The Badgers Are A Perfect Example Of Why The Football Bowl System Is Flawed

By T.J. Bryce | Posted Wednesday, December 19

So here we are, another season come and gone, and the Badgers are once again preparing to play in another Rose Bowl, although they really shouldn't be.

Every year we look at the BCS and pinpoint 1-2 teams that shouldn't be there. This year, one of those teams just happens to be our own Wisconsin Badgers. Did the Badgers do what they had to do to get to the Rose Bowl? Yes. Do they deserve to be there? Not even on a desert island. But this is part of a larger picture, and I am just using the Badgers because they are the perfect example.

As it stands right now, each of the six BCS Conferences is guaranteed to have at least one participant in the BCS. Also currently, all bowls for that matter, are tied to conferences in one way or another. Meaning for example, the Holiday Bowl always features a PAC 12 Team vs. a Big 12 team. I believe both of these stipulations are wrong, but one thing at a time.

Let’s start with the BCS Automatic Qualifiers. In my opinion, there were two BCS conferences in 2012 that had no business having a team in the BCS- the Big 10, and the Big East. If college football got rid of the conference automatic qualifier to the BCS, neither Wisconsin nor Louisville would be playing in the BCS. If they did it strictly based on ranking, it would look something like this......

Current BCS Schedule

National Championship: Alabama vs. Notre Dame
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Kansas State
Sugar Bowl: Louisville vs. Florida
Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Northern Illinois
Rose Bowl: Stanford vs. Wisconsin

BCS Schedule Without Automatic Qualifiers

National Championship: Alabama vs. Notre Dame
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Kansas State
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Georgia
Orange Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Florida State
Rose Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Clemson

Did anyone notice a few changes there?

I also believe that conference ties to bowl games aren't a good idea either. It keeps the really good non-BCS conference teams stuck in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl when they should be playing in a much, much better bowl game. If college football placed teams in bowl games based on pure performance and rankings, other notable bowl games would set up like this:

Capital One Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. South Carolina
Cotton Bowl: Louisville vs. LSU
Outback Bowl: Stanford vs. Oregon State
Gator Bowl: Nebraska vs. Rutgers
Alamo Bowl: San Jose State vs. Kent State
Liberty Bowl: Northwestern vs. Tulsa
Sun Bowl: Utah State vs. UCLA
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Mississippi State
Holiday Bowl: Texas vs. Arkansas State

How it is currently set up.....

Capital One Bowl: Georgia vs. Nebraska
Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl: Michigan vs. South Carolina
Gator Bowl: Mississippi vs. Northwestern
Alamo Bowl: Oregon State vs. Texas
Liberty Bowl: Iowa State vs. Tulsa
Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. USC
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Clemson vs. LSU
Holiday Bowl: Baylor vs. UCLA

The bottom line in all of this is that I don't believe, and so do many others, that deciding what teams play in the best bowl games should be based on conference alignment but rather on pure performance. If that were truly the case, the Badgers would be playing in one of these early pre-Christmas bowl games, not the most historic and renowned amateur football game in the United States of America. That honor should be saved for those who actually belong there, like the Badgers did a year ago.