than Boise State.  The ACC was so incredibly weak this year that Clemson is playing in their championship game.  Their strength of schedule is barely better than Boise’s (63rd), and their only quality wins were…looking…whoops, I couldn’t even find one.  Unless you call Georgia Tech and Virginia quality wins, in which case you won’t understand most of this article.

Stanford

Stanford had a good season.  They went 11-1 and had some decent wins over Notre Dame and USC. All they had to do was beat a 2-loss Oregon team and they would be playing in the national championship — an Oregon team that got absolutely blown off the field by LSU and their speed in the first game of the year; an Oregon team with a banged up LaMichael James.

Stanford couldn’t follow through.

In fact, Stanford looked BAD.  Oregon was much faster at every single position.  The two teams didn’t even look like they belonged on the same field.  And we are supposed to believe that a team that got dominated by a team that got blown out by LSU should be playing in the national championship OVER Alabama?  Come on.

I love Andrew Luck.  I think he’s a great player.  But his team, top to bottom, is clearly not on the same level as some other teams in the country.

Oklahoma State

This is the team I feel the worst for.

I love to watch them play.  They have the second best scoring offense in the nation.  They have been great all year – except for one game.  And you know, they actually had an excuse to come out flat against Iowa State.  Their school was dealing with an unbelievably sad tragedy, and it’s not hard to empathize with their poor performance.

Unfortunately, they still lost – to a 6-5 Iowa State team.  The Cowboys controlled their own destiny.  All they had to do was beat a mediocre team on national television – and they couldn’t do it.

Let’s compare them to Alabama, a team that has crushed every team they played this year except for the #1 team in the country.

The Cowboys have a great offense – #2 in scoring…but Alabama’s is not that bad, they rank 17th.  Just because the Tide’s offense may not be exciting doesn’t mean it’s not effective.  Plus, if you put all 22 offensive players from both teams on the field, Trent Richardson would be the best player.

On the flip side, Alabama has one of the most dominant defenses of all time – and this can’t be argued.  Oklahoma State is a laughable 107th.  ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH!!!!  And this is a team that is supposed to beat LSU?

There is no logical way to argue that Oklahoma State deserves to play in the national championship more than Alabama.

Just compare the two schedules.  One team played THE SECOND HARDEST SCHEDULE in the nation, and it’s only loss was to the #1 team in the country.   The other team played a tough schedule as well (17th), but lost to a team that is barely bowl eligible.

Case closed.

Well it should be.

But most people would never allow facts to get in the way of their opinion.  They will still argue that Oklahoma State’s offense could put up points on LSU and it would at least be a better game.

Might the game be more exciting?  Sure.  But would Oklahoma State be certain to put up points?  Absolutely not.

In 2003, the high scoring Oklahoma Sooners from the Big 12 faced off against the LSU Tigers in the national championship game…and scored 14 points.

In 2009, the high scoring Oklahoma Sooners from the Big 12 faced off against the Florida Gators in the national championship game…and scored 14 points.

In 2010, the high scoring Texas Longhorns from the Big 12 faced off against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the national championship game…and HEY!!!! They broke 20!!!

Should there be a playoff?  Of course.

Is Alabama/LSU 2.0 undesirable?  A little bit.

But if we are supposed to uphold the myth that the NCAA really wants the two best teams in the country to play against each other for the national championship, the ONLY two options come from the Deep South.

Image credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images North America via Zimbio

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* – For those who don’t get this “RiMarcus Reilly” reference, like our editor apparently, this is what Jason Whitlock calls Rick Reilly since ESPN spent all that money on him but he’s been a bust…just like JaMarcus Russell.

Neither article endorses the idea of a championship rematch, but both articles (along with several others) serve to legitimize the debate. Clay Travis, of Outkick the Coverage and 104.5 in Nashville, has been an outspoken advocate of a title-game rematch on his radio show and on Twitter. (He’s certain that Oklahoma State will lose to Oklahoma, clearing a path for Saturday’s loser.)

Exhausted as I am by the hype surrounding the LSU-Alabama game, I understand where rematch proponents are coming from, even if I don’t agree.

The Argument For an LSU-Alabama Rematch

If we are convinced that the Tigers and Tide are the two best teams in the nation (and if I had a vote in a poll of any significance, I’d probably rank them #1 and #2), then one shouldn’t be penalized for losing to the other. Unless one team wins by a large margin Saturday evening, it shouldn’t be too hard to make a convincing case that LSU and Alabama are still the two best teams.

And, in theory, the two best teams (as determined by coaches, panelists selected by the conferences, and the computers) should play in the BCS National Championship Game.

"I could be the Jimmy Chitwood of college football, if only you'd give me a chance."

