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 …Fix the regular season! There are, obviously, many inequalities in college football. In fact, it is a way of life now. But if there was an equality that we could fix, shouldn’t we fix it? Yes, we have a moral obligation to fix it.So here’s the problem: there are 6 BCS conferences. Of those 6 BCS conferences, half of those conferences (the SEC, Big-12, and ACC) have a conference championship game. That means that half of those teams have to run the risk of injuring one of their players during an extra game before the bowl game. That means half of the teams in BCS conferences have to play one of the best teams in the conference for the first (or second) time and run the risk of damaging their stock when it comes to bowl games. That is inequality at its finest! In my opinion, there are three options in order to fix this inequality: (1) Get rid of all BCS conference championship games, (2) Make all BCS conferences have a conference championship game, or (3) Make the conference championship games worth nothing and do not count them on the team’s records. Let’s look at the first option: rid college football of all conference championship games. This is a realistic option but would never happen. First of all, conference championship games bring in a lot of money for the respected conference. Sponsorships and advertising during on TV are as expensive as ever because of the guaranteed strong viewership. This would also get rid of the problem of the loser of the title game falling too far in the standing because they played another game. Recall last season when Missouri beat Kansas and won the Big 12 North but lost to Oklahoma in the conference championship game. Kansas, although the loser to Mizzou and having played one less game, went on to a BCS bowl game, while Mizzou played in the Cotton Bowl. Out of all the options, this is least likely to happen because of the sad fact that college football is a moneymaking business. The second option is to make all BCS conferences play a conference championship game. The three conferences that don’t, the PAC-10, the Big 10, and the Big East, could easily be split into two divisions and then could play a conference title game. The PAC-10 could be split into a North and South divisions. The North consisting of Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, and Cal. The South being Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona, and Arizona State. The Big 10 would have to gain another team because they have 11 teams in the conference. My choice would be Notre Dame because they are in aren’t in a conference and play a weak schedule year in and year out. They are also located in Big 10 country, the Midwest. However this is unlikely because, let’s face it, it’s Notre Dame. More likely would be the Big 10 accepting a MAC conference team into their ranks. Perhaps Ball State after their run at an undefeated season in the MAC? That way the Big 10 could be split into East and West divisions. The East division would be Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ball State, and Indiana. The West division would be Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Big East is only 8 teams but could still be split up into North and South divisions. The North being UConn, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. The South being South Florida, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Louisville. If the Big East wanted beef up their numbers, the two schools that are the most deserving are East Carolina (who would go to the South division) and Marshall (who would be added to the North division). The benefits of playing that extra game are more money for the two schools and the conference. Capitalism at its finest. Another benefit is that two good schools will get a chance to go head to head. This could let the teams gain respect on a national level, let them get a chance to solidify their right to be in a BCS bowl game, give the fans another amazing college football game to watch, and give teams a chance at redemption (USC fans, I know you want another shot at Oregon State.) The third option I suggested is the middle of the road to the first two extreme suggestions. That is, to scratch the conference championship from each team’s record. This has a number of problems, like teams resting their players during this game because it isn’t worth the risk of injury if it means nothing. It would hardly be competitive if it doesn’t mean anything except for bragging rights. However, it would even the playing field for all BCS schools and bring in those dolla dolla bills that we as a society love. At the end of the day, it isn’t fair that a team like USC doesn’t get another chance to win their conference (when they are obviously the superior team.) Or that a team like Texas Tech or Alabama has to play an extra game against a very good team and threaten their National Title aspirations. While a team like Penn State, Ohio State, USC, and Oregon State does not and is waiting on the outside of the carnage for a BCS bowl game. Those are the options to fix this system of inequality, you decide which one is best.
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