Inside The BCS Scam

INSIDE THE BCS The BCS (Bowl Championship Series) was formed in 1998, and since then it has played a major roll in college football games around the country. However, it's also a subject of great controversy. Find out more: SCAM The BCS selects ten of the top-ranked college football teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdi- vision for a five-game showcase: OVERVIEW BOWL DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL Rose Bowl Orange Bowl It is the oldest bowl game Usually hosts the Big Ten and Pacific-12 conference champions Usually hosts the Atlantic Coast Conference champion NCAA CAllstate SUGARBO| NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, formerly known as Division l-A, is the only NCAA-sponsored sport without an organized tournament Tostros FIESTA BOWL to determine its champion. Sugar Bowl Fiesta Bowl Usually hosts the Southeastern Conference champion Usually hosts the Big 12 conference champion Its main objective is to create a national championship game with the two top- rated teams in the country. Bowl Championship Series Determines the NCAA Division I Game with the two top-rated football teams Football Bowl Subdivision national champion USA TODAY O Harris Interactive SELECTION PROCESS The selected teams are deter- mined by three components: Results of the final weekly USA Today Coaches' Poll Harris Interactive Average of six participat- ing computer rankings College Football poll 2 IMPACTS While many have critiqued the BCS's methods, others say the BCS has been successful: The BCS claims the top two The BCS has provided all 11 teams have played each other 13 times in the last 13 years; similarly, an AP poll claims 10 times in the last 13 years. The BCS has provided more television exposure to bowl teams and their respective institutions The BCS claims participating schools receive more postsea- son revenue than ever before. conferences more access to the major bowls. The total economic impact in the host cities from the five BCS games in January 2010, was estimated at more than $1.2 billion. SCHOOLS' LOSSES Lots of schools report high losses after joining the BCS. Is it worth it? Learn more: Average expense and losses for the 2010-11 postseason: Average expense allowance $2.38 million Average expense $2.73 million 41% of public universities that have played in bowis for the past six years reported losses. The average team loss in a BCS bowl was $346,959 There are the most common causes of schools losses: TICKETS TRAVEL LODGING COSTS TICKET TICKET contracts that create the cham- By contract, schools that qualify for a bowl game must buy thousands of game tickets.The tickets can then be resold. But frequently, schools are unable to resell all of them. pionship system establish that bowl organizers arrange the lodg- ing, and the teams pay for it No school can negotiate its own lodging costs. The BCS decides which bowl a team will attend, regardless of the distance the team must travel. The travel cost can be very expensive for the team -- not to mention the fans. Poor schools Since all schools in the conferences get a cut of the generated revenue, schools with poor football records that don't make it to the bowls actu- ally do better financially. can do better financially Most universities Most universities don't mind the financial losses from going to a bowl since they receive so much television exposure, which can help recruit players and increase alumni donations. don't mind the losses because of TV exposure 3 PLAYOFF SYSTEM Some fans argue that the BCS should be replaced with a playoff system: IXIVOTE The subjective measurement of human and computer polls would be replaced with the objective measurement of winning or losing a game. A playoff system would give each school a fair chance to receive part of the revenue that's currently distributed to the 11 conferences. 85% of fans support changing to a playoff system, according to a Gallup Poll Every other major college sport's champions are determined by a playoff system. POSSIBLE CHANGES COMING Take look at the main proposals: The BCS would be responsible only for creating a national championship H between the two top teams in the country. There may be an opening bid for the BCS Champion- ship location team- per-conference limit in those major bowls. BCS BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES The proposal would eliminate the auto- It will possibly significantly change its current revenue sharing system, too. matic BCS bowl qualifying status given to the six major conferences, OPINIONS BCS has its benefits. But of course, it has faults too. Know what people think about it: SUPPORTERS OPPOSERS "I like the bowl system. I like the opportunity for a lot of teams to "If I could change one thing about the college-sports scene, it would be to end the Bowl Championship CHRONICLE Series. The BCS system is a relic of ancient history and there is a continuing battle among conferences." THE have a successful season and to Beawrg get a chance to go to a bowl of Hgher lidection game. We don't need to limit that to whatever the playoff deal is. I've been involved in small college playoff systems. It was fun, it was great but it wasn't perfect. The system we have now is as close as we can get to a now one of the reasons that national championship." -Richard H. Thaler, The Chronicle of Higher Education - Oregon State coach Mike Riley, Orlando Sentinel, 2010 "In Division -A football, every game is a playoff. Once you lose one game, you're mostly out. If you lose two, you're definitely got 12 playoff games. Teams take that approach. That's probably why there's so much interest. You stub "Once people realize how it really works, how much money is being YAHOO! lost, how ridiculous the system is, the conversation will go from, 'Maybe we ought to change this' to 'We are absolute utter morons if we don't change this.' It works for nobody except a select few bowl operators." Sports out. your toe, you can never get back in." - Dan Wetzel, an ace writer for Yahoo! Sports - University of West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, ESPN.com, 2006 "Right now, we have a good system. That's not to say we won't improve it. How it will improve over time we'll find out, but "Bottom line is, the BCS is flawed. They themselves know it, which is why they proposed a lot of changes going forward. All I've heard all year is the computers don't like Stanford. Well, the computers haven't programmed themselves." wouldn't be in favor of scrapping what we do. There are too many things to keep in mind, bowls, student athlete welfare, all the rest. I wouldn't start over." - Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, Orlando Sentinel, 2010 -- Stanford coach David Shaw Information provicled by: http://www.onlinecolleges.net/ ONLINE COLLEGES SOURCES bcsfootball.org | usatoday.com | espn.go.com | gq.com | collegefootball.procon.org/ GAME ROSE