NASCAR's Chase will never match NCAA Tournament

By Jayson D. Henry

Here we are in the midst of the NCAA Tournament to decide the college basketball national champion. This tournament is one of the most exciting events in all of sports. It creates water cooler talk, is the cause of numerous office pools and just generally stirs interest.

In 2004, NASCAR introduced its own playoff system in the hopes of creating the same kind of interest. Of course, that playoff system is called the Chase for the Championship. It was hoped the Chase would help NASCAR maintain a solid television audience after the college and NFL football seasons began in the fall.

With the NCAA Tournament getting so much attention here in the month of March it would seem like a good time to compare NASCAR's version of a playoff against the college basketball championship.

The NCAA Tournament generates so much interest for a variety of reasons. For one, not just the big and powerful have a chance to get into the playoff. Since the winners of conference tournaments are given automatic bids even teams like George Mason from smaller conferences are given a chance to compete.

Another reason why the NCAA Tournament is better than the NASCAR Chase is that there is always the chance of the big upset. A #16 seed has never beaten a #1 seed in a first round game but there have been many other major upsets. Everyone wants to see the little guy knock out the big guy, provided it's not your team getting knocked out that is.

In NASCAR, that type of thing will never happen. For one thing, the little guy will never even qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Take last year as an example. The 12 drivers who made the Chase only came from 4 power teams. Someone like Robby Gordon will never make the Chase, much less pull off the monumental upset of winning the thing.

The NCAA Tournament is a made for television event that stirs all sorts of interest and boosts ratings. The Chase has not managed to do the same thing for NASCAR. As a matter of fact, TV ratings for NASCAR have been in a steady decline over the last few years.

Maybe part of the problem is that many NASCAR fans have never accepted the Chase winner as a legitimate champion. Some would argue that Jeff Gordon has been robbed of two championships because of the new system.

The old, season long points standings system was in place for so long that the new system has been seen as repulsive by more than a few. On the other hand, post season tournaments have long been a fixture in basketball and other sports.

The bottom line is, the NCAA Tournament is an awesome event that has done great things for college basketball. The Chase for the Championship has not had such an impact in NASCAR.

Please contact me with your thoughts by e-mailing me at NeverEnoughSports@yahoo.com.