Football: BCS manages to get worse

I didn't think it could be done, but they did it. There's now a fifth BCS game a week after the existing ones at one of the four sites. Does it match two of the four BCS bowl winners in a playoff-ish game? No. It's just the national championship game, like it was this year, except on something like January 8th. Two more teams will be BCS teams.

The "formula" is going to remain the same except the AP poll (which withdrew from the process and will crown its own champion) will be replaced with an as-yet-to-be-determined new poll. Auburn fans everywhere have died in vain.

What's so bad about a single added game? This is the same organization that stridently opposes a playoff on the grounds that it will compromise athletes' ability to keep up academically. mgoblog (and most people who are paying attention) call shenanigans. Shenanigans! The college hockey season lasts from October until March and even April for teams who make the Frozen Four, a full two months longer than the football season. I don't have any numbers in front of me at the moment, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that hockey players graduate more frequently than football players. Can we dispense with the obviously untrue, patronizing "it's for the children!" excuse for the bowl system?

There's one good reason to oppose a playoff: the Rose Bowl. That's it. The tradition and oft-referenced pagentry of college football make it what it is, and the Rose Bowl is the regal center of the whole enterprise. There's definitely an argument to be had about the pros and cons of a playoff, but let's be serious here: nothing on the pro or con side has anything to do with a few teams playing for an extra week or two. These kids are already majoring in football.