BCS fiasco limits chances

A new year is near, but nothing has changed.
The Bowl Championship Series has created another controversy in major college football.
Last year, questions swirled around the absence of Miami in the BCS championship game.
This year, the Hurricanes are deserving of a championship shot. As the only unbeaten Division I-A program, they have played their way into the game, to be held Jan. 3 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Not deserving: Their opponent, however, has not. When the BCS system finished calculating its final numbers, Nebraska was spit out as the second-best team and thrown opposite Miami for the title.
But how could the Cornhuskers be in this position after their embarrassing 62-36 loss to Colorado on Nov. 23? How could the Cornhuskers be in this position after failing to reach the Big 12 title game? They didn't even win their league yet are playing for the national title!
Baffling, isn't it?
The whole scenario was set up last Saturday night when LSU upset Tennessee, which ruined its own national title hopes, in the Southeastern Conference championship game. BCS officials knew the aftershock would be damaging to the system's reputation.
LSU couldn't have done anything better for college football, reinforcing the fact that Div. I-A needs a playoff system.
We hear it every year; 2001-02 is no different. Will the system change? Probably not anytime soon.
The motive: Bowl games not only reward college football teams for their play on the field -- supposedly -- but they also reward the schools financially. That will always take precedence over what makes sense for the good of the game.
It's even more frustrating when we recognize the rewards of a playoff system. There is no better example than Youngstown State in Div. I-AA and Mount Union in Div. III.
Every year, the Penguins and Purple Raiders set out with national championship hopes that are possible with each level's playoff system.
"Being in a playoff allows you to stand at the top and beat the rest," Youngstown State coach Jon Heacock said. "There's something to that."
The Penguins should know -- they won four national titles in the 1990s. Mount Union will attempt to win its sixth title in nine years when it faces Bridgewater (Va.) on Saturday in Salem, Va.
Despite an 8-3 record this season, Youngstown State did not qualify for the playoffs. The Penguins finished third in the Gateway Conference and deserved to stay home; that's exactly where Nebraska should be Jan. 3 after doing the same in the Big 12.
"Everybody talks about how long the season is [in a playoff format]," Heacock said. "But those guys [in Div. I-A] are practicing for bowl games anyhow."
Coach's experience: Heacock has been on both sides. As a graduate assistant at Michigan in 1988-89, the Beloit native felt the atmosphere at the Rose Bowl. No doubt, Heacock said, that was "an awesome experience."
Still, he favors the playoff system.
"When you get to the ultimate end, the team that's playing the best is going to win the championship," Heacock said. "That's what playoffs do."
The reality of any system is that a group of teams will be left out somewhere along the way. Usually, though, others are more deserving and still get that chance to prove themselves.
In Div. I-A, we can't say that. Instead, opportunity is extremely limited.
Happy New Year? Definitely. But it could be a whole lot better.
XBrian Richesson is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at richesson@vindy.com.