Are Conference Championship Games Beneficial?

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After posting a recent blog one of the responses I received addressed a number of differences between the Big 10 and SEC. One of the areas of note was the fact the SEC has a conference championship game, while the Big 10 does not.

Many believe the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have an advantage for potentially propelling one of those conference champions into the BCS championship game. I could easily make a compelling argument for both sides of this issue.

However, when I wrote my response I stated the advantage only rests with the team having the superior record and higher BCS ranking. Should the team with the higher ranking lose, then it becomes a decided disadvantage and could potentially prevent a team from playing for the BCS title.

I’ve read several articles in the recent past regarding this subject and most consider the conferences with championship games to be an advantage. The most noted complaint among those writing was the fact the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 do not play a conference schedule against every team within their respective conferences.

The Big 10 doesn’t either, but they don’t play a conference championship game. Only two conferences, the Big East and Pac 10, play against every team within the conference and arrive at a conference champion without playing a championship game.

The reality is conference championship games are played for several reasons, the first being MONEY! As an example, CBS paid the SEC over $13 million for the right to televise the SEC championship game. I suspect ABC paid the Big 12 and ACC a hefty sum for the right to televise those conference championship games as well. I doubt anyone would turn down $13 million for an extra day’s work.

Another reason conference championship games are played is due to the changing landscape in college football. If you read my previous article, The SEC: Overrated? NEVER!!, you’ll note I wrote a few paragraphs specifically about scheduling. With the advent of the 85-scholarship limit, the BCS, conference realignments, an additional regular season game and no playoff format in sight, every BCS member team had to revise their thinking.

I’ll use the SEC again as an example; every SEC member team plays an eight-game conference schedule. With a 12-game schedule, that leaves an SEC team facing four non-conference opponents. Like most BCS-member teams, one game is scheduled against a non-conference BCS opponent. The remaining three games of the schedule will generally consist of teams from the other Division 1 conferences.

The respective winners of the East and West Divisions square off in Atlanta each year to determine the SEC champion. In reality, the two teams appearing in the conference championship game will have faced 10 quality opponents in a 13-game schedule.

You may wonder what this has to do with a conference championship game being an advantage. What are the chances of a team going undefeated in a power conference, having played 10 quality opponents in today’s college football environment? Little to none, right? Now, what are the chances of a team from a power conference having one loss, perhaps two, and winning their conference championship game and still earning a berth in the BCS title?

If you don’t remember, LSU made the BCS championship game earlier this year with two losses. Considering how crazy last season was perhaps we can point to LSU’s two losses and chalk it up to an aberration. With so much parity in college football, I suspect it won’t come as a surprise to see more teams with at least one loss and possibly two earning their way into the BCS championship game.

That’s why teams are scheduling the way they are and well in advance as I’ve so adroitly noted in recent articles. That’s why conference championship games are played, and how teams from the power conferences are positioning themselves for an opportunity to earn a berth in the BCS title game.

Let’s set up a hypothetical schedule for a team from a conference that doesn’t play a championship game. We’ll use the SEC’s favorite team, Ohio State. Everybody in the SEC loves Ohio State because they’re so accommodating in allowing the likes of Florida and LSU to step on their heads en route to a BCS championship.

With the Buckeyes playing in the Big 10, they’ll play an eight game conference schedule and four non-conference games. While it would be great for the fans to see the Buckeyes schedule USC, South Florida, Maryland and Colorado to round out their 12-game schedule, it isn’t going to happen. They’ll play one team from a power conference, and three games against relative cupcakes.

And they’ll do this because the chance of playing an incredibly difficult schedule, and having less than one loss is remote. With parity being the norm in college football, one loss can potentially remove you from contention for the BCS title. Teams from the power conferences, regardless if they play a championship game or not, aren’t going to schedule themselves out of an opportunity to win a BCS title.

If you take a look at the long term future schedules of virtually every major college football program, all of them are going to schedule one non-conference game against a BCS opponent and two or three games against lesser competition.

For the foreseeable future, or at least until we arrive at a better means of determining a true national champion, this will be the prescribed method. Frankly, it’s the only method. It’s good business and it gives the major BCS member teams the chance to win the big one.

Personally, I like conference championship games but I recognize that the weight of the game on the polls and the BCS standings are a bit skewed. I don’t dislike LSU but as we saw earlier this year, it’s hard for me to accept a team ranked No. 7 in the BCS could rise all the way to earning a spot in the championship game as a result of their SEC championship game victory.

Until the biases that exist in the polls is resolved, if that’s even possible, the outcome of the conference championship games will continue to play a huge role in which teams appear in the BCS title game.