[Husker] The fed bringing the heat on the BCS

[David Strong]

Can't agree at all with this Mike.  Do you really think that if there was such a thing as an "NCAA Div 1 College Football Championship Tournament" where the quarters, semis, and final are all played in pre-determined sites, (sort of like the way it works for conference championship games, except on a grander scale) that the games would not sell out?  Sorry but that is just crazazy.  Not only would they sell out, the demand for tickets would be nuts.  Way nuts. 

Dave

>Mike Jaixen wrote:

Actually, trying to set up predetermined sites for the preliminary rounds is going to be a logistical and financial nightmare.  It works for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament because (a) it's March Madness and (b) arenas only hold 15k-20k.  Bring in 8 teams from around the country, and if each brings 500 to 1,000 fans, you've already filled half the arena.  Supplement that with local ticket sales, and it's a very manageable event.

Now extract that to football.  Make it 70,000 seat stadium and only 2 teams.  Teams don't know where they are playing until a week before the game, which is nearly impossible to put together charters in  time, and airlines will charge you the maximum rate possible for not booking early.  If the site is within 500 miles, many fans could drive, but that limits Nebraska to playing in Minneapolis, St. Louis, KC, Chicago, and Denver.

How many fans are going to be able to head to Phoenix, Charlotte, Tampa, or Seattle on a week's notice?  Not enough to fill a football stadium.  The only way a neutral site game would work is if the local markets grab on and buy all the tickets for these preliminary games.  Problem with that is you get a neutral crowd who arrives late and leaves early and isn't into the game all that much, as compared to a partisan crowd.

The NFL knows this, and that's why they play all of their preliminary games on home fields where you earn the right to play at home throughout the playoffs.  (Yes, that means the regular season is STILL meaningful, because going undefeated means you are playing at home for much of the playoffs, while sneaking in with a 9-3 record means you'll be on the road the whole way...)  Use the BCS formula as a baseline to select teams as well as seed them, and get strength of schedule back in the formula.  A USC should be rewarded for scheduling Florida (even if they lose) over scheduling Appalachian State as a non-conference opponent.