One vital principle serves as a key foundation to the entire legal system of the United States: every person is entitled to her “Day in Court.” This principle is intuitive. A person deserves the opportunity to stand before a judge or jury to present her “side of the story” before the case is decided.
To illustrate the danger of ignoring this principle, imagine a piece of property surrounded by numerous landowners, each having a credible claim of ownership. To resolve this dispute, imagine a court utilizing a complex formula to select only two landowners to even present their cases. In essence, the court elects to determine all of the landowners’ rights without bothering to grant them a hearing. The forgotten landowners are left without any opportunity to demonstrate they are the property’s true owners. Ridiculous, right? Welcome to the world of college football, as controlled by the Bowl Championship Series. To demonstrate:
1. Which of these teams deserved the national championship?
A. Record 13-0 with wins over teams ranked #5, #8, #8, #10, #15.
B. Record 13-0 with wins over teams ranked #22
C. Record 13-0 with wins over teams ranked #7, #15, #2
D. Record 12-1 with wins over teams ranked #5, #20, #22
2. Let’s try again, which of these teams deserved the national championship?
A. Record 11-2 with wins over teams ranked #7, #14, #25
B. Record 11-2 with wins over teams ranked #2, #9, #9, #12, #14, #17, #18
C. Record 12-1 with wins over teams ranked #3, #24
D. Record 12-1 with wins over teams ranked #17
3. Now that you’re warmed up, try this one.
A. Record 12-1 with wins over teams ranked #5, #8, #21, #23
B. Record 13-0 with wins over teams ranked #4, #11, #16
C. Record 12-1 with wins over teams ranked #1, #2, #4, #8, #23, #24
D. Record 12-1 with wins over teams ranked #1, #7, #10, #11 (loss to #6 ranked team)
These questions present just a small sample of the last 10 years under the BCS and its futile attempts to crown a national champion via non-competitive voting. Playoff PAC is not suggesting that the teams actually invited to the “championship” game were undeserving. They certainly had a case to make. The inescapable truth, though, is that other teams had cases to present as well, but never received a “day in court.”
The stated purpose of the BCS is to “match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game” in an effort to determine a true national champion. According to BCS officials, the BCS has “been undeniably successful in achieving those goals.” Really? Undeniably successfully? If your experience answering the above questions was anything like ours, you too may now be scoffing off the BCS’s foolhardy self-endorsement.
The truth is that nearly every year, the BCS method has proven a disaster in determining the top two teams to play for the national championship. In 2004 (Question #1), four teams were undefeated at the end of the season; however, only two of those teams received the chance to prove it on the field.
In case you’re wondering, the obvious “correct” answer to Question # 1 is A, right? Unfortunately, not in BCS-land. That team went undefeated, beat five teams ranked at season’s end, and yet were arbitrarily denied the chance to play for a national championship. In 2007 (Question #2), at least one of the teams with the best record in the regular season had a chance to play for the title, right? Tragically, your hopes and logic would be dashed again by the dreaded “BCS-logic.” In 2007, both teams with the best record were arbitrarily shut out of the BCS championship game. In 2008 (Question #3), the regular season ended with at least five teams possessing legitimate arguments as to why they should be given a chance to play for a national championship; however, under the BCS system, all but two them were excluded. These three BCS championship refugees went on to dominate their bowl games, raising substantial questions as to who really deserved the elusive title of champion. This arbitrary process, repeated yearly, casts doubt as to whether the top two teams ever actually play for the championship.
The bottom line is that the BCS fails miserably in its stated attempt to determine the national champion. Until a playoff is instituted, worthy teams with claims to the national championship will continue to be denied their day in court.