Bail Out for the Bowls?
There may be a need for one more of those wonderful, outrageous bail outs we have now grown accustomed to. In case anyone has failed to notice, each bailed-out entity has expanded its size before letting anyone know how serious their problems were. In essence they became “too big to be allowed to fail.” General Motors was working hard to acquire Chrysler for that very purpose. We know now the college football bowl games are following the same outrageous method. The number of bowl games has been expanded to the point that there are now more Division 1 teams playing in bowl games than those teams sitting at home watching. Why the big increase? Because if the bowl system is replaced with an actual playoff system, the argument can be made that there will be some teams left out of the mix – and we wouldn’t want that to happen. The latest BCS calamity occurred this evening – Utah dominated the mighty Alabama team to become the only undefeated team in the country. The Utes have a legitimate claim on the #1 ranking but will not get the chance to either play for the championship or to be recognized for their achievement because the BCS has a vital interest in declaring either Florida or Oklahoma the championship. The “bail out” the bowls need is not monetary (thank God for small favors). They are going to need a credibility bail out because once again the BCS (and the bowl system) has failed to give football fans a true champion!