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Has there been a more heated topic of conversation in the college football universe recently than debates over the merits (or lack thereof) of the BCS system?
Let's face it, we all know it's about the money.
Why else would we have to suffer through Michigan vs. Va. Tech in the Sugar Bowl, while Boise State and Kansas State languished in the relative obscurity of lesser bowl games?
You thought, the same as everybody who is not a Wolverine or Hokie fan.
"What the heck just happened?"
Debates were long, intense and had no resolution, and that was just in the first five minutes after the BCS bowl match-ups leaked out on Twitter.
And the 2011 season was not the first time we had a debate of this magnitude.
In 2010, TCU finished undefeated, and wound up playing in the Rose Bowl, which they won, against a BCS opponent.
There were many who thought the Horned Frogs deserved a shot at the title, and so the debate raged loud and hard.
But it didn't matter, in the end, the BCS system denied them a chance at the title game, even after a perfect season.
This season, we had another great argument, pitting pretty much everyone from the South, and ESPN, against the rest of the nation.
Alabama lost to LSU in their regular season meeting, and hadn't won their conference, and yet we were going to get an "epic rematch" of that snooze-fest.
Sure, 'Bama got their revenge, but it still left us wondering who was the better team, really, and why we had wasted three hours of our lives watching that game.
As a matter of fact, the overnight television ratings for the game were the lowest in the history of the BCS title game.
This was later updated to third lowest.
The rivalry and heated rhetoric between BCS proponents and non-BCS proponents is as epic in it's vitriol as other famous rivalries: Yankees-Red Sox, Letterman-Leno, Rome-Barbarians, Rosie O'Donnell-Spoon.
So when word started to trickle down from places on high that a potential four-team playoff was in the works, it was surprising to learn that both sides had members that agreed on this issue.
But is this really the answer?
Will it resolve the issues and leave us thinking the powers that be finally did something right?
I think not.
You see, the argument over which teams should be in the title game seems to be an annual rite of passage.
There was the 2010 edition with TCU, 2009 was Cincinnati and TCU, as well as the 13-0 Boise State Broncos being shut out of the title game, and not even ranked top four at season's end.
In 2007, you had six two-loss teams vying for the final spot.
It's a constant, raging mass of disagreement, that will likely never be resolved. If the four-team playoff format is adopted, the debate will not lessen a bit.
As a matter of fact, it may intensify.
Take, for instance, that 2010 season.
If the top four teams, Auburn, Oregon, TCU and Stanford were to meet in the playoff, you better believe fans of Wisconsin and Ohio State, the next two teams in the BCS rankings, would be howling.
The two squads had identical records to Stanford, and played in a "tougher" conference that season.
In 2009, matters would have been even messier.
'Bama, Texas, Cincy and TCU were all undefeated, and your BCS top four.
Florida, at number five, wound up destroying the Bearcats in their bowl game, so we can guess that they were the better team.
The Gators would have a valid argument that their one loss in the SEC still gave them a better claim to the top four than either Cincy or TCU, both of whom played in "weak" conferences.
On top of all that, Boise State was sitting in the top ten at 13-0, as well.
So, to sum it all up, the answer is a resounding no.
A four-team playoff will not resolve the spirited arguments that take place regularly around the country in the second week of December.
It may seem a temporary band-aid for the mess that is the BCS system, but no matter how big the playoff, four teams or 64, the debate will rage.
Is this not something we have seen demonstrated by the NCAA basketball tournament?
I'm not saying something does not need to be done to tweak the system, we would all pretty much agree about that.
However, it's the very nature of sports that we disagree, and from there springs the root of every debate.
link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1177606-college-football-playoff-will-final-four-debate-be-as-heated-as-bcs-top-two?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=college-football