On ESPN 2’s Around the Horn, LA Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke says college basketball’s 23-year low in regular season attendance is due to the focus on the tournament and is a good reason not to institute a playoff in college football, as the regular season would be greatly diminished.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

BILL PLASCHKE: I want to say everybody talks about the NCAA basketball being so great and March Madness being so great. We learned this week that the flip side of March Madness is that college basketball’s regular season attendance is at a 23-year low. An average of about 5,000 people a game attend regular season college basketball games. That’s not very many. That’s stunningly low to me and it shows and officials say it’s because March Madness is so big. So those who want a college football playoff, watch these stats and see that a college football playoff would hurt the regular season. This is why the BCS is great and should stay the BCS.

ESPN notches its most-viewed regular season since 1994 and its most viewed bowl season ever while CBS Sports averaged its highest ratings since the sport returned to the network in 1996.

DALLAS, March 2, 2010 – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) showcased today several impressive facts from the 2009 college football season, including top-notch television ratings and stellar bowl attendance figures, that emphasize a continuing trend of increased interest in the sport by millions of fans across the country.

Highlights include ESPN notching its most-viewed regular season since 1994 and its most viewed bowl season ever while CBS Sports averaged its highest ratings since the sport returned to the network in 1996. VERSUS, concluding its fourth year of college football coverage, produced its highest-rated and most-watched season with a slate of 24 games. Despite a difficult economy, a near-record of 48.3 million fans, down just 1 percent from 2008, attended games at the 630 NCAA schools during the 2009 season, including the postseason.

“College football fans love their sport with an unmatched passion, and it’s exciting to watch the numbers roll in each year, proving the strength of college football,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are grateful to the bowl games and the broadcast industry for their creativity and commitment in delivering a first- class product that allow fans to experience the game with unequaled quality.”

The game has benefited enormously from the commitment of every major media sports outlet, including ESPN on ABC, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN360.com, the Big Ten Network, CBS College Sports Network, Versus, Fox Sports Net, the Mtn.- Mountain West Sports Network, and NFL Network. Throughout the regular and bowl seasons these outlets continue to capitalize on college football’s ever increasing popularity to produce an increasing dynamic product that engages fans on new levels.

“We continue to experience tremendous fan interest in our studio and game coverage,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN senior vice president for college sports programming. “Nearly 200 million people tuned in to regular-season games across our platforms and more than 30 million viewers watched our first BCS Championship game in four years. We are excited about the future growth opportunities for the sport and look forward to televising an extensive schedule next year, concluding with the entire BCS.”

The 2009-10 bowl viewership and attendance remained robust, attracting 1,769,886 fans to 34 bowl games and filling stadiums to 85 percent of their capacity at an average of 52,055 individuals per game. Combined viewership for all bowl games also increased from 203,629,913 viewers (143,538,047 households) last season to 225,399,846 (155,331,079 households) in 2009-10, or about an 11 percent jump.

“The bowl system and the college football regular season have combined to create a dynamic setting that continues to engage more and more fans while ensuring that every game counts,” said Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan, who also heads the Football Bowl Association. “For the better part of a century, the bowl games have brought a measure of importance to the regular season not seen in any other sport while ensuring memories for teammates that last a lifetime.”

With the 1.77 million in attendance at bowl games and more than 225 million viewers tuning in to watch the games on television, bowl payouts ran an estimated $240 million in 2009-10 and have totaled $2.08 billion over the last 11 seasons. Over the next 10 years, bowls are projected to pay $2.5 billion to the teams and conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision who participate.

An estimated $1.5 billion was netted from travel and tourism during the 34 clashes. Coaches and student- athletes took time out from their practice schedules to participate in a many community service such as children and veteran hospital visits, youth football clinics, Boys & Girls Clubs activities, Make-A-Wish events, Wish- Upon-A-Star Foundation, food distribution center visits, clothing drives, food drives, parades, and pep rallies.

Regular Season Ratings and Attendance Highlights

* CBS Sports averaged its highest ratings since the sport returned to the network in 1996 with the SEC on CBS. The 4.4 rating represented a 29 percent increase over last year, and the network also landed the highest rated SEC Championship ever with the battle between No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama earning an 11.1 rating or an 18 percent increase above the previous year’s game between the same two teams.

