A Scenario to Fix the Ghastly BCS System 

It has been evident since the implementation of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS)in division one college football is that it does not truly decide the national champion at the end of the year, much less the two best teams in the nation who should play in the deciding game. Opponents of the BCS system are far more numerous than proponents, with yours truly fitting in with the opponents. Even President-elect Barack Obama has spoken out against the BCS and like many opponents, has proposed a play-off system. Personally, I am in favor of a playoff system or even going back to the old system where the human voters decide who is to play for the national championship. 

As is obvious, the human component is more art than science, while the current BCS system is based upon science. A playoff system on the other hand is a mix of art and science and in all likely hood may very well be the best solution for all involved. If you think about it, who would you rather have deciding who plays in the national championship game, a human or a computer? 

Below I present a this hybrid system, which I believe would satisfy opponents and proponents alike. We can still use the BCS set up, the computers, and human voters to decide a national champion. However, the plan is to use these components in a playoff setup. 

The Setup 
To begin, I will use the current BCS standings in this example. The top 14 teams in the BCS standings will be ushered into the playoff set up.  

The teams included would be: 
1. Alabama 11-0
2. Texas 10-1 
3. Oklahoma 10-1
4. Florida 10-1 
5. USC 9-1 
6. Utah 12-0 
7. Texas Tech 10-1 
8. Penn State 11-1 
9. Boise State 11-0 
10. Ohio State 10-2 
11. Georgia 9-2 
12. Oklahoma State 9-2 
13. Missouri 9-2
14. TCU 10-2

The bracket for the round would look as follows (with the hypothetic winner in parentheses, i.e. the top seed for simplicity’s sake): 
1. Alabama vs. 14. TCU (Alabama) 
2. Texas vs. 13. Missouri (Texas) 
3. Oklahoma vs. 12. Oklahoma State (Oklahoma) 
4. Florida vs. 11. Georgia (Florida)  
5. USC vs. 10. Ohio State (USC)
6. Utah vs. 9. Boise State (Utah) 
7. Texas Tech vs. 8. Penn State (Texas Tech)  

The second round (top remaining seed gets a bye): 
2. Texas vs. 7. Texas Tech (Texas)  
3. Oklahoma vs. 6. Utah (Oklahoma) 
4. Florida vs. 5. USC (Florida) 

The third round: 
1. Alabama vs. 4. Florida (Alabama)
2. Texas vs. 3. Oklahoma (Texas) 

The national championship game:
1. Alabama vs. 2. Texas (Alabama) 

Personally, I believe that it is simple as that. Granted, modifications could be made, i.e. a bye in the first round or even an NCAA basketball like set up. In this case everyone wins, as there are more game and more money to be had by all involved. This may extend the season a bit into mid January, but it appears to be a fair system