Dear BCS,
Though I realize that you are a computer formula incapable of expressing the slightest human emotion, I'll appeal to you nonetheless. It's about my great uncle, you see.
My Uncle Chel is the single greatest Notre Dame fan that the world has ever seen. We're talking about a man who has every Irish game of the past 20 years captured on VHS tape, a man who built a Notre Dame shrine in his basement, complete with a Touchdown Jesus and a "Play Like A Champion Today" sign.
When he was a kid, Chelly used to bike down to Notre Dame practices to watch Knute Rockne coach the Irish. Since the end of Rockne's legendary career, he's stayed faithful as the Irish flourished under Ara Parsegian and flopped under Dan Devine. He's been through Willingham, Weis, O' Leary (albeit very briefly), and more.
The man lives and breathes Irish football. He's on the short list of people who, upon death, will join the "echoes" that are woken up before every home game. (If you don't get this reference, Google the Notre Dame fight song. Now.)
But because of the current bowl system in college football, my Uncle Chel will almost certainly not see his beloved Irish play for the national championship this season. After the Irish suffered a 47-21 drubbing at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines early in the season, they were immediately cast aside as title contenders. One-loss teams rarely figure into the national title picture, because the top two teams from the BCS are chosen to play in the title game without any sort of playoff, and there are often two undefeated teams.
I could make any number of
arguments right now. I could talk about how successful March Madness has been for college basketball. I could note that if the NFL had the same system as the NCAA, the Indianapolis Colts would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl every year. While this certainly would make Peyton Manning happy, legions of Patriots and Steelers fans would never have seen their teams upset the favored Colts in the playoffs. I could mention how ridiculous it is when two teams "share" a national title like USC and LSU did in 2004, all because the polls can't agree on a consensus number one team.
But I won't. Instead I'll just talk about my uncle. You see, BCS, my uncle's not going to be around forever, even though he's in the best shape of any 86-year-old I've ever met. And even if Notre Dame doesn't win the national title in a playoff game - getting past Ohio State or Michigan would be tough - shouldn't the Irish have the chance to make a little postseason magic? Doesn't a man who's watched every Notre Dame golden-boy quarterback from Paul Hornung to Brady Quinn deserve to see his team get a shot at its first title since 1988?
So I'll make the same plea that millions of other college football fans have been making for years: create a playoff system! Not for me, not for the betterment of sports, but for a man who makes Rudy Ruettiger look apathetic about Irish football. Let the Irish "win one for Chelly." For the sake of us all.
Will Herberich is a freshman. He can be reached at Willian.Herberich@tufts.edu.
