Flamparadiddle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2022
- Messages
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To the Commissioners and Board of Managers of the Power Conferences:
It is a rare feat in the world of professional administration to fail upward for a half-century, yet you have managed it with breathtaking consistency. For decades, the "big boys" of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) have treated the crowning of a national champion not as a sporting objective, but as a marketing exercise in brand protection.
The current state of your postseason is a monument to ineptitude. While you hide behind "selection committees," "strength of schedule" metrics that change by the week, and the "eye test"—a convenient euphemism for "we prefer the team with the more expensive logo"—your peers in the FCS have been providing a masterclass in common sense.
A Lesson from the "Lower" Subdivision
Since 1978, the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) has operated a transparent, merit-based playoff system. They didn't need decades of "Bowl Coalitions," "Alliances," or the computer-generated chaos of the BCS to figure it out. They simply recognized a fundamental truth of sports: Champions should be determined on the field, not in a hotel conference room.
* FCS: Provides clear pathways to the title. If you win, you move on.
* FBS: Operates like a private country club where "clout" and "brand heritage" serve as a shield against poor performance.
The Myth of Meritocracy
Your reliance on "clout" has turned the regular season into a theater of the absurd. We have seen undefeated teams from smaller conferences discarded because they aren't "profitable" enough for television partners. Conversely, we see "blue blood" programs propped up in the rankings despite multiple losses, protected by a circular logic that claims their losses aren't actually bad because they lost to other "clout-heavy" schools you’ve also over-ranked.
You have spent years hand-wringing over "protecting the regular season" and "preserving bowl tradition," while in reality, you were merely protecting a revenue model that prioritizes a handful of television markets over the integrity of the game.
The Result of Your "Drama"
While the 12-team expansion is a step away from the edge of the cliff, it remains stained by the same gatekeeping instincts that have plagued the sport since the era of "mythical" titles. The fact that the highest level of college football is the only sport in the NCAA that does not have an official, NCAA-sanctioned playoff tournament is an indictment of your leadership.
The "drama" you’ve cultivated isn't the excitement of competition; it is the frustration of watching a rigged system pretend to be a sport. It is time to stop acting as if crowning a champion is a complex atmospheric calculation.
If the "small schools" in the FCS could figure it out during the Carter administration, what exactly is your excuse?
Respectfully (but skeptically),
A Fan of Actual Competition
It is a rare feat in the world of professional administration to fail upward for a half-century, yet you have managed it with breathtaking consistency. For decades, the "big boys" of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) have treated the crowning of a national champion not as a sporting objective, but as a marketing exercise in brand protection.
The current state of your postseason is a monument to ineptitude. While you hide behind "selection committees," "strength of schedule" metrics that change by the week, and the "eye test"—a convenient euphemism for "we prefer the team with the more expensive logo"—your peers in the FCS have been providing a masterclass in common sense.
A Lesson from the "Lower" Subdivision
Since 1978, the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) has operated a transparent, merit-based playoff system. They didn't need decades of "Bowl Coalitions," "Alliances," or the computer-generated chaos of the BCS to figure it out. They simply recognized a fundamental truth of sports: Champions should be determined on the field, not in a hotel conference room.
* FCS: Provides clear pathways to the title. If you win, you move on.
* FBS: Operates like a private country club where "clout" and "brand heritage" serve as a shield against poor performance.
The Myth of Meritocracy
Your reliance on "clout" has turned the regular season into a theater of the absurd. We have seen undefeated teams from smaller conferences discarded because they aren't "profitable" enough for television partners. Conversely, we see "blue blood" programs propped up in the rankings despite multiple losses, protected by a circular logic that claims their losses aren't actually bad because they lost to other "clout-heavy" schools you’ve also over-ranked.
You have spent years hand-wringing over "protecting the regular season" and "preserving bowl tradition," while in reality, you were merely protecting a revenue model that prioritizes a handful of television markets over the integrity of the game.
The Result of Your "Drama"
While the 12-team expansion is a step away from the edge of the cliff, it remains stained by the same gatekeeping instincts that have plagued the sport since the era of "mythical" titles. The fact that the highest level of college football is the only sport in the NCAA that does not have an official, NCAA-sanctioned playoff tournament is an indictment of your leadership.
The "drama" you’ve cultivated isn't the excitement of competition; it is the frustration of watching a rigged system pretend to be a sport. It is time to stop acting as if crowning a champion is a complex atmospheric calculation.
If the "small schools" in the FCS could figure it out during the Carter administration, what exactly is your excuse?
Respectfully (but skeptically),
A Fan of Actual Competition
