NCAA Football Tournament

As the 2004 Division I college football regular season ended, the other three NCAA football divisions were already conducting a nationwide tournament to decide the number one team in each respective class. When all the matchups were finished in Division I, five teams survived the campaign undefeated. Yet thanks to the current infrastructure (the Bowl Championship Series) only two teams, Oklahoma and Southern California, will have a chance to play for the national title.

Proponents of the system will argue that both the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN poll showed consensus at the top two positions. They tell us, "the system works, the top two teams are playing for the national title." How are they sure the top two teams are indeed represented in the Orange Bowl?

The real answer is there is no way to be certain, other than a national playoff. Every other college sport employs a tourney to decide its champion, from tennis to volleyball to basketball. Even the other divisions in college football use a tournament! When left to pollsters and pundits, the result of the greatest team in any given year is speculation at best. Look no further than sports history for evidence. This spring, no one gave the Detroit Pistons a chance to win the NBA title; they were the clear second choice to sports fans and experts. But the Pistons were able to prove themselves on the court. Countless other examples exist.

So why is the BCS such a mainstay of the college football landscape? Colleges, conferences, and bowls tell us that the extra length to the season would be too physically demanding on student athletes. Yet this explanation is in direct confrontation with the players of Division I-AA, II, and III football who already compete in a tournament. The real reason lies somewhere between the dollar and the fear of losing more dollars.

But we will not tangent into a commentary on the corporate nature of College Football. Instead we, college football fans, clamor and call for the NCAA to abandon the BCS and implement a national tournament to decide the national championship. We have enjoyed the tradition of the Bowls, but in light of the degradation of tradition (historical matchups of conferences are virtually extinct thanks to the setup of the BSC) and the yearning for fairness, we urge you to rethink the current structure. A national tournament will draw excitement, financial support, and a level playing field to the game.

To the administrators of the NCAA, to the commissioners of every conference in the country, to the athletic directors and presidents of every member of Division I-A athletics we plead that you give all the fans of college football something truly needed: a national tournament.