My Argument Against an LSU-Alabama Rematch

Here’s the problem: Division I-FBS college football is a sport with 120 teams, each of which plays a 12- or 13-game season, that decides its champion with a 2-team playoff. It is the only major sport in which a team can be eliminated from championship contention without ever being defeated. Most of the best teams never meet.

Perhaps the most common defense of the current system is the idea that, in college football, every week is a playoff. During the average season, there is at least one game each week that has direct championship implications. (Granted, there are about 57 that don’t, but whatever.) A game in October has the potential to eliminate a team from championship contention.

While there are obvious flaws to a system in which a team’s title hopes can die before Labor Day, a sport that only invites two teams to play for a championship needs regular season de facto elimination games. It needs to be able to say, “You’ve had your title shot. Let’s give someone else a chance.”

This is especially true in the case of LSU and Alabama, who not only meet during the regular season but who also have 6 common opponents (the other 4 SEC West teams and Tennessee and Florida).

An LSU-Alabama rematch in January would be like having two American League teams play for the World Series.

There’s a big college football world out there. Even if we think that LSU and Alabama are the sport’s two best teams, another squad (whether Stanford or Boise or even a one-loss Big 12 team) deserves an opportunity to prove itself. We won’t know how any of these teams would fare against the LSU-Alabama winner if none of these teams doesn’t get a chance to play Saturday’s winner.

A system that already relies too heavily on assumptions needs as many match-ups between top teams as possible to test these assumptions.

"You come after me! I'm a man! I'm #1 in 6 of the 7 computer polls!"

Of course, all of this talk is premature.

It assumes that both LSU and Alabama will win all of their remaining games. It’s entirely possible (however unlikely) that LSU could lose to Arkansas or that Alabama could lose the Iron Bowl or that Georgia or South Carolina could pull an upset in the SEC Championship Game. It also assumes that Oklahoma State, currently #1 in 6 of the 7 computer polls, will not finish the season undefeated. If the Cowboys win out and beat Oklahoma, they will—for all intents and purposes—clinch a spot in the Championship Game.

But considering the limitations of the BCS system, tomorrow’s contest needs to function as an elimination game.

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Follow Josh at twitter.com/joshtinley.

(Photo Art by Midwest Sports Fans.)

First off, I want to congratulate Sam Bradford on winning the Heisman Trophy. He put up some of the most ridiculous numbers college football has ever seen this year, and led the Oklahoma Sooners to five straight 60-point outings to close out the season. That is remarkable.

And I want to congratulate the Oklahoma Sooners on becoming Big 12 Champs and being selected to play the Florida Gators in the BCS National Championship game. The Sooners are on quite a roll right now and the Oklahoma-Florida matchup to determine the champion should be exciting.

But what the hell did the University of Texas do to become the toilet of college football in 2008? All they did was go 11-1, beat Oklahoma, and have a QB set the NCAA record for completion percentage. With all that said, let’s count the ways that Texas has been shit on this season:

1 — Despite having an identical 11-1 record with Oklahoma, and owning the head-to-head tie-breaker with the Sooners, Texas was left home during the Big 12 Championship while Oklahoma played Missouri.

2 — Again, despite having the same record as Oklahoma and beating them, Texas experienced their one loss a few weeks later in the season and fell behind Oklahoma in the polls and BCS standings. This is what gave Oklahoma the right to play in the Big 12 Championship game and make it to the BCS National Championship game…despite the ugly fact that a team with an identical record, and that they lost to, will have to watch the championship game from home.

3 — Colt McCoy was sensational in his head-to-head matchup against Sam Bradford. He made the plays to win his school’s biggest game of the year. Sam Bradford did not. The #1 and #2 vote-getters in the Heisman balloting met on the same field, and the the guy who lost and played worse ended up winning the award for Most Oustanding Player in America.

If I were a Texas fan, I’d be feeling a little salty right now. If I were an Oklahoma fan, I’d be thanking my lucky stars that the 2008 Sooners somehow defied the most basic logic that is supposed to govern sports: nothing is more important than what happens on the field.

Oh wait — this is college football we are talking about, the sport where logic is nowhere to be found.

I am having a hard time coming up with a more egregious set of circumstances to end a season and determine a national champion than what has happened this year. And if the Illogical Quagmire of 2008 cannot galvanize change and inspire a movement towards a playoff, I’m not sure what will. If you have the same record as another team, but you beat them on the field of play, you should take priority and be rewarded. That did not happen this year, and Texas got royally screwed because of it.

And if choosing the winner of an individual honor requires the splitting of hairs, as this year’s Heisman Trophy voting clearly did (based on the fact that the difference between #1 and #3 was smaller than the typical difference between #1 and #2), then beating the other candidate head-to-head should carry some pretty serious weight. Obviously it did not in this case, as Sam Bradford came out ahead of Colt McCoy.

And here’s the really sad thing: I know a lot of people are reading this and chomping at the bit to get the comments and tell me I’m an idiot for arguing about Texas and ignoring Texas Tech. Well guess what? That is even more proof for my point!

