A More Perfect College Football Union

Though I am usually a political-historian, college football is on my mind. Every time a BYU or a Boise State beats a BCS conference team, it's another indictment against the travesty of the BCS system. How can a country as great as the United States countenance such an unjust arrangement? The current regime in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, or what we sometimes think of as Division I-A football) is anti-choice, tyrannical, and a stain upon the virtues of competition and merit for which sports stand.

I got to thinking, what would our founding fathers say about state of affairs?

Jefferson would have certainly pointed out the self-evidence that all teams are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are the pursuit of a championship.

Thomas Paine, whose Common Sense was instrumental in enlightening the American public as to the abuses of the British government, could make similar points against the FBS:

The prejudice of the major conferences, in favor of their own government by BCS conference commissioners and television executives, arises as much or more from national pride than reason.

Four score and seven years after our nation's founding, Abraham Lincoln revived the ideas of liberty so eloquently that the entire system of slavery was dismantled. His wisdom is needed in these dire times; Lincoln would have recognized a house divided in our day. He might point out that compromises intent on indefinitely postponing a crisis only ensured that it came, at a great cost.

The current system, whereby an aristocracy of football elites chooses representatives from among its own ranks, is fraught with inequity. The plebeians clamor for a more just arrangement, while the power brokers and plutocrats ignore them with impunity. But, as Jefferson wrote, "it is the right of the people to alter" such arrangements.

The established powers protect their own interests at the expense of the weak, and continue to reign only because the people haven't realized their own power. It is despotism of the wickedest kind.

Among the most passionate opponents of the tyrannical system are the fans of schools from the non-BCS conferences, whose schools have virtually no chance of vying for the title. Schools from conferences like the Mountain West, Mid-American, Conference USA, and Western Athletic Conference (Mid-majors) have heretofore assumed the role of loyal opposition-playing by the rules in return for the slimmest of chances to spend but a fleeting moment in the spotlight in and reap in huge rewards. Meanwhile, year after year, the BCS conferences get richer and more entrenched in their power.

Lincoln would definitely agree: a house divided against itself cannot stand. NCAA football cannot endure permanently half free to compete for the championship, and half denied that opportunity.

What did Jefferson, Paine, and other influential thinkers all agree was the solution? That the Mid-majors dissolve the bands which have connected them to the despots. To declare their Independence.

The larger, richer BCS conferences, of which there are six, can safely ignore the Mid-majors under the status quo. The current power structure heavily favors the larger conferences, but rests purely on the "consent of the governed."

The way forward for the non-BCS conferences is to stage an open rebellion, whereby they format their own playoff system. They could call it the "Football Playoff Series" (FPS) and, starting from scratch, would be free to design the optimum scheme. It should have in mind three goals: to provide a more exciting postseason for college football fans, to earn its participants' more money than they currently get, and to force the BCS to reform.

According to the rules of the new FPS, all participating schools would agree to boycott BCS bowl games, even if invited. They would then stage their own 16-team playoff, to be scheduled against BCS game time slots. Let the viewing public cast their votes for which they'd prefer to see.

Under fair rules, even the lowliest conference would send a representative to the tournament, providing possibilities of Cinderella stories and thrilling moments. It would be the truest of meritocracies. Much like the NCAA basketball tournament, the ultimate winner would usually be one of the grittiest, toughest, most battle-tested teams, even if an underdog. Thus, the FPS would crown its own (dare I say, more "legitimate"?) champion-casting doubt on the superiority of the BCS winner.

With 15 games to be played (beginning before Christmas and ending sometime in mid-January,) the FPS would clearly increase revenue over the paltry sums they get now. With a hiatus in college football, viewers would abound during the first weeks, especially given the opportunities to see exciting teams and upset possibilities.

By the time the field was narrowed to four teams, television audiences would rival at least non-BCS bowls. And if these conference commissioners don't think a true championship game would attract as big an audience as a non-championship Sugar Bowl or Fiesta Bowl-which is as far as mid-majors would ever get anyway-then they have no place in the echelons of enlightened thinkers.

A real football playoff would certainly bring NFL scouts to the stands, which in turn would attract more blue chip recruits to the FPS schools, and college football would once again become a land of opportunity.

Though it may take a couple of years, it would eventually become evident that there is more money and fan support in the FPS, at which point the scenarios all play in the FPS' favor.

One possibility is that the BCS ignores the upstart which would only leave the FPS conferences in a better state than before. Either way, the FPS is making more money, attracting better athletes, and rewarding a more loyal fan base.

Or, the BCS sees the new champion as a threat to its own legitimacy and proposes an ultimate bowl game featuring the BCS champ and the FPS champ, similar to the way the NFL and AFL agreed on a championship in 1967. You want to talk about ratings? The first Superbowl had nothing on this. Most likely, the BCS would amend their own system to be more equitable and some sort of merger would result.

BCS Commissioners, like feudal lords, are not going to grant their serfs their freedom. It's time the non-BCS commissioners declared their grievances to a respectful public, and form a more perfect union for their teams and fans. We need a playoff of the fans, by the fans, and for the fans that will not perish form the earth.