by Willie Parker

Created on: November 24, 2008

College Football is Flawed. Plain and simple. It is this way because it is a system that is run for money, at the exploitation of student-athletes in all 50 states of the US. These athletes don't even get paid for their own jersey sales! How much of a scam it that. Additionally, the BCS might as well be called the Big Crap System, because that is what it really is.

The BCS has too many rules, guaranteed bids, and long time ties to certain conferences and teams to provide a realistic system that suits the fans. I know many people would like to change the BCS into a playoff of either 4 or 8 teams. I think it is pretty much a widely accepted consensus that an 8 team playoff in college football would be far better than a 4 team playoff. There are many years where there are 6 or 7 great teams and maybe 1 of them is undefeated and 5 or 6 of them have only one loss. That will likely be the case this year, as we head into the bowl season.

With the talent distribution that there is in college football, it is very likely that a team like USC who is currently ranked #5, could compete for the national title. They should not be denied that right by the BCS, but they also shouldn't be denied the right by a hopefully new and improved system either. An 8 team playoff ensures that all the major good teams will get into the playoff as well as that wild card team that goes undefeated and plays in a no name conference. This will make everyone happy on all fronts, and it will also provide very many opportunities for sponsors to make a lot more money.

Face it, we live in America. And we care about MONEY. So the BCS is there because it makes more money. Well this new system would provide an additional 2 bowl games to the current system. The NCAA can surely find two more big sponsors for these big bowl games. That will be more money for the NCAA, the schools, the conferences involved, the host city, and more money for national broadcast companies. In our current economy, we might as well be making money on the things we love, and we certainly love our college football.

So to me, the 8 team playoff is a no brainer because it is very plainly just flat out common sense. However, common sense is something that is as rare in the NCAA as it is in Washington DC. However, maybe, just maybe if we pray, complain enough, and write enough articles on helium we can see some progress. Myself and Lou Holtz are both hoping for this.

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