* ESPN averaged 2.1 million households, 2.87 million viewers and a 2.2 rating per game this season, making it the most-viewed season for the outlet since 1994 and the highest-rated since 1999. The numbers represented increases of 11%, 12% and 10%, respectively, over last year. The USC at Ohio State game became the outlet’s most-viewed game ever, including both bowl and regular season games, attracting 10.6 million viewers and a 7.3 rating while the Oregon State at Oregon game became the most-viewed Thursday night game ever for the outlet with 6.7 million viewers and a 4.3 rating.

* ESPN2 experienced its most-viewed season ever, averaging 1.1 million households and 1.5 million viewers, representing increases of 8% and 11% respectively. The average ESPN2 rating remained at 1.1 for both seasons. The Pittsburgh at West Virginia game became the outlet’s most-viewed game ever with 4.1 million viewers and a 2.9 rating.

* ESPN’s College GameDay Built by the Home Depot, the 2006 winner of the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award, continued its meteoric rise in popularity with its most-viewed season ever, averaging 1.7 million households and 2 million viewers with a 1.7 rating for increases of 14 percent, 12 percent, and 13 percent, respectively, over last year.

* ESPN’s Heisman Trophy presentation marked its highest-rated and most-viewed show ever, posting a 4.1 rating, 4,045,000 households and 5,990,000 viewers, for 32% increases over last year while The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards show averaged a 1.2 rating, 1,166,000 households and 1,593,000 viewers for a 33 percent ratings increase and a 48 percent increase in viewers, which made it the network’s most-viewed college football awards show since 1996.

* Both ESPN’s College Football Final and College Football Live studio programs experienced viewership growth between 12-17 percent, attracting an average of 1.5 million and 478,000 viewers respectively.

* NBC garnered a 16 percent increase in its average viewership for its Notre Dame coverage, pulling in 3.7 million viewers up from 3.2 million per game in 2008.

* The Big Ten Network’s ratings increased across the board in 2009, with its average afternoon telecasts improving by 28 percent over 2008 and its eight primetime games exploding by a staggering 183 percent. The channel’s telecasts of afternoon games averaged a 2.3 household rating with the primetime games pulling a 1.7 rating.

* The Mtn. – MountainWest Sports Network saw an 18 percent increase in its average household viewership from 2008 for the slate of 30 games that it carried in 2009 and 2008.

* Almost 48.3 million fans attended games at the 630 NCAA schools during the 2009 season, including postseason games.

* Average attendance at Football Bowl Subdivision games was 46,281.

* Michigan led the nation with an average crowd of 108,933.

* Penn State, Ohio State and Texas all averaged better than 100,000 a game.

* The Southeastern Conference led all leagues in attendance, at 76,288 a game.

Bowl Ratings and Attendance Highlights

* The combined five BCS games increased their viewership from 87,126,256 (58,559,478 households) to 95,031,974 (61,909,441 households) or about a 9 percent jump, and the attendance record of 94,906 at the BCS Championship between Alabama and Texas broke the all-time BCS record, previously set at 94,392 during the 2001 Rose Bowl when Washington defeated, 34-24, Purdue.

* ESPN averaged 3,110,000 households; 4,311,000 viewers; and a 3.1 rating for its 22 bowl games, making it the most-viewed season on the network for bowl coverage ever. The coverage included two of the network’s three largest bowl game audiences ever (Valero Alamo Bowl and the Emerald Bowl) and seven of the network’s top 25 of all time. * ESPN2 averaged 1,832,000 households; 2,504,000 viewers; and a 1.9 rating, making it the network’s most- viewed and highest-rated bowl season.

* The Citi BCS National Championship gave ABC its biggest Thursday night audience since October 26, 1995 and the biggest audience for any television network between the event and the Academy Awards on February 22, 2009. Attracting 19.7 million households and 30.8 million viewers with a 17.2 rating, the game ranks second among most-viewed BCS games ever behind the ESPN on ABC telecast of the 2006 USC-Texas championship game in the Rose Bowl.

* The Citi BCS National Championship also produced the highest rated bowl game in recent years for several DMA markets, including Birmingham (67.4 rating), Austin (47.8 rating), San Antonio (37.2 rating), Nashville (33.4 rating), Knoxville (31.7 rating), Atlanta (29.9 rating), Memphis (25.1 rating), Dallas (31.3 rating), and Houston (29.7 rating).

