The FBS system to determine a national champion has become a complete joke.  At the beginning of any sports season, every single team should have a chance at a championship.  Nothing could be further from the truth for the teams in the FBS.  With the BCS, only two teams made the playoffs.  Now it is just four.  Did you know that the NCAA has 88 championships, and all but one have a fair tourney that gives every team a chance to make the field, which is generally 16 teams. 

Now we have a system that, in the case of TCU and Baylor, favors other factors as more important than head to head.   They now use terms that have previously been considered an oxymoron, like a “good loss” and a “bad win.”  If we are going to devalue head to head, what’s the point of even playing the game?

In football, a player risks serious injury, paralysis, and even death on every single play in a game and the countless hours they practice.  The NCAA rakes in millions of dollars while at the same time risking nothing. They must have system that is fair to the players.  The mid majors, like Boise State and Marshall, have a zero chance to be in the final four.  At one point this year, when Marshall was 11-0, they were ranked behind a 3 loss LSU team.  How would you like to be Baylor who sits behind TCU, a team they beat.  Or how about TCU, who was #3 going into the last week, and then dropped to #6 after a 55-3 win?  And does anyone not believe Ohio State snuck in at the end because of their name and tradition? 

Champions should be determined on the field and not on speculation of other factors by so called experts.  I would prefer to see the playoffs go to 16 teams, which would give the Boise States and Marshalls of the football world a chance.  Even if the Broncos go 12-0, the experts would rank a 2 loss Alabama team above them.

In the FBS, they have completely taken away the underdog team longing for the upset.  In basketball, Butler can almost beat Duke on a last second shot.  In baseball, Fresno State and Oregon State can win national titles.  We love “Hoosiers” because of the great story of David beating Goliath.  But in the FBS, we don’t believe anything like this can happen.  So when they do crown the champion, please put an asterisk by their name because they won in a system that is completely unfair to the majority of the field.

I had to give a shout out to the Fruitland football team, who just played in their 9th straight state championship game.  Now I taught at New Plymouth for 32 years, and Fruitland was our arch rival for many years.  While I have many good friends from Fruitland, I cannot root for their high school because of our bitter rivalry through the years. However, I certainly can respect this incredible accomplishment. 

And I have this question for anyone out there in idahosports.com land:  has any high school team in any sport made it to 9 straight title games?  Google that for me and let me know.