Thanks to everyone for your comments both here and through our homepage! We encourage thoughtful debate and joining in the conversation respectfully.
We’ve received a lot of emails suggesting an array of playoff options, but did you ever consider what a playoff would do to the everyday fan’s checkbook? Below is an email we got from an avid UT fan explaining his reasons behind opposing a potential playoff:
Here is one point I wish you would all consider and possibly address in regards to a D-I football playoff. I don’t think anyone has considered how a playoff might affect the common fan’s pocket book. Namely, me: a retired teacher and high school coach, who now supplements his income by working in a warehouse and just happens to save all his extra income to be a season ticket holder for UT football and their bowl game. I have been to both of UT’s Rose Bowl games; we saved up for it like a vacation. I love the BCS, imperfect though it is. I could never afford to pay the expenses to travel and get tickets to possibly 3+ playoff games if UT were in the picture, which they most surely will be.
A playoff would become a rich elitist event just like the Super Bowl, the World Series, All Star games, and the NCAA final 4. But what would you care you all would get to attend on your company’s nickel, free along with all the rich people who could afford to go to all the games up to the championship game.
[BCS critics] say, why couldn’t it be like D-I basketball. Well, you could put several teams at the same venue and play 2-3 games in one day, but you know there is no way they could turn around and play again in a day or two. It would have to be a week to week schedule and if you use the bowls at different locations each week, how could I afford to travel, pay for lodging and meals and tickets to 3+ locations week after week until the final game?
Say I put all my eggs in one basket and bet UT would make it to the final game, but then they lost, I would have lost out on the experience and excitement of being at their only game. I think you get my point without more elaboration. I have never heard anyone consider or address the debate in regards to this angle. I feel Revo and maybe Randy would understand, but… some of you write and speak against the BCS like it is a matter of national security. In the whole scheme of things, it is just a football game, and there are thousands of fans just like me that just love college football and the atmosphere for what it is: good old, away from the everyday stresses, pure entertainment.
The controversy of the BCS actually contributes to the love and draw of college football. It gives us something to argue and debate year after year. It’s just a game, and it already gets more expensive to be a fan every year, why compound it. Gary Patterson at TCU understands it. He likes the bowl system because he is a blue collar guy like me. It is a reward for the players and the fans.
Mickey Gerloff
Lillian, TX
Tags: BCS
InsidetheBCS,
Can you please explain to Mickey that the playoff games would be played at the home team’s stadium and would essentially be equivalent to another home game for UT (depending on what seed they received)? Since they are currently #3 (and most likely #2 after UF or ALA loses this weekend), they would play at home for Round 1 and Round 2 (in an 8 team playoff–in a 16 team playoff they would play at home for Rounds 1, 2, 3). Thus, the tickets should be priced just as any other home game would be priced. If he is able to save enough money for a trip to the Rose Bowl (which was really the NC game) then he surely would have enough money to afford tix to 2 or 3 home games (especially since he wouldn’t have to pay for airfare/hotel/car rental, etc.). And if they made it to the championship game, it would be played in a rotating bowl (Rose/Sugar/Fiesta/Orange) just like every year before the BCS Title game was created. The playoff games are not going to turn into BCS title games.
Do tix to the 1st round of te NFL playoffs go for the $1000-$3000 that Super Bowl tickets go for?? Of course not, and the fact that he can’t (and you can’t) understand this is quite sad.
realbbbb – EVERY game will require an away opponent, therefore; you can not state that every UT playoff round would be played at their home field.
The University of Texas has an all time record of 61-20-2 versus TCU.
In no way, shape or form are they in the same league. Not this year. Not any year.
They need to understand and stay in their place.
Keep the BCS. Anything that dilutes the revenue is unacceptable to the top tier universities.
My heart breaks for Mickey — keep the BCS. Because we should definitely NOT enhance the college football experience for everyone involved since it will inconvenience a handful of people who want to travel but can’t. That would be totally unfair.
Well Texas A&M is 36-75-5 versus Texas, so I guess they should also stay in their place and never play for a championship…oh, that’s right, they play in a BCS conference, so they don’t have to worry.
And don’t get me going on Texas’s record vs. Baylor or Texas tech. Not to mention, Oklahoma’s record against all of their former Big 8 foes except for the University of Nebraska.
And yes, we do need to subsidize poor Mickey travel and dillute the experience of all fans. Besides the fact that we don’t get a national champ, we also get to watch a bunch of mediocre 6-6 and 7-5 teams from the so called power conferences play in bowls.
32 team play off. First 16 games first 2 weeks of December. 8 Game semi’s 3rd wk of December. quater finals on Jan1 in the tradtional bowls. Semi’s a week later. Final mid december. No more lousy .500 teams in bowls.