* The Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi garnered the second largest bowl audience this season for ESPN on ABC, behind only the BCS National Championship, with 15,143,000 households; 24,025,000 viewers; and a 13.2 rating.

* Both of ABC’s New Year’s Day college football bowl games scored increased ratings over last season. The Capital One Bowl (Penn State 19, LSU 17) produced an 8 percent pop from last year with a 6.9 rating while the Rose Bowl presented by Citi (Ohio State 26, Oregon 17) tallied a 12 percent increase with a 13.2 rating. All totaled ESPN on ABC posted a 36 percent increase for its bowl coverage over last year.

* FOX’s coverage of the Cotton, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange games averaged an estimated 11.9 million viewers each or about a 3 percent increase in viewership for the same four games from last year.

* The 2009 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl (Georgia 44, Texas A&M 20) gave ESPN2 its highest- rated and most-viewed bowl game ever, averaging 2,334,000 households; 3,276,000 viewers; and a 2.4 rating.

* ESPN’s telecast of the Valero Alamo Bowl was the outlet’s most-viewed bowl game and fifth-highest-rated ever, with 5,554,000 households; 7,829,000 viewers; and a 5.6 rating.

* The Emerald Bowl delivered ESPN’s third-most-viewed bowl game and 10th-highest-rated ever, averaging 5,289,000 households; 7,563,000 viewers; and a 5.3 rating.

* The New Year’s Eve telecast of the Chick-fil-A Bowl was ESPN’s seventh-most-viewed bowl game ever, with 4,852,000 households and 7,513,000 viewers, based on a 4.9 rating.

* ESPN’s telecasts of the Meineke Car Care Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, AutoZone Liberty Bowl and Pacific Life Holiday Bowl were the network’s 13th-, 15th-, 21st-, and 23rd-most-viewed bowl games, respectively.

* A thrilling-overtime Outback Bowl produced the highest rated bowl ever on ESPN/ESPN2 for a game in the Chicago market (DMA), producing a 7.1 rating as Auburn beat Northwestern, 38-35. The previous Chicago market record was the 2000 Alamo Bowl between Nebraska and Northwestern with a 5.2 rating. The 4.06 national rating was a 32% increase over the 2009 Outback Bowl.

* The Valero Alamo Bowl with Texas Tech winning 41-31 against Michigan State, claimed the highest rated bowl game ever on ESPN/ESPN2 in both the San Antonio and Dallas markets with 12.5 and 9.3 ratings, respectively.

* Bowl’s boasting double digit growth in viewership included: the St. Petersburg Bowl Presented by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (49%), Little Caesars Bowl (11%), Emerald Bowl (16%), AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl (171%), Brut Sun Bowl (44%), Texas Bowl (1769%), Chick fil-A Bowl (33%), Outback Bowl (39%), Rose Bowl presented by Citi (17%), Allstate Sugar Bowl (16%), AT&T Cotton Bowl (13%), AutoZone Liberty Bowl (79%), Valero Alamo Bowl (29%), FedEx Orange Bowl (17%), GMAC Bowl (24%), and the Citi BCS National Championship Game (15%).

2008-09 Notable Bowl Facts and Milestones

* Joe Paterno of Penn State remained No. 1 in all- time NCAA bowl wins with 24.

* Utah won its ninth consecutive bowl game, extending the longest active streak in the nation and tying USC from 1923-1945 for the second-longest such streak in FBS history.

* The Mountain West Conference posted the best bowl record (4-1, .800) for conferences playing in more than two games.

* The SEC claimed a record fourth-straight BCS title.

* The Brut Sun Bowl produced a record crowd with 53,713 for the 76th edition of the game, which saw Oklahoma defeat, 31-27, Stanford.

* The Cotton Bowl drew its second largest crowd in the 74 history of the game with 77,928 spectators as Ole Miss won, 21-7, against Oklahoma State in the classic’s new home at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Cotton Bowl will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010 for the 2011 game.

* The Texas Bowl attracted a record crowd of 69,441 or more than 7,000 more than its previous record as Navy defeated Missouri, 35-13.

* The Autozone Liberty Bowl tallied its second largest crowd in the 51 year history of the game. The 62,742 sold-out crowd also witnessed the first overtime in the game’s history as Arkansas bested East Carolina, 20- 17.

