Obama calls for end to the BCS and for CFB Playoffs! My back-home redneck friend just told me that!

[XOKCowboy]

We normally don't talk politics but he said "Hey did you hear what Obama said"? I cringed a bit and asked "What?". Then he told me about the BCS quote and then laughed saying "I guess he really is reaching out to middle America".

One step at a time folks. One step. :)

[WiMu]

1. It was a response to a question he was asked on Monday Night Football

[XOKCowboy]

4. I didn't see that interview...

but for my friend to say ANYTHING nice about Obama just floored me.

[petronius]

6. He was asked, if he had the power, what one change he would make in the sports world

And his answer - a pretty emphatic answer, at that - was that there should be a college football playoff. If I recall correctly, he said "You take the top eight teams, and they play until there's one champion." I was ready to vote for the guy twice, at that point.

Of course, the FCS (former Div 1-AA) already has a playoff, which just goes to show how elitist and out-of-touch Obama is... </freeper>

[AspenRose]

2. Well DUH....EVERYBODY knows the BCS is evil

:rofl:

[xxqqqzme]

3. OK, I don't know what either

BCS or CFB is/was/are????

[XOKCowboy]

5. CFB is College Football

I really can't explain the BCS to you. I don't think anyone can. ;)

[Omnibus]

7. BCS=Bowl Championship Series.

Once upon a time in college football, there were two polls, the AP poll (of sportswriters) and the Coaches' poll (of all Division I coaches). Each week, participating writers (or coaches) would list their top 25 in order. The votes would be tallied, with their #1s getting 25 pts, #2's getting 24, on down to the #25s getting one point. The team with the most votes was #1, second was #2, etc.

Bowl games were determined in a bewildering variety of ways; the Rose Bowl would feature the Big 10 and Pac-10 champions, for instance. Some bowls featured conference champions, others picked whichever teams would bring the biggest crowds.
Sometimes the two best teams would play each other at some point, but often, they wouldn't.

The National Champion was the one at the top of both polls at the end of the year. If the polls disagreed? Well, then everyone argued until next season.

Well, that was horrible, so the 5 biggest conferences (and perennial glory hogs Notre Dame), along with 6 bowls, formed the Bowl Coalition in 1992. But it didn't work, because it didn't force the Big 10/ Pac-10 champs to play in a championship game instead of the Rose Bowl, so of course in 1994 undefeated Penn State played a weaker Oregon team instead of undefeated Nebraska.

They then revamped that into the Bowl Alliance, which was the Bowl Coalition with a name change and sucked for the same reasons.


Then came the BCS.

Now national rankings are determined by averaging the AP poll number (based on number of total votes, not ranking), the Coaches' poll number (ditto), and several different computer averages in an esoteric manner to give each team a BCS Ranking. The two top BCS teams play each other at the end of the year. The Championship game is passed from Bowl to Bowl (there are 4 of them).

Perfect, right?

Well, not really. Some years, there are three or 4 unbeaten teams that deserve a shot at the title, and all but two get left out of the title game. Some years, there are no GREAT teams, but 3+ good ones that arguably deserve a shot at the title. Add to that the arbitrary nature of the poll rankings, and the arbitrary rankings of criteria in the computer averages, and you have an atrocity that guarantees to piss off several major universities and their fans every year.

Most everybody but the guys running the BCS agree that it needs to be changed; there are a lot of different ideas about what to change it to, though.


By calling for a playoff in College Football, Obama identifies himself as conversant with all of the above, and sides with the vast majority of college football fans. A great response, that gives him major sports cred.


Not that I follow college football or anything... :P

[WiMu]

8. Very good,

but left out before the BCS there were often more then one national champion, that you could have as many national champions as there were polls that ranked college football teams.

[Angleae]

9. It still can happen, and actually has post BCS.

Since the AP poll has nothing whatsoever to do with the BCS. In 2003-2004 they ranked USC as #1 and they weren't even in the championship game.

[XOKCowboy]

10. Umm Yeah like he said..

Boomer Sooner