Mickey,
I appreciate your opinion and just want to add my thoughts on why this is an example on why we need a playoff system. First off Mickey, you can’t have it both ways. You say in the first part of your email that you save all your extra money to be a UT season ticket holder & go to their bowl game every year. Clearly you are a die hard fan of UT & I can appreciate that. Don’t you want them to prove on the field that they deserve their ranking? However later in the same email you say “In the whole scheme of things, it is just a football game”. Well then my response to you is – you are correct, for the cause of actually finding out who is the number one Division I football team on the field of play you may have to miss a game or two for the sake of your finances. After all “In the whole scheme of things, it is just a football game”.
Would also like to hear Mickey’s thoughts on attending the Fiesta Bowl last year to play 2-loss Ohio State rather than going to Miami to see Texas play for a shot at the National Title against UF? I wonder if he enjoyed watching a team UT beat during the “most important regular season of any sport” Oklahoma choke for the 5th straight time in a BCS game. Did you enjoy that Mickey??
This is really stupid for all the reasons mentioned. Bowl games are just cash cows for the BCS. Turn the playoff system into a home/away system just like in the NFL and make one championship game at a neutral venue.
I am not nearly as interested in proving something on the field as I am in keeping the revenue and media advantage for UT.
The minor conferences are just that and I can in no way approve of any form of revenue sharing such as a limited play-off.
If TCU wants to make more money, let them double the size of their stadium. It will not happen because they cannot sell out their 45,000 seats more than once a year. Same for all the other minor colleges.
I’ll bet “Mickey” doesn’t tip when he goes out to eat, either. Does he honestly believe that any school will have a hard time selling out a playoff game?
Ever consider what a playoff would do to the BCS profiteers’ checkbooks?
Yup…that’s exactly why they won’t institute a playoff system. What a crock.
Look at the teams who lose out this year because of the bias of the BCS. The system is broken and it needs fixed. Oops, I mean it needs to be trashed. A playoff system is the way to go, whether it involves 32 teams or even 16. All it takes is a little imagination from the members of the BCS, but I suppose that’s asking too much.
The changes that would need to be made are few…some of the conferences already have championship games. At the very bear minimum the winners from the championship games from all eligible conferences should be pitted against each other in a playoff.
Every year that passes I get less excited about bowl games. I’ll watch WVU play and then that’s it. No more bowl games….I’d rather watch re-runs of Gilligan’s Island.
You are not allowing the fans to debate. Your site only lists your side of the debate. If this was a serious debate you’d present other points of biew.
Oh, and how is this year working out for you…5 unbeaten teams.
There is no way this blog entry by “Mickey” is a serious complaint. Really…seriously…are we supposed to believe that the people running the BCS CARE about the expense of the fans? REALLY?
Besides that, this article is just ridiculous. I guess Mickey forgot that half of his regular season games are away games that he must pay for to travel to…assuming he lives with a man that puts a gun to his head forcing him to travel to every single away game. Why is it that my local NFL team doesn’t break my pockets during playoff time? OH YEAH, BECAUSE I DON’T TRAVEL TO EVERY AWAY GAME. AND THEY USUALLY GET ELIMINATED BEFORE THE END.
This is the dumbest reason not to have a playoff I’ve ever read…but then again, this was the first article I read on this site.
I find this website to be unbelievable. I don’t understand how anyone can defend the BCS. College football is now unwatchable. Congratulations.
“A playoff would become a rich elitist event just like the Super Bowl, the World Series, All Star games, and the NCAA final 4. ”
Sounds like this guy just has class envy. Guess what? The BCS National Championship tickets are way too expensive for the man on the street, too.
An 8 or 4 team playoff would in fact allow MORE fans to attend post season games, as there would be MORE games.
The BCS is the biggest joke in sports. How can anyone defend it?
Ok, this website is the funniest thing I’ve seen in weeks. I’m an avid college football fan (1 kid at UT and 1 at FSU) and a resident of Ft Worth so at least casual fan of TCU. There is no way to justify the gerrymandered pairing of TCU and Boise State other than the separate and not equal BCS system. Even if we agree that Cincy jumped TCU by virtue of their shaky win over Pitt, why wouldn’t the BCS system try and get the best game and therefore match #3 Cincy vs #4 TCU? Or TCU vs U of F. Nope. It’s about the money guys. If I was the Fiesta Bowl I would be angry because you’ve relegated the 2 non-BCS teams with the smallest fan bases to the same ghetto bowl. Good luck with that. Here’s hoping for BCS chaos over the holidays. Oh, and Hook ‘em!
The BS on this site is an insult to the intelligence of the entire college football community.
So, you’re simultaneously arguing that switching to playoffs would generate less revenue, and yet it would also cost too much for fans. Hahahaha.