* The Gator Bowl sold out in less than two hours for Hall of Fame Coach Bobby Bowden’s last game, and then added 6,000 extra seats by putting up temporary bleachers. More than 350 of Bowden’s players attended as Florida State beat West Virginia 33-21.

* The Rose Bowl continued the longest sellout streak in college football, which dates back to 1947, selling 93,963 tickets for the Oregon vs. Ohio State match-up.

* The Fiesta Bowl also continued its sellout streak, which includes 25 of its past 26 games, including this year’s crowd of 73,227.

* The 43-year-old Chick-fil-A Bowl produced its 13 consecutive sellout with 73,777 in attendance. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has disbursed more than $95 million in team payouts over its 42-year history and gave way more than $1.2 million to charitable organizations in 2009 alone.

* Cincinnati sold out its entire allocation of 17,500 tickets for the Sugar Bowl in less than four days with the university acquiring additional tickets and packing the Superdome with Bearcat fans.

* The NFF and Fiesta Bowl celebrated the 5th National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Next year will mark the 40th Anniversary of the Fiesta Bowl.

* The National Football Foundation accepted the prestigious 2009 Omar N. Bradley “Spirit of Independence Award” from the The AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl.

* Alabama (57 bowl appearances), Texas (49), Tennessee (48), Southern California (48), and Nebraska (46) remain the Top Five all-time for bowl appearances with Georgia just behind with 45 postseason visits.

* A total of 43 different schools have participated in the 52 BCS games since the 1998 season.

* Oklahoma has played in more BCS title games (four) than any other team, followed by Florida State and Ohio State (three apiece).

* Florida and LSU remain the only two-time winners of a BCS Championship. There have been no back-to-back champions.

* SMU played in its first bowl game in 25 years, claiming victory, 45-10, against Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl and launching a resurgent program under second-year coach June Jones.

* In what was ESPN’s 3rd most-watched bowl game ever, the Emerald Bowl attracted a sellout crowd of 40,121, who braved a pregame rainstorm, as USC held off the Boston College 24-13.

* National leaders in current consecutive bowl games are Florida State 28, Florida 19, Virginia Tech 17, Georgia 13, Georgia Tech 13, Texas 12, Boston College 11, and Oklahoma 11. Nebraska still holds the all-time record with 35 straight trips, which occurred from 1969- 2003.

* Southern California (6-1), Ohio State (5-3) and LSU (4- 0) have the most BCS bowl wins since 1998. Ohio State (eight), USC (seven) and Oklahoma (seven, 2-5) lead all schools in overall appearances in BCS bowls. The Southeastern Conference leads in total BCS victories with a 13-5 mark and .722 winning percentage.

* Conference records in the 52 BCS bowls from the 1998-2009 seasons are SEC 13-5 (.722), Pac-10 9-5 (.643), WAC 2-1 (.667, both wins by Boise State), Big East 6-6 (.500), Big Ten 10-11 (.476), Big 12 7-10 (.412), ACC 2-10 (.167), and Independents (Notre Dame) 0-3 (.000).

* Conference breakdown of BCS title game appearances from 1998-2009 has been Big 12 (7); SEC (6), ACC (3), Big East (3), Pac-10 (3), Big Ten (2).

2009-10 Chronological Bowl Results: (Attendance) & [Household Impressions] & (Rating)

* New Mexico Bowl, ESPN: Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28. (24,898) & [2,749,880 ] & (2.78)

* St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, ESPN: Rutgers 45, UCF 24. (29,763) & [1,870,715] & ( 1.89)

* R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, ESPN: Middle Tennessee 42, Southern Miss 32. (30,228) & [750,927 ] & (0.76)

* MAACO Bowl Las Vegas, ESPN: Brigham Young 44, Oregon State 20. (40,018) & [2,557,232] & (2.58)

* San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, ESPN: Utah 37, California 27. (32,665) & [2,779,335] & (2.81)

* Sheraton Hawai’I Bowl, ESPN: SMU 45, Nevada 10. (32,650) & [1,951,227] & (1.97)

* Little Caesar’s Pizza, ESPN: Marshall 21, Ohio, 17. (30,311) & [2,944,051] & (2.97)

* Meineke Car Care Bow, ESPN: Pittsburgh 19, North Carolina 17. (50,389) & [4,521,433] & (4.56)

