In Can Only Get Better

Last night, with Notre Dame trailing 28-0 at halftime of the BCS National Championship game, I flipped over to the Knicks versus Celtics game on MSG and never flipped back.  Granted, I'm a big Knicks fan and try to watch as many games as I can - especially big Eastern Conference matchups against rivals like Boston - but the fact that I completely lost interest in the second half of what should have been the most exciting game of the college football season says a lot more about the current NCAA postseason system than it does about my growing obsession with New York basketball.  Without a doubt, last night's championship game was a total embarassment for the NCAA, for ESPN and for the schools involved.

Most people seem to be placing the blame on Notre Dame for its admittedly pathetic showing against a vastly superior Alabama team.  I, however, refuse to blame the Fighting Irish.  Sure, they could have played a lot better, and their much-talked-about defense - which was compared constantly to Alabama's during the weeks leading up to last night's game - didn't come close to living up to its reputation.  The blame, however, lies with the BCS system that allowed a Notre Dame vs. Alabama national championship game in the first place.  Clearly, hindsight is 20/20, and it's now easy to say that Notre Dame wasn't the second best team in the country this year despite its previously unblemished record.  But the fact that Notre Dame never really had to be tested on its road to Miami (minus a home game versus Stanford where the outcome was very much in question) is just another glaring failure of the pre-playoff BCS system.

It's not just the National Championship where the NCAA and the BCS failed college football fans, however.  Take a look at the other BCS games this season, and you'll see a recurring pattern.  The Stanford victory over Wisconsin was at least close, even though anyone who watched the game will tell you that the Cardinal manhandled the Badgers - and the 3-0 second half lacked the big moments you hope for from the Rose Bowl. For some reason the BCS felt compelled to get a non-BCS conference school into a BCS game again - even though there wasn't a Boise State-type of mid-major team this year - and as a result Northern Illinois got smacked by Florida State in the Orange Bowl.  The Fiesta Bowl between Oregon and Kansas State wasn't much better, as a Wildcats team that slowed down the stretch ran into the buzzsaw that is Oregon's offense.  The Sugar Bowl was admittedly somewhat exciting, with underdog Louisville topping SEC powerhouse Florida, but even that game wasn't as close as the 33-23 final score suggests.

If there was a playoff this season, all of these games could have been first round matchups.  Rather than ending the season on the uninspired note that was last night's 42-12 Alabama win, we could have been headed for a semifinal round featuring some combination of Florida State, Stanford, Oregon, Alabama and Louisville (maybe).  While the BCS's inadequacies have been much talked about, this season's BCS bowl season was perhaps the best illustration of the system's many weaknesses.  When the NCAA moves to a playoff system in two years, fans and analysts will undoubtedly start complaining about the new system's shortcomings - just like people complain when the March Madness brackets emerge each Selection Sunday.  While airing these future complaints, though, don't lose sight of how bad this year's BCS bowls were.  Going forward, it can only get better.