TheAgitator.com
Welcome to the Department of Housing and Urban Development Bowl!
Sunday, January 31st, 2010So remember when, after the election but shortly before he took office, Obama said college football should go to a playoff system? Remember how Obama supporters said he was just stating an opinion, not indicating he’d actually have the federal government get involved?
Well, now he’s getting the federal government involved.
I wrote a piece for ESPN last year explaining why this is a bad idea.
Love that headline.
I’d rather have the federal government concern themselves with college football than health care. Unfortunately, they will probably manage to do both.
How about taking a pass on that and using the money and resources to review the legality of GITMO?
Or maybe using the Justice Department to investigate the rampant violation of constitution rights by local law enforcement. Heaven forbid we actually use this agency for it is meant for. Boise State must have some serious connections…
Several of the comments are depressing. I can’t believe so many have faith in the federal government.
Even ignoring the philosophical arguments for limited government, fed involvement in the BCS could not end well.
Is there nothig our dear leader can’t do?
As a college student, in student government, and very active on my campus I am completely in favor of breaking up the BCS, and only the Justice Department can do it.
The BCS system gives a select few people the right to determine which schools compete in the big bowl games. These games lead to huge additional sums of money for the schools in them via donations and ad revenue. This gives the BCS system the ability to choose which schools receive more funding for their programs. That isn’t right. A school trying to leave the BCS system will never have a chance to make up the loss in funding, so it wouldn’t be worth it to leave. You’d have to convince a ton of schools to leave, which they would never do.
Only the Justice Department can break up the BCS system, which needs to be done. Again, I am a college student who is affected by this problem.
As much as I’d love to see a college playoff system , I can’t condone the means .
@Michael: I can hope you’re being sarcastic. While, undoubtedly, getting to a bowl game does represent a massive cash boost to a school…there aren’t many situations where the BCS has been completely off-base with their picks. I remember in pre-BCS days when Notre Dame seemed to be all but guaranteed a bowl game by name alone, for example. And I’m not sure where this notion that the extra money means more for the schools comes from. I live in a state that has played in a bowl game every year for years and even gotten a national championship or two under their belt under the BCS. Tuition rates continue to increase, services offered by the college decrease…and the football program continues to get more and more money. It’s treated as a separate entity from the educational side of it. While good BCS rankings certainly help maintain national visibility for the school, I haven’t seen it translate into benefits for the average student.
And as much as I’d like to see a play-off system, as long as these players are potentially putting their financial futures on the line every single game I don’t think it’s worth it overall. Unless NCAA rules change to allow players to earn money while playing beyond any scholarship amounts (which I’m generally in favor of), we aren’t doing the student-players any favors by instituting rules that could potentially result in more chances for injury.