Texas Tech beat Texas who beat Oklahoma who beat Texas Tech. And yet, the big argument at the end of the season was between Texas and Oklahoma, with Texas Tech all but forgotten. Sure, Oklahoma wiped the floor with Texas Tech. And I would rank them 3rd out of those three on my own personal ballot. But who cares!? Does the old saying, “That’s why they play games” mean anything in college football?

Apparently not.

Not only was Texas Tech shut out of the Big 12 championship game, shut out of the BCS, and shut out of even getting an invite to the Heisman ceremony (despite having the #4 and #5 vote-getters in Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree), but they weren’t even in the conversation! How ridiculous is that?

Unfortunately, that is college football.

I love college football. I grew up going to games every Saturday, and I love nothing more than watching, debating, and reading about college football all Fall long. But I love college basketball more, and for one extremely important reason: champions are determined on the court, and not through media politicking or in a computer.

Oklahoma had a historic season in many ways in 2008. One feat that should definitely go down in the record books is that they recorded the first loss in the history of college football that, apparently, was not a loss.

In the absence of a playoff, when two teams with identical records do not play eachother, subjective opinions must be solicited to attempt to determine who is better. This has always been a part of college football, and there is no way around it to a certain degree. But when teams play eachother on the field, that game has to mean something. In this case, Oklahoma may as well have just won that game 45-35 instead of what actually happened. Oklahoma was treated like a 12-0 team, while Texas was dealt the fate of a team that went 10-2 and lost to the Sooners.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget about Texas Tech.

My head is starting to hurt just writing this, because it is such a sad and ridiculous circle of idiocy. The only thing standing between college football and a playoff is excuses. College basketball does it. The other college football divisions do it. And somehow, a better method simply has to be implemented to determine champions.

One of the most popular arguments bandied about in opposition of a playoff is that a playoff would lessen the importance of the regular season, that what makes college football different is that a game in October is just as meaningful as a game in January. Well to all of the people who make that argument, I present the 2008 college football season as the quintessential counter-argument that you simply cannot refute.

How meaningful is the college football regular season when Texas can beat Oklahoma, yet Oklahoma goes to the Big 12 championship, the national championship, and the Oklahoma QB beats out the Texas QB for the Heisman?

How meaningful is the college football regular season when Texas Tech can beat Texas, and their arguments are not even taken seriously, for the most part because they do not have the same prestige as Texas and Oklahoma?

It doesn’t seem all that meaningful to me. Not after this season.

What do you think?

So congratulations to Oklahoma. 2008 truly has been the Year of the Sooners, because somehow Oklahoma was able to defy sports logic and completely erase the typical consequences of losing. And this is not a knock on Oklahoma, their coaches, or their players — they have an amazing team. And it is hard to argue that they are not deserving of a spot in the championship game. The problem is that it is not hard to argue for Texas or Texas Tech either.

So the knock is not on Oklahoma, but rather on the idiotic system of college football over which the Sooners have no control.

I just hope that 2008 was a step backwards that can ultimately lead to a giant leap forward — in the form of a playoff. All of this illogical BS has gone on for far too long in college football and it is time for what happens on the field to matter more than what happens on a ballot.

Discussion Questions for Comments Section:

1. Do you think that Texas and Texas Tech got screwed in 2008?
2. Do you want to see a playoff in college football? Why or why not?

Looking forward to everyone’s responses on this topic. And let’s just hope that one of these days, logic can actually become a part of college football.

Yes, this is a sports blog, so you might wonder I am posting something political. Well, some moments in history just transcend everything. And tonight…well it transcended everything.

(And if you need some sort of sports tie-in, here you go: Barack Obama support a college football playoff.)

I’m not posting support or condemn the policies of Barack Obama. Or to claim that I voted one way or the other. I am posting only to say a few very specific things:

– John McCain: You gave a great conciliatory speech and are an incredible American. I hope that you continue to be a positive influence as a leader in American.

– Democratic football fans in Ohio: Barack Obama won, he carried Ohio, and Brady Quinn is now starting for the Browns (although Brady probably isn’t happy with the election result). Has there been a better week for a specific group of Ohioans…ever?

– President-Elect Barack Obama: Your policies and beliefs have been framed by some to be polarizing; but no one can listen to your words and hear anything but optimism, hope, and an inspiring vision for an America that overcome its divides and truly become a united nation. Congratulations on being elected. It took great audacity to even run, and your victory is a confirmation of your ability and potential to be one of the truly transformative leaders in the history of our country and the world.

What a night.

And I have to think that no matter what side of the political aisle on which you position yourself, when this night is viewed through the prism of the totality of our nation’s history, good and bad, you have to think: what a great night.

[tags]barack obama, presidential election, college football playoff[/tags]