In The Bleachers Podcast: Jeff Passan, Co-Author of Death To The BCS, Drops By ITB

Happy Friday Folks! Kick start your weekend with some controversy and this special edition of the In The Bleachers Podcast as we welcome Yahoo! Sports Columnist Jeff Passan to the show to discuss his new book, Death To The BCS: The Definitive Case Against The Bowl Championship Series. Passan co-authored this manifesto with fellow Yahoo! Sports Columnists Dan Wetzel and Josh Peter and they truly take the BCS system to task as three writers adamantly opposed to all that the "cartel" represents. Yes, folks "cartel" is the name they've settled on the for the BCS and it makes their position quite clear, playoff or bust because the BCS sucks.

However, unlike many playoff proponents Passan and his co-horts make a painstaking effort to separate emotion from fact, arguing through the presentation of the corruption, false fronts, power struggle and misappropriation of funds instead of just wildly screaming we need a playoff. Death to the BCS hits on who controls the game and why the six BCS leagues are less concerned with money than they are with making sure the power stays consolidated at the top. As Passan puts it, "All you need to win today is a good coach and money" and by keeping the money BCS conferences help protect their own.

As we've discussed before, bashing a system without offering a solution is useless and Passan and Co. believe this as well and have duly offered an alternative that is fair and balanced; a 16 team playoff. Ran quite similar to the NCAA tournament on a small scale the Death to the BCS playoff would feature home games and, as the Yahoo! Sports Columnists speculate, a windfall of some $750 MILLION or $530 million in new revenue to be shared through the game. That cash could shore up Sun Belt, MAC and Conference USA athletic departments and create an element of equity that the game has never seen.

It is a compelling book and debate folks so be sure to get your hands on a copy of Death to the BCS and check out this interview as Passan lays out the benefits and the facts in an intriguing manner.

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