The BCS has a never-ending campaign to justify it’s BsCS. Now, they are letting us know that the student-athletes (don’t you love their use of student) prefer the bowls over a playoff format. They sent every unsuspecting, playoff-supporting writer/blogger a press release that explains.
70.4% OF STUDENT ATHLETES SUPPORT CURRENT POSTSEASON SYSTEM OVER 16-TEAM PLAYOFF
Initial Support for Undefined “Playoff” Vanishes if Bowl System Is At Risk
(BCS Headquarters, August 13, 2010) A new poll of 135 college football players released this week by ESPN The Magazine showed that support for an undefined “playoff” vanishes instantly if the current bowl system were a casualty of a new postseason format. When players were asked to choose between the current system of the BCS and the bowls or a 16-team playoff format based on Football Championship Series (FCS) postseason, players by more than two to one chose the current system.
The press release continues with the results of a poll. We all know that polls are extremely scientific. So why not believe them? I don’t know.
Would you rather have an FCS-style, 16-team playoff with no bowls or the current system?
• Current system: 70.4%
• FCS: 29.6%
“Playoffs may be popular in concept, but for student athletes, that thin support switches to even stronger opposition if it means the end of the bowls as we know them. College football is thriving because of the system we have, which delivers the most meaningful regular season in sports and the pageantry and tradition of the bowl season, capped off by the national championship game,” said Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the BCS.
Who can blame players for wanting to go to the bowls? They are essentially being bribed by the bowls with the gifts they receive. Wouldn’t you like a new laptop? The question seems a little stacked, and it doesn’t tap in to the competitive nature of the players (ie. finding out who is the best on the field).
Players also strongly preferred bowl trips to a playoff.
Would you rather have a college football career with three bowl trips or one playoff trip?
• 3 Bowls: 77.0%
• 1 Playoff: 23.0%
“Several polls show support for a playoff, but the support is often just skin deep. When people see the negative effect a playoff would have on the regular season and the multi-day bowl celebrations, the support quickly fades,” said Hancock.
I’m convinced.
Aren’t you?
