These Guys Really Are Out of Touch

Interesting article from Dick Harmon of the Deseret News on the hubris of the BCS honks. You’re jaw will drop when you read some of the quotes from these guys.

The BCS Boys continue to think the world revolves around them and their antiquated bowl games that no longer serve a purpose.

To paraphrase the authors of Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series, Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter, and Dan Passan –

Why does College Football continue to outsource its most valuable commodity – the process of crowning a champion – to a bunch of back room dealing, cigar smoking, fake smile wearing, 75 year old good ole boys who put on the big bowl games?

The way I see it – it’s not 1963 anymore. Yes, I suppose it’s still pretty cool if you’re a Big 10 fan from the frigid Midwest to make a trip to sunny Pasadena, CA on New Years Day to cheer on your team. However, as I heard Jeff Passan say on the Jim Rome show last week – that contest is still nothing more than an exhibition game. The same can be said for the Sugar, Fiesta, Orange and supposed title game. It’s just insane that the NCAA allows college Football to be hijacked at the end of the season by the antiquated bowl system.

Imagine a scenario such as this: At the end of the college basketball regular season in early March, the NCAA took their top 10 teams and sent them off to play five exhibition games. The games would be played in great venues like Madison Square Garden or the Staples Center in LA. Maybe play one in Chicago, etc. Mind you – these games would not be put on by the NCAA. The games would be organized and hosted by the likes of “The Madison Square Garden Spring Basketball Classic” committee, or the “City of Angels Hard-wood Showdown” committee. Do you see where I am going with this? Oh sure, it would be a great thrill for the athletes and fans to make a trip like that and be part of the game. The American public would get to see great cross-sectional games, maybe between the likes of Michigan State and UCLA. Or a Duke vs. Kentucky match-up. Never mind the fact that we do indeed get to see 10-15 of these games each year in the tournament where it’s winner take all. However, in this ridiculous scenario……..winners of the games would celebrate and then go home after deciding nothing. Not to mention, the remaining top 25 teams and 40 or so more would go off to the meaningless NIT.

Can you imagine how little interest there would be if college basketball was handled this way? More importantly, can you imagine the millions and millions of dollars the NCAA would lose out on by not having a true championship tournament? A tournament that in terms of interest, rivals Super Bowl Sunday for not just one afternoon, but 4 straight days in it’s opening weekend.

This is exactly what the NCAA is doing with their football product. 10 teams play in 5 pretty cool games not put together by the NCAA. They dupe us into thinking one of the games is for all the marbles. The remainder of the good teams go off to play in ridiculous bowl games that no one cares about, just like the NIT in basketball.

Why the NCAA continue to operate this way is beyond me. Obviously, the guys running the bowls have a huge financial interest in seeing them continue. I just don’t understand why the NCAA and the schools continue to cave in to these guys.