* Emerald Bowl, ESPN: Southern California 24, Boston College 13. (40,121) & [5,289,014] & (5.34)

* Gaylord Hotels Music City, ESPN: Clemson 21, Kentucky 13. (57,280) & [1,932,067] & (1.95)

* Advocare V100 Independence Bowl, ESPN2: Georgia 44, Texas A&M 20. (49,654) & [2,333,664] & (2.36)

* Eagle Bank Bowl, ESPN: UCLA 30, Temple 21. (23,072) & [2,178,417] & (2.20)

* Champs Sports, ESPN: Wisconsin 20, Miami (Fla.) 14. (56,747) & [4,487,617] & (4.53)

* Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, ESPN: Idaho 43, Bowling Green 42. (26,726) & [2,362,232] & (2.39)

* Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, ESPN: Nebraska 33, Arizona 0. (64,607) & [4,267,212] & (4.31)

* Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, ESPN: Air Force 47, Houston 20. (41,414) & [1,807,049] & (1.83)

* Brut Sun Bowl, CBS: Oklahoma 31, Stanford 27. (53,713) & [3,804,284] & (3.31)

* Texas Bowl, ESPN: Navy 35, Missouri 13. (69,441) & [2,444,617] & (2.47)

* Insight Bowl, NFLN: Iowa State 14, Minnesota 13. (45,090) & [458,834] & (0.83)

* Chick-fil-a Bowl, ESPN: Virginia Tech 37, Tennessee 14. (73,777) & [4,852,111] & (4.90)

* Outback Bowl, ESPN: Auburn 38, Northwestern 35 (49,383) & [4,019,687] & (4.06)

* Capital One Bowl, ABC: Penn State 19, LSU 17. (63,025) & [7,842,566] & (6.83)

* Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, CBS: Florida State 33, West Virginia 21. (84,129) & [4,533,249] & (3.95 )

* Rose Bowl presented by Citi, ABC: Ohio State 26, Oregon 17. (93,963) & [15,143,206] & (13.18)

* Allstate Sugar Bowl, Fox: Florida 51, Cincinnati 24. (65,207) & [9,765,647] & (8.50)

* International Bowl, ESPN2: USF 27, Northern Illinois 3. (22,185) & [1,252,467] & (1.27)

* PapaJohn’s.com Bowl, ESPN: Connecticut 20, South Carolina. 7 (45,254) & [1,820,336] & (1.84)

* AT&T Cotton Bowl, Fox: Ole Miss 21, Oklahoma State 7. (77,928) & [5,220,490] & (4.54)

* AutoZone Liberty Bowl, ESPN: Arkansas 20, East Carolina 17. (62,742) & [4,332,457] & (4.38)

* Valero Alamo Bowl, ESPN: Texas Tech 41, Michigan State 31. (64,757) & [5,553,630] & (5.61)

* Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Fox: Boise State 17, TCU 10. (73,227) & [9,455,202] & (8.23)

* FedEx Orange Bowl, Fox: Iowa 24, Georgia Tech 14. (66,131) & [7,814,965] & (6.80)

* GMAC Bowl, ESPN: Central Michigan 44, Troy 41. (34,486) & [2,704,838] & (2.73)

* Citi BCS Championship Game, ABC: Alabama 37, Texas 21. (94,906) & [19,730,421] & (17.17)

The BCS is not a perfect system, but it is pretty darn close.

A playoff system would not provide non-AQ’s a better shot at a national title then what is currently offered. For example, lest peoples have forgotten already, the 2009 Big Twelve title between Texas and Nebraska was the difference between TCU playing Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl or Alabama for the 2010 national championship.

The conferences and institutions participating in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) today released unofficial and estimated data of the net revenue from the 2010 games.  For the first time, two conferences that have not earned annual automatic qualification for their champions (the Mountain West and the Western Athletic) played in the BCS games in the same year, which will lead to a record-breaking distribution to non-AQ conferences, estimated to be $24 million.

As a result of a decision made by the five non-AQ conferences in 2004, that estimated $24 million will be allocated among those conferences, instead of remaining within the two conferences whose teams played in BCS bowl games.

