December 29, 2009 - Use Playoff System To Pick College Football Champ, American Fans Tell Quinnipiac University National Poll Word format Americans who identify themselves as college football fans say 63 - 26 percent junk the current Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to pick a national champion and replace it with a playoff system like the NCAA basketball tournament, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Fans have a mixed 43 - 45 percent favorable opinion of the current system. Fans also are divided on whether Congress should get into the game, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds: By a 48 - 45 percent margin, fans say it's a bad idea for Congress to try to force the NCAA to hold football playoffs. While 60 percent of independent voters and 55 percent of Republicans think Congress getting involved is a "bad idea," only 37 percent of Democrats do. "College football fans are not in love with the current system in which two teams that play for the national championship are picked by computers, sportswriters and coaches," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Settle the question on the field, voters say more than 2-1. But as much as they want a national championship tournament, they aren't wild about Congress getting involved." The survey was conducted among American adults who say they are "very interested" or "somewhat interested" in college football. This fan group includes 55 percent of men and 38 percent of women. From December 15 - 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,849 adults nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.3 percentage points. The survey includes 948 fans with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 34. (ALL ADULTS) How interested are you in following college football - very interested, somewhat interested or not interested at all? ALL ADULTS............................ Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very interested 18% 26% 18% 16% 24% 13% Smwht interested 28 29 31 31 31 25 Not at all 54 45 50 53 45 62 DK/NA - - - - - - AGE IN YRS....... NoColl Coll 18-34 35-54 55+ Degree Degree Very interested 18% 19% 18% 18% 20% Smwht interested 23 29 30 27 32 Not at all 59 52 51 56 48 DK/NA - - - - - 35. (If somewhat or very interested q34) What is your opinion of the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, the system that college football uses to determine its national champion - favorable or unfavorable? INTERESTED IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL Q34..... Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Favorable 43% 39% 43% 39% 39% 49% Unfavorable 45 48 41 52 55 31 DK/NA 12 12 16 9 6 20 AGE IN YRS....... NoColl Coll 18-34 35-54 55+ Degree Degree Favorable 52% 37% 43% 47% 34% Unfavorable 40 53 40 41 56 DK/NA 8 10 17 12 10 36. (If somewhat or very interested q34) Do you think the Bowl Championship Series should, or should not, be replaced with a playoff system as takes place in college basketball? INTERESTED IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL Q34..... Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Replaced 63% 63% 65% 65% 72% 50% Not replaced 26 24 24 25 22 31 DK/NA 12 13 11 11 6 18 AGE IN YRS....... NoColl Coll 18-34 35-54 55+ Degree Degree Replaced 63% 70% 56% 61% 68% Not replaced 33 21 25 26 24 DK/NA 5 10 19 13 8 37. (If somewhat or very interested q34) Congress is considering forcing college football to have a playoff system, like in basketball, to pick a national champion. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? INTERESTED IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL Q34..... Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Good idea 45% 38% 54% 35% 42% 47% Bad idea 48 55 37 60 53 42 DK/NA 7 7 9 5 4 11 AGE IN YRS....... NoColl Coll 18-34 35-54 55+ Degree Degree Good idea 60% 41% 35% 49% 32% Bad idea 36 52 54 43 62 DK/NA 3 6 11 8 6
