As wacky and wild as the college football season has been to date, it only seems right that two non-traditional powers - Missouri and West Virginia - are poised to play in the BCS championship game. Aside from the inevitable debate about whether they are rightfully ranked 1 & 2,* now we have the worrying that a UM/WVU clash won't be good for business:
If Missouri and West Virginia advance to the Bowl Championship Series title game Jan. 7, the matchup clearly would lack the luster of recent showdowns between traditional powers Southern California-Texas and Florida-Ohio State.This seems to happen every season in the pro sports - pundits worry that the entire sports/industrial complex will collapse if Milwaukee faces Kansas City in the World Series instead of the Yankees and the Angels. While I can understand the financial concerns, isn't is a self-defeating prophecy to say "oh, nobody will watch these small market teams" and then afterwards point to depressed ratings as proof?* * *
Still the name-recognition question persists. Last Saturday's showdown between then-unbeaten Kansas and one-loss Missouri drew a decent 7 overnight rating on ABC, but that was down 27% from that time slot last year for teams with one loss each.
Of course, they were USC and Notre Dame.
Besides, crowning champions isn't about economics, it's about rewarding excellence. That's the theory, at least. Lords know, the BCS is hardly a prime example of that principle.
* Honestly, I think they are, even though I'm a WVU alum and somewhat biased. I can't say that we have any greater claim to a spot in the championship game than any of the other 1-loss teams, but I can't see that the other teams have any stronger claims, either.
2 comments:
Yet one more reason why I tell the people who whine for a playoff system that the Bowls are about the money ... end of story. If someone happens to be named a Champion of something it is purely a by-product of the process.
I think the powers that be don't want a proper playoff system because they can't have as much influence on the outcome as they do with the bowl system. I guess they think March Madness is a money loser. HA.
I wonder if last year's USC v. ND game had Auburn v. Alabama on the other channel like KS and Mizzou did? We watched the Av.A game because almost no one beats the sheer spectacle of a Razorbacks crowd.
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