The five non-AQ conferences decided to distribute the $24 million as follows:

Mountain West    $9.8 million

Western Athletic  $7.8million

Conference USA  $2.8 million

Mid-American      $2.1 million

Sun Belt             $1.5 million

In addition to the estimated $24 million that these conferences are expected to receive from the appearances of TCU of the Mountain West and Boise State of the WAC in the BCS games, the following distributions are expected to be made to the six AQ conferences:

Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 — $17.7 million each

Big Ten, Southeastern — $22.2 million each  (Note:  These two conferences each had two teams in the BCS bowls, which is why their expected distributions are higher than those of the other AQ conferences.)

“Because of the BCS, all 11 conferences have more access, more revenue and more opportunity from post-season football than before the creation of the BCS, and we’re very proud of that record,” said Bill Hancock, BCS Executive Director.  “In addition, the non-AQ conferences decide what to do with the money earned by their teams that qualify for the BCS bowl games.  It’s theirs to keep or divide as they see fit.  The expected allocation is a result of their decision.”

We who support the Bowl Championship Series have heard that message before, and we know we’ll hear it again. But we believe fans support a playoff partly because they haven’t been presented with all the pitfalls, hitches and glitches of a playoff.

This blog is part two in a series of articles that explore various playoff proposals. Last time, we examined what would happen to college football if a 16-team playoff were created. Today, we look at an eight-team plan.

            We have studied the issue in great detail and remain convinced—while acknowledging that television ratings and subsequent revenue would be substantial—that a 16-team playoff or an eight-team playoff would come with many blemishes and ultimately would not be in the best interests of the student-athletes, the coaches, the universities or their fans.

A playoff would bring myriad problems that would affect the quality of the game of college football, which we believe is unique and not comparable to other sports that end their seasons with playoff systems.

Try creating a formula for an eight-team college football playoff which doesn’t diminish the regular season or end the bowls as we know them.

In all sincerity, we don’t think it can be done.

First of all, picking the participating eight teams and then deciding when and where they would play would be far more controversial than the current system of selecting the top two teams.

Top Eight in BCS? …

Some playoff proponents advocate taking the top eight teams in the BCS Standings after the regular season. Those teams would be playoff-bound.

Sounds simple enough—until the proposed playoff moves to the actual field.

For example, the top eight teams in the final 2009 BCS Standings were Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, TCU, Florida, Boise State, Oregon and Ohio State.

That would be highly controversial for (No. 9) Georgia Tech, which had two losses just like Oregon and Ohio State. Plus, under this playoff scheme, Georgia Tech’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship and 11-victory regular season don’t count for anything.

For that matter, Iowa, Penn State and BYU would not make the playoffs, despite finishing 10-2 just like Oregon and Ohio State. Every season, the teams ranked fifth through 15th have almost virtually indistinguishable differences, which means picking eight teams will lead to massive contention among those teams that don’t make the cut. True, it’s not a controversy over who is playing for the national championship, but given the importance of making the playoffs, it will be a significant controversy nonetheless.

Finally, any large-scale playoff that doesn’t guarantee spots for all conference champions will never pass muster.

Going to eight teams won’t reduce controversy; it will increase it.

… Or Conference Champs?

If you say that taking the top eight teams of the BCS rankings isn’t fair, how about a system where the conference champions from the Pac-10, Southeastern Conference, Big 12, ACC, Big East and Big Ten automatically qualify and then two at-large teams are selected to fill the field?

Be prepared for the firestorm that would come when a three-loss or even four-loss conference champion automatically qualifies for the playoff while a one-loss, much-higher-ranked runner-up in a different conference is left out of the mix.

The current BCS structure is subject to the same issue. But with 10 teams selected for the BCS bowl games, the controversy is limited. If there had been an eight-team playoff with conference champions getting bids along with two at-large schools in 2009, Florida or Boise State would have been left out of the playoffs entirely.

An eight-team playoff is not the cure-all some of its supporters think it is.

Home Fields or Neutral Sites?

Once you come up with what you believe is a fair system (if there is such a thing) to choose the participating teams, now try to tackle the big elephant in the room …

Would the quarterfinals and semifinals be played at home stadiums and then a championship game be held on a neutral site, just like the NFL and the three playoffs in other NCAA divisions?

Or would all three rounds of the eight-team playoff be played on neutral fields?

Neutral fields would pose serious attendance issues. The two teams that advance to the championship game would play three games in three cities, perhaps in three weeks—in addition to the 12 or 13 games they already played during the regular season.

