FBC Week 10 thread: The thrill of the Chase (Daniel)

The CAA is the SEC of FCS ... the lowest rated auto-qualifying conference is the Northeast, where schools are limited to 30-40 scholarships. Robert Morris won that berth last weekend. If you frequent FCS message boards (and I do since I cover the subdivision), the CAA really is analogous to the SEC in the snobbery that exists in the fans of that conference's schools. And the Northeast and Big South would be like the Sun Belt and the MAC.

 

Of course, when five teams finish the season undefeated and a system deems two worthy leaving the other three with no shot, I wonder, "Why did we waste those 4 months playing regular season, conference championships and bowl games?"

 

the D3 got a little because a local team was in. i don't know if the kids on the team and the parents would even expect more so i don't what the point of that was. yeah, D1 is better quality football. No the horseshit BCS is not a better system than a playoff. so the Cardinals were a lucky champ. but i guess the numerous years where there were 3 undefeated teams or 1 undefeated team and several 1 loss teams the BCS just knew exactly who the top 2 were.

 

I can understand the argument that the conference tournaments in college basketball completely devalue the regular season. For the low-major programs, the only thing that means anything is the tournament, which is why so many small conferences have gone to extremes to protect the teams that do well in the regular season in the tournament. You can be absolutely mediocre and still get an at-large bid as a major-conference team and make up for it with a hot run in the tournament.

But a playoff in football just wouldn't be the same. No one mediocre is getting into the field. At the very least, you have to play well enough to win your conference's regular-season championship. Yes, the Sun Belt champion will always be mediocre when compared to the SEC champion, but at least that team has run a season-long gauntlet and won a championship. And as Wetzel and company correctly argue in their excellent book, every move you make up the ladder gives you a big advantage in the tournament. Another home game. An easier opponent.

The regular season isn't devalued. At worst, you're letting a 9-win power conference team as an at-large, and that team will have a ridiculously tough road to hoe to win the championship.

Trust me, the season isn't devalued in FCS by the playoff. I watch the national scene closely every week. A few weeks ago, James Madison and Massachusetts played what amounted to a playoff play-in game. This week, New Hampshire and Villanova will do the same. The jockeying for the 10 at-large bids to the tournament is fun to watch. And the conference races in the one-bid leagues (like the one I cover) are intense. Just imagine how much more awesome November would be if Arkansas and South Carolina were playing last week to stay alive in the at-large playoff race.

 

well yeah that would be all nice if it was to get into a playoff, but that game may have decided who gets to the Music City Bowl as opposed to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, it don't get bigger than that, yeeeee dawgies.

 

Starting to think best solution is top 4 teams of BCS have 2 game playoff- Keeps season relevant.

In basketball season is somewhat irrelevant because of March Madness.

 

This may have been said, but why couldn't the many existing bowls be aggregated for championship bracket play for, say, eight or 10 teams? You'd build the same excitement vis a vis the NCAAs, and not stretch the season beyond the traditional New Year's bowl week.

 

it could. it could be 16 teams and each game is a bowl game. then the rest of the bs bowlgame could still be played. the problem would be who gets to be a first round playoff bowl game and who gets to be a bs consolation game. i would think they can rotate that just like they do now with the championship game.

 

I heard the BCS exec director on Dan Patrick today do the song and dance about "the bowl experience for the student-athletes." Of course, when Patrick asked him about some other stuff he talked about meeting the needs of their corporate sponsors, bowl partners and providing revenue for schools. I realize that is his job and as soon as the powers that be change their mind, he would talk about "giving fans what they've always wanted," but it is still embarassing to hear the spin.