We bid adieu to the Bowl Championship Series--whipping boy for pundits and fans alike but a system that over its shelf life of 16 years brought together the nation's number one and number two team each of those post-seasons. In comparison, the number one and two teams met in bowl games only eight times in 56 prior years. (Remember the Bowl Coalition and the Bowl Alliance? Yeah, I didn't think so.) So, while flawed, the BCS ratcheted up interest in college football such that the sport is now pushing the NFL in avid fan interest and is solidly in second place in viewership, attendance and overall interest among our nation's sports fans.
Let's put a bow on this season, and the BCS, with some final observations about 2013-2014.
Best national championship game ever? It's hard to point to another BCS National Championship Game that was better than Monday night's Florida State victory over Auburn. The 2005 Texas win over USC, also in the Rose Bowl, was the prior best final game with the Ohio State two-overtime win over Miami, in 2002, also in the running.
Phil Steele. Let's give it up for Phil Steele, the guy who publishes what annually is the best preseason manual for the coming college football season. Steele picked Florida State as his "surprise team of the year" and they certainly delivered with a magical 2013 season.
SEC. Which SEC team won a meaningful bowl game? Well, that would be Missouri and its win over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. Not only did Auburn fail to continue the SEC national championship streak but Alabama whiffed against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
Johnny Football. Love him or not, name me another college football player in recent memory who has been so mesmerizing on the field as Johnny Manziel. He's the kind of player who makes you run back into the TV room to see what he'll do when Texas A&M has the ball. If Manziel announces today that he is leaving for the NFL, college football will lose one of its most compelling stars.
Brent. It's time for Brent Musberger to go quietly into that announcing night. Musberger's awkward forays into hip-hop mentions and other odd on-air left turns were a continuation of the Katherine Webb dust-up last year. There simply are other, quality options for on-air talent for a stage as big as the national championship event.
ESPN. The Monday night Megacast was a hit as ESPN used its portfolio of programming options to provide fans with coach insight and unique camera views for the national championship game. Let's hope the Worldwide Leader, and other sports cable programmers, do more of this unique viewing solution.
The fans. Fans are watching college football in droves with viewership on the title game eclipsing the NCAA basketball final, NBA Finals, Daytona 500 and other major non-NFL sports events. However, a danger cloud is on the horizon and that is fan attendance and ticket buyer satisfaction. The college game has got to get its act together when it comes to customer service, game-day experience, affordability and venue bandwidth in order to attract students, alums and fans back into stadiums.
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