 How would fans, students and alumni—enough to fill an 80,000- to 90,000-seat stadium—be able to attend each of those games? The fact is, they wouldn’t. They would be forced to pick and choose, because most could not afford to travel to all three games, and thus neutral-site playoff games might be played in half-empty stadiums.

            As it is, fans and students can easily plan to attend one bowl per year. Hence, the majority of the bowls enjoy large, enthusiastic crowds for days on end.

 For that matter, think about the difficulty that the teams’ marching band members, cheerleaders and other students would face. How could they miss classes to attend all three games?

On the other hand, holding playoff games at home stadiums might ease the attendance problem but would create a severe fairness issue. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament once was played in home arenas—but no longer, because the host team had an unfair advantage. And imagine Southern schools traveling to northern locations to play games on frozen fields in the snow of mid to late December.

If you took this season as an example, Nippert Stadium (home of No. 3-ranked Cincinnati) would have hosted at least one game and maybe two. The game might be played not only in freezing weather, but also in front of a capacity crowd of only 35,000 fans.

 You want controversy? Just picture Florida playing a quarterfinal playoff game in the cold of the Queen City in front of half as many fans as annually attend the Gators’ spring game.

Resting Starters, Diluting the Regular Season and Hurting Rivalries

Here’s another crucial drawback rarely mentioned by playoff proponents—the likelihood that teams would rest key starters after clinching a playoff berth.

Ask Indianapolis Colts’ fans about resting starters. Many are still upset that their team rested quarterback Peyton Manning and other starters in 2009, realizing the playoffs were approaching. Or ask the New England Patriots why they didn’t rest Wes Welker, whose late-season injury dealt a severe blow to the Patriots’ playoff fortunes.

It’s one thing to do it in the NFL, which is a business, but can you imagine coaches taking this approach during a rivalry game such as Auburn-Alabama; Ohio State-Michigan; Florida-Florida State; Utah-BYU; or USC-UCLA? Rivalries such as these are a large part of what makes college football unique in the first place.

Likewise, college football’s regular season is also unique.

Even the BCS’s harshest critics agree that this sport’s regular season is the most riveting and most meaningful of all. We believe it is that way for one glaring reason—there is no playoff waiting at the conclusion of the season. This assertion is backed up by record attendance (up 35 percent since the BCS was created in 1998) and television ratings that continue to climb annually.

The End of the Bowls?

Lastly, the seven playoff games of an eight-team playoff would overshadow the more than two dozen remaining bowls. Eventually—if not immediately—those bowls would face dramatic financial problems and would close down.

Based on the 34 bowls this season, that would mean the 60 other schools whose teams enjoyed the bowl experience would be left out in the cold—and they would stay home for the holidays. More importantly, that’s more than 6,000 college football players without a final, celebratory game to play and without a bowl week to experience.

But that’s OK, the playoff proponents say, because they can watch the eight-team playoff on television and think, “What if …”

What if, indeed.

In short, the idea that the bowl system could be utilized as the early round playoff is pure fantasy. There will be no bowls if a playoff system is initiated. Only 16 teams would play postseason. Do you think the Southeastern Conference, which has 10 teams playing in bowl games this year, will support for one second a system in which only two or three teams go to playoffs? How many coaches get fired for not making the playoffs when just two or three get to play? We have more than 60 teams going to bowl games this year. No one will agree to a system that only 16 get to go.

[...]

No, college football is the one sport where the regular season counts. The Southeastern Conference has a higher per game attendance than the National Football League. Lost revenue from the loss of bowl game revenue would be crippling to the SEC. There is no way the loss of revenue from 10 bowl games to the SEC would be made up in revenue from two or three teams in a playoff.

“So whatever complaints there might be about the intricacies and quirks of the current system, it nearly always creates a more substantial, logical and tangible final chapter of the season than what it replaced … and very well could be better than what people want to replace it with.”

“Show me right now how a playoff system is going to make it easier for Texas Christian University and Boise State, unless you give us an automatic qualifying berth into that playoff system.  If you’re asking Gary Patterson to jump on the bandwagon, my answer is no right now, because you haven’t given me the guidelines of what a playoff system would be about.”

“The next time someone tells you that a playoff format would make college football perfect remind him/her of the Colts laying down against the Jets and the legitimate allegations the Patriots and Bengals will lie down this weekend to keep the defending champion Steelers out of the playoffs.”