2008 Woodie Awards
Parity Enhances Purity of Game
Greg Jeffers
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Sports
Last weekend's upset victory by Stanford over USC is just the latest chapter in what is shaping up as college football's most exciting season ever.
The Trojans were bound to eventually lose after starting the year with a series of unimpressive wins. The squad has been both over-injured and over-hyped, yet they carried themselves as an "unbeatable" football team. That is a certain recipe for disaster in college football.
Despite the injuries, there is no excuse for losing to a 40-point underdog at home; and it probably won't be USC's only loss by the time the season ends. They have to play both Cal and Oregon on the road, and when the season is over the Trojans will most likely be on the outside looking in at the top 10 teams in the nation.
But who really knows what the top 10 rankings will look like come season's end? The parity in college football today is incredible.
This past weekend, four top 10 teams lost; and the week before that, 5 went down in a tremendously exciting ball of flames.
Traditional powerhouse Michigan has been busy trying to salvage their season after starting with a loss to Appalachian State and an 0-2 record; while Notre Dame finally put a "W" in the victory column this week against an inept UCLA led by a soon-to-be-unemployed Karl Dorrell.
The season has been great for teams who rarely get national recognition, but have plenty of skilled athletes to compete with the "big boys."
At this point, the Associated Press top 10 includes Boston College, South Carolina and some school from Florida not named Miami, Florida or Florida State. Amazingly, the University of South Florida Bulls hold the unofficial title as the best college football team in Florida.
There are those who claim that parity in college football screams for a playoff system.
They couldn't be more wrong. With the current bowl system, the entire season is a playoff. Every game matters- lose one, and there is a decent chance your hope for a national title is over. It makes every game, even a game against a 40-point underdog, mean something.
The level of excitement surrounding college football, week in and week out, would sadly be lost if a playoff system were put in place. Corporate demands and monetary concerns would slowly, but inevitably, replace hallowed traditions and "gut-check Saturdays."
The current BCS system does a decent job of matching up the two best teams at the end of the season to play for the title. It isn't perfect, but it gives those who can't get through life without being told who is the rightful champion a reason to go on living.
It also gives those of us who enjoy college football, regardless of who is "Number One", a reason to wake up and smile on Saturday mornings.
The Trojans were bound to eventually lose after starting the year with a series of unimpressive wins. The squad has been both over-injured and over-hyped, yet they carried themselves as an "unbeatable" football team. That is a certain recipe for disaster in college football.
Despite the injuries, there is no excuse for losing to a 40-point underdog at home; and it probably won't be USC's only loss by the time the season ends. They have to play both Cal and Oregon on the road, and when the season is over the Trojans will most likely be on the outside looking in at the top 10 teams in the nation.
But who really knows what the top 10 rankings will look like come season's end? The parity in college football today is incredible.
This past weekend, four top 10 teams lost; and the week before that, 5 went down in a tremendously exciting ball of flames.
Traditional powerhouse Michigan has been busy trying to salvage their season after starting with a loss to Appalachian State and an 0-2 record; while Notre Dame finally put a "W" in the victory column this week against an inept UCLA led by a soon-to-be-unemployed Karl Dorrell.
The season has been great for teams who rarely get national recognition, but have plenty of skilled athletes to compete with the "big boys."
At this point, the Associated Press top 10 includes Boston College, South Carolina and some school from Florida not named Miami, Florida or Florida State. Amazingly, the University of South Florida Bulls hold the unofficial title as the best college football team in Florida.
There are those who claim that parity in college football screams for a playoff system.
They couldn't be more wrong. With the current bowl system, the entire season is a playoff. Every game matters- lose one, and there is a decent chance your hope for a national title is over. It makes every game, even a game against a 40-point underdog, mean something.
The level of excitement surrounding college football, week in and week out, would sadly be lost if a playoff system were put in place. Corporate demands and monetary concerns would slowly, but inevitably, replace hallowed traditions and "gut-check Saturdays."
The current BCS system does a decent job of matching up the two best teams at the end of the season to play for the title. It isn't perfect, but it gives those who can't get through life without being told who is the rightful champion a reason to go on living.
It also gives those of us who enjoy college football, regardless of who is "Number One", a reason to wake up and smile on Saturday mornings.
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