As with almost all of these ridiculous pro-BCS arguments they are instantly invalidated by just looking at the annual playoffs held in D1AA/FCS, D2, D3, and Canadian college football. Those fans managed to attend their team’s just fine.
[...] Just some nonsense about retired folk who can’t afford playoff tickets. Don’t you see? They’re doing it for you, Mr. Blue Collar Worker! Rich people are so generous, not making you spend your money like [...]
I laugh so much from the BS on this site. Mickey, I feel sorry for you that you can’t afford 3 more football games and all that but you are a complete idiot for thinking the BCS works. Im surprised you are a Texas fan because texas fans should be hating the BCS the most. Some magical being out there is definitely forcing you to go to every single texas game. Yeah of course you loved watching texas beat a 2-loss ohio state team and then see florida beat oklahoma when texas in fact did beat oklahoma. If you are really a true fan, you would want texas to win no matter what…. but wait, i dont want them to win the national championship because i dont have enough money to go to the games!
So they just jack up the cost of the Bowl games to make this whole post irrelevant. Keep the playoffs on campus and the travel issue for many fans becomes a non-issue. In a 16 team format, the 16v1 probably won’t be as in demand as the 3rd round game. They could even follow the NFL’s format where the team earning home-field advantage (there goes your regular season argument) only has to play 3 additional games.
welcome to the real world; if you can’t afford some thing, then you can’t get it.
So creating a playoff system…. which ends in a Champion for each conference…..doesn’t provide added revenue for the schools, community, and most of all….your TV partners? Let’s be frank, there is a reason why a website such as playoffproblem is created; It’s to have a way for the BCS to say that they’ve offered a kind ear to all who want to speak.
Save your pathetic attempt at being fair; because pinning TCU and Boise State against each other, keeps the Non AQ teams at bay…..and allows your precious few to continue sandbagging.
It’s a matter of time before a playoff system is in place….and hopefully there’s not a seat at the table for you, BCS. Take the “C” out of your acronym, because you’re not crowning a true champion. Go Utes.
Fans for college basketball go through the same thing…. Is the March Madness tourney profitable? I don’t know…. (Just watched by everyone in the world and the arenas still fill up (whether you are a fan of the team or not) This is like going to the olympics. I live in Utah and when the games were in SLC I still went to events where the US had no chance of winning. I went to hockey games where the teams had no possible way of even winning a medal. I still went and it was still enjoyable.
A playoff system would be a huge money-maker for everyone except those crooked BCS promoters.
Just more poor excuses….
One queston. Why does it work for EVERY other sport?
To quote this post, “In the whole scheme of things, it is just a football game,”
If you can’t afford to go to the game, it’s no big deal you can watch it on TV.
Either way this letter does sound kind of made up by the ad campaign folk, if not it’s definately hand selected
I do like the fact the BCS continues to cram this down our throats. This isn’t the 1700’s where only a select few make it to an early high school education. In today’s society, we are actually intelligent enough to make our own decisions (save the BCS designers….I question their intelligence). We don’t need this “modern day BCS electoral college” to tell us who deserves to be called a champion.
As far as how a playoff would work, sixteen teams. All eleven conference champs get an automatic berth plus five at-large bids. That’s four extra games. That brings the total to sixteen, maybe seventeen. So for a twelve-team conference, drop an OOC game to bring it back to sixteen. The BCS cries that’s too long of a season for college. High school football seasons can go up to fourteen to sixteen games depending on the state. The NFL (including preseason and a run to the Super Bowl without a bye) goes twenty-four games. Besides, FCS, D II, D III, NAIA all manage to do that with fifteen or sixteen games in the season. It would be no different at the top level.
With the set-up, the first three rounds would be a home-away game so Average Joe Fandom can pay maybe a small increase (GVSU had no playoff price increase at the D II level where I’m at here) if at all. So with wins all the way, he would shell out the same amount as he did for a regular home game. That would probably still be quite a bit cheaper than saving all year for a major trip to a bowl game. Plus, the school would have earned much more money for their schools playing more games than just a single big game.
I guess it’s just fun to watch the BCS officials and their PR firms try to bolster their side of the argument by proving that other side is far more efficient, economical, and just outright better in every way.
As a woman who watches college football. I can honestly say that this is a bunch of bull. Not only can the BCS not explain why they are good for college football, they seem to insult the intelligence of its fans by thinking we honestly can’t figure out their system is corrupt and unfair. If basketball can have a playoff and not only be HIGHLY profitable for the schools and conferences (and the NCAA as a whole) then I’m sure the exact same [system can and will work for football. This website is making it seem as if a playoff is the worst thing that could happen to a fan. When in fact, it’s the best thing. What fan wouldn’t love to have a few extra home games during the season. Even if it’s not home games, your team is still playing–so who cares?
