Does the BCS Need a Full-Time Defender?

Allison Boyer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:25:42 +0000

Right now, everyone’s so intensely involved in the season that the problems with the BCS system are taking a backseat. That’s bound to change as we approach the end of the season, though, and Bowl Championship Series officials are considering hiring someone to defend the non-playoff post-season full-time. Right now, these responsibilities belong to the BCS coordinator, a job that rotates between the commissions of the BCS conferences.

ACC Commissioner and current BCS coordinator John Swofford (with Frank Beamer)

The job won’t be an easy one, and some are opposed to any one person being in such a position full-time. Says former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese,

“I don’t think anybody should serve at the head of the BCS — one of the commissioners — unless you’ve sat in that room for a certain amount of time. Putting anybody in that position and not having had them live through it is not being fair. It is a hard, hard thing to do.”

Right now, one of the main problems is that a commissioner may be asked to defend the BCS against people from their own conferences. A permanent person in this position could be more impartial to whatever situation arises.

Honestly, if the BCS officials actually want the current system to survive, they need a full-time person defending it. I’m not going to go into how flawed the system is right now, so let’s just leave it at that.