Schieffer: Nix Deciding Bowl Games by Computer

After this big weekend of football, we'll all go vote Tuesday.

And aren't you glad that even though our system isn't perfect, we still finish our elections the right way - we vote!

Too bad we can't figure out the right way to pick a national champion in college football!

Instead of a playoff to determine the national championship, which is how the other sports do it, college football has something called the BCS - the Bowl Championship Series - a mysterious organization that feeds statistics and other mumbo jumbo into computers to determine who plays for the national championship.

What the BCS really is of course is all about money.

It's controlled by the big schools who want ONLY the big schools in the bowl games, because they believe they'll get the biggest TV ratings.

You are asking now: Why is he off on this rant?

Well it's very simple. I went to TCU, a smaller school with a very good team this year, and we want to play the big guys.

But even if we go undefeated, we may not get that chance - the computers will decide our fate.

If we did our politics like that, computers would decide who wins our elections - maybe based on the strength of their opponents, or positions, and maybe there would be style points for the best yard signs.

But we don't do it that way (thank goodness), so I pass on the advice from my mother that I always pass on before elections: Go vote, it makes you feel big and strong.

. . . And if you can figure out a way, vote against the BCS!

[nolarw]

Interesting to watch week after week when the #1 or #2 teams lose, TCU and Boise State never take their place. You are right that its all about money just like everything else. Sad.

[brian_norwood]

"I went to TCU, a smaller school with a very good team this year, and we want to play the big guys."

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Well, if you want to play with the big guys, the TCU and Boise State should put some "big guys" on your schedules. Racking up points against creampuff schools week after week does not impress me.

[Henri_Rochard]

".... . . And if you can figure out a way, vote against the BCS..." Y'know, this isn't a bad idea. Just float all the ideas, i.e., 4-team playoff, 16-playoff, the 'old' way (multiple National champs), etc., and then come next National election day, we'll just all vote for the best way to select the National College Football Champ. Let the people decide, I say. After, we pay the taxes for the State schools, pay for our kids tuition, watch the games on TV, patronize the sponsors, etc., etc. Let US decide, not the NCAA elite. And I predict it'd be the best election turnout in DECADES.

[Jim_Straube]

If you are running against the BCS, I want to work on your campaign. Your commentary is usually more middle-of-the-road, employing a little used commodity known as common sense (more purple than either red or blue). Not that anyone in power would listen to common sense, especially where money is involved.

[DieBCSDie]

Keep fighting the good fight, Mr. Schieffer.

And anyone wanting more details on the corrupt sham that is the BCS, read "Death to the BCS" by Dan Wetzel. Here's hoping that the last three weeks of the college football season is one chaotic, upset-laden mess.