The Enid News and Eagle
December 06, 2005 12:52 am
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By Mark Rountree
Commentary
Notre Dame is credited with 11 national football titles.
But the Irish actually never have won a national championship, and neither has Oklahoma, Southern California, Miami or Nebraska.
Sure, those schools have shiny trophies in their athletic office showrooms, but those teams didn't win the title. They were awarded one.
Press and coaches polls have been used to determine champions, and since 1998, the Bowl Championship Series poll has told us who is the best.
But championships aren't bonafide unless they are contested on the field in a bracketed playoff system.
The BCS would be more meaningful if it chose the top eight teams and paired them in a single-elimination tournament, allowing for a playoff system to determine the best two teams.
If Oklahoma high schools used a BCS-like format to determine its championship game, no voter in his right mind would have put any teams other than Tulsa Union and Jenks in the Class 6A championship game. But that would have prevented an upstart like Sapulpa beating Jenks in the first round.
Teams should have to win on the field to get in the championship game. But look hard enough, and you can find a computer wizard keen enough to conjure up statistics to prove a four-loss team like Florida State should play in this year's Rose Bowl.
A congressional panel has been seated to study the situation and tell us what we already know -- that a playoff system is the only way to identify a true champion.
The BCS is better than the old system, which was even more arbitrary and subjective, but the current system is like milk that has been in the refrigerator too long.
It's sour, and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Rountree is News -- Eagle sports editor.
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Mark Rountree / commentary