And for the record, if a team had to, they could play one day and turn around and play again in a day or two. If they want to make it to the end, then they do it because they have to. No one is forcing you to go to every game. If you don’t have the money, then common sense says don’t do it! Why spend money you know you don’t have? You can be a fan and watch the game at home–I do it all the time. Mickey’s (if that’s even a real person) letter is so flawed in it’s thinking, that only one person here agrees with Mickey (it’s Mike). And even he couldn’t articulate his reasons for wanting to keep the BCS. As far as keeping people in their place–that’s just dumb as hell. Especially when you have teams like Appalachian State who could contend with Texas, Boise and Cincy because they are just as good if not better.
Talk is cheap. Take it to the field to see who the true football champion is.
Mickey, another aspect of this debate is how the BCS rules affect the regular season. Right now most BCS schools are afraid to play quality nonconference opponents – like Utah, Boise St, TCU, etc. I loved the Texas vs Ohio St matchups. I wish Texas could like more games like that in the future. Currently a game like that knocks ends the season for one of those teams. Thus they don’t try to schedule it. They especially don’t want to schedule a non BCS quality team. Instead Texas nonconf schedule include LA-Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP, & UCF. Alabama played Chattanooga. With playoffs Texas could routinely play Alabama in the first game of the season. I would love to see that game. Under the current structure that is unlikely to happen.
Ummm Mickey… news flash… if you cant afford it, dont go and watch it on tv like 29 million other viewers.
Obviously arguing that you have to save up all year to go to a bowl is not a good arguement that its ‘cheap’ with the current system. I seem to remember going to the rose bowl a few years back and it costing me $400 per ticket face value. Not to mention I had to buy two tickets, plane tickets, hotels, car etc.
Now that I think about it, I cant believe I am even wasting my energy on this substandard argument. Its so obvious a playoff is needed. I assume playoffproblem.com just put this on their site in order to ‘pretend’ like they care about the voice of the customer / nation.
This is absolutely absurd. There is no valid argument that the BCS can make that will lend any credibility to the current system. In their away of thinking you have already an elitist system by telling schools like TCU, Utah, Cincinnati, and Boise State that no matter what you do you are not good enough to play in the BCS title game. This system completely robs these kids from proving their worth on the field. This is what every athlete wants. One shot to line up and prove they are better than the other team. However the powers that be in the BCS have spit in these kid’s faces and told them they are not good enough under any circumstances and are fighting tooth and nail to keep it that way.
I played college football at the Division II level, I know first hand that a playoff system works. I saw stands filled to capacity with people camped out for days regardless if we were home or away. Through cost analysis and profit projections the only one’s that would suffer are the promoters of the bowl games not the schools involved. It’s very simple win your conference and you are in. Five teams able to receive at large bids and those should be open to all Conferences as well. Now you don’t have to worry about choosing based on who’s fans will travel to what venue. Line them up and let them play and may the best team win. I went to Grad School at UT I’ve seen both sides of the coin. The BCS is unfair and in my opinion corrupt on so many different levels. Hook ‘Em Horns!
Just curious… did “everyday fan” Mickey donate $1500 or more to UT this year? If not, he has “no shot” at title game tickets. (See http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/2009/12/11/1211tickets.html)
The difference here is, Mickey is a true college fan of his team. He is committed to that team, regardless of their rankings. He does what he can to support his team. To expand the season to a playoff would put that full support commitment out of financial reach. Ditto could be said for most students. College football should about them, and the players and staff, and alumni, above the interests of casual fans, gamblers, and media pundits who like things put in a few nice, neat packages to take shots at (and ignore the rest).
Many of those who argue with him are more the channel flipping types, who care less about college football or any particular team, and more about their own entertainment. Something to pass the time until wrestling or something else comes on, while they are waiting for the NFL to come around on Sunday.
realbbbb: sorry, but anyone who thinks an entrenched playoff system would try to keep ticket prices to (already high) regular season prices is lying to themselves.
Richard: you played at what Division II school where they camped out in what weather for days to get tickets? Tickets that cost how much? That stadium was filled to what capacity?
Steve: a playoff wouldn’t change the scheduling problem; they would still worry about getting knocked out of an at-large berth.
Nuss, Ed: a playoff might enhance the college football for you, perhaps. Not necessarily for others- others with probably more of a (non-financial) stake in it than you do.
Honestly Richard, wouldn’t you have treasured the experience in playing in a bowl game, even if your season hadn’t been perfect?
Jeff: if we are really intelligent enough to make our own decisions, we don’t need a playoff to tell us who the best team is either.
I challenge the notion that determining the national champion is the raison d’etre of the sport. The NFL already does that.
(BTW Ed: no more 7-5 teams? Tell that to the Arizona Cardinals who went 9-7, which is worse, and almost won the Super Bowl. So a playoff system is superior, huh?)