Daily Skiff

Mountain West proposal to benefit underrepresented conferences

The Mountain West Conference's attempts to pioneer a new format for crowning a college football champion should be applauded by all fans of the sport.

There is no question that the current system is flawed. One slipup on Saturday during the regular season can cost a worthy team a chance at playing on college sports' biggest stage at the National Championship game. The fact that no playoff system has been established as of yet is unacceptable.

The MWC, with its collection of increasingly powerful football programs, is in a great position to lead the way to change. Earlier this month, the conference proposed an eight-team playoff system to the Bowl Championship Series that would give conferences with teams that had a winning percentage of at least .400 against current automatic qualifying conferences automatic BCS berths.

It's only fair that more than two teams deserve a shot at a national title, and this change would present multiple teams with that opportunity.

Roadblocks to changing the current system always seem to center on money, but those could easily be resolved because more games equals more money for everyone involved.

As great as an eight-team playoff sounds, why stop there? Why not make it a 16-team extravaganza? The eventual champion would have to win four straight games against the toughest competition across the college football spectrum, a task that would certainly determine the top team in the country. That's a change we could all agree upon.

Championships should never be earned during the regular season of any sport - like in college football. There are too many variables and unknowns that can temporarily derail a terrific program's season for a game or two.

Not only would a revamped system be beneficial for underrepresented conferences and teams like the Mountain West and TCU, but it would also add another thrilling element to the spectacle that is college football.

Sports editor Michael Carroll is a senior news-editorial journalism major from Coppell.

Mountain West should earn its spot along with other conferences

Since the end of the college football season the only people complaining about the Bowl Championship Series are the members of the Mountain West Conference.

Even people from the University of Texas have quit complaining about not getting their shot at the national title.

But the MWC can't let go of the fact they don't have an automatic BCS berth.

Every conference had its chance to get guaranteed bids in 2004, when the current system was established, and they could have played better over the four years after that to get their automatic bids before last season.

I say tough break.

You don't have a spot, you're not getting a spot anytime soon and you're not going to be able to sway the Southeastern Conference, home of the last three national champions, the Big Ten, who has had a representative in two of the last three BCS championship games, or the Big 12 into losing their best shot at bringing home the crystal football every January.

Without those conferences throwing their support at the MWC or an eight-team playoff system there is no shot of this idea getting any merit.

The best thing for the Mountain West to do is to put the best teams on the field they can and hope to earn their spot in three years along with the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.

If the Frogs, the Brigham Young University Cougars and the University of Utah Utes continue their efforts from this past season for the next three years, the Mountain West Conference will get its automatic bid.

Plus, the Air Force Academy and Colorado State University have football programs on the rise while the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East have programs that are on the decline.

But for now, the MWC needs to quit complaining and just focus on its on-the-field product.

Billy Wessels is a senior news-editorial journalism major from Waxahachie.

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