Book Review - Death to the BCS
Everyone has heard all of the arguments of why the Bowl Championship Series needs to die. It doesn't work, the wrong teams gets matched in the national title game, undefeated teams from smaller conferences are never given the chance, the coaches and Harris Polls are a joke, BCS computer rankings are worthless, and countless others, but the real reason why the BCS needs to die?
The current bowl system is corrupt.
The bowl system is corrupt? Really? Yes and this book explains why. Advertised payouts are a lie, bowl executives are extremely overpaid, the Harris and Coaches poll are both a joke and a mockery, and the NCAA is leaving $750 million on the table to continue with this lie that the BCS is the best system available.
This book touches on each of the points above and many more. The entire book is page after page of steel chairs to the head of the BCS. Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter, and Jeff Passan spent two years examing tax documents and contracts to detail how the entire bowl system is a disaster financially. Just 14 of 35 bowl games generate real profits for the schools involved.
Why do we not hear about schools losing money? Because conferences pool their money together and divide it out amongst the bowl teams. Florida received $17.5 for playing in the 2009 BCS Championship game, but came away with a profit of just $47,000.
Wetzel, Peter and Passan get right to the point with their new proposal in chapter one. It would be a 16 team playoff with all 11 conference winners getting automatic bids, the remaining 5 bids would consist of the best remaining teams. The top seeds would be given home games in the first three rounds with the championship game played on a neutral site. The home games for the higher seeds would ensure full stadiums
We won't go into great detail the rest of the book, you'll have to pick it up yourself at amazon or enter to win a copy here, but we believe this book will get the news out to everyone about the corruption involved with the BCS and the current college bowl system.
I got excited about the possibilities of college football when I read this book. A home games in the cold Iowa tundra would be fantastic, especially if they were hosting a warm weather team. Just imagine how much extra money the school and the community would make is amazing. It benefits the school and community that does well, not a host city off in florida.
Death to the BCS gives football fans, students, taxpayers, and government officials more valid reasons to get rid of the BCS system forever. That is what we need to get get rid of it. The book answers almost every question that needs answered to gain a playoff system in college football.
Questions we have about the new system that weren't addressed in the book.
1. What will happen to all the extra money?
The book goes into great deal about how corrupt the current system is, but what will happen when there is $750 million instead of $150 million? Will the corruption stop or will it get worse?
2. The home field advantage is great, but the NCAA has specifically geared itself away from home field advantage for the NCAA March Madness tournament. How will this go over with the other schools?
One answer we have for this question is, this just means the regular season is more important. If you don't want to play on the road win more games. Teams in the NFL don't complain about having to travel to an opposing stadium when they finished with a worse record than their opponent.
We're not saying there aren't good answers to these questions, there probably are, but there are a few more things that need to be hashed out before we can begin fighting this uphill battle.
This book is more than just a cure for the crappy BCS system that we have to deal with at the moment. It uncovers details about the BCS that most people don't even know about. This book is a must read for any football fan.