Replacing The BCS

By Dan Wetzel, Upon his hiring as a media consultant for the Bowl Championship Series, Ari Fleischer declared that “playoff advocates have had an easy ride” by not having to explain a clear alternative. Fleischer had it backward. It’s the BCS that’s had simple sailing by not having to defend against a specific plan. The disorganization of the playoff crowd created the gridlock the status quo desired. In the upcoming book I helped write (“Death to the BCS," due out in October by Gotham), we don’t just lay bare this ridiculous way of crowning a champion, the finances, mathematics, biases, waste and scams. We offer a clear, common sense-rich and wildly profitable alternative. It’s not like we're playoff-design geniuses. What follows is essentially the model the NCAA uses to run football championships in its lower divisions. A proper playoff should feature 16-teams, featuring