- The 8 teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six BCS conferences plus the 2 others ("at-large" selections) that are highest remaining in the BCS standings.
- I've heard the extra game argument. Now every team is currently playing 12 games. So we reduce to season back to 11. Then there will be 4 quarterfinal teams than only play 12 games in a season--so the only teams that will actually be playing more games they do now will be the Final Four.
- The 4 BCS Bowls would rotate between the matchups in a 4 year pattern so that once every 4 years, each BCS Bowl would occupy each position.
- We keep all the other Bowl games, and play them and their normal times. There will be 6 less bowl teams, as the final 3 bowl games in the playoffs will be teams playing in multiple bowls.
- I contemplated giving the at large teams #7 and #8, but that wouldn't work. Winning your conference gets you in the playoffs, but no guarantees of seeding.
- What about Boise State? Or Wisconsin? Well, they didn't win a BCS conference, and the top 2 at-large berths were taken by Michigan and LSU. If you think that Boise State deserves a shot, do you really think they are better than Michigan or LSU?
Sat, Dec. 23rd
Cotton Bowl
(#4 LSU vs #5 USC)
Gator Bowl
(#3 Michigan vs #6 Louisville)
Fiesta Bowl
(#2 Florida vs #7 Oklahoma)
Orange Bowl
(#1 Ohio State vs #8 Wake Forest)
Mon, Jan 1st
Rose Bowl
(#1 Ohio State vs #4 LSU)
Sugar Bowl
(#2 Florida vs #3 Michigan)
Mon, Jan 8th
National Championship Game
(#1 Ohio State vs ?????)
This option rewards Ohio State and Florida for being the top 2 teams, with the easiest first round games. And then it gives 2 amazing New Year's Day bowl games, and lets it be settled on the field, who really deserves to be in the title game.
this works except for one minor detail. these are college students. there is a reason the regularseason stops this week: finals. i know it might seem small, but schools would like to graduate students and have them play in jan than become inelagible (sp?). just push the games back into january.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA CLASS!!! FINALS!!! HAHAHA
ReplyDelete"If you think that Boise State deserves a shot, do you really think they are better than Michigan or LSU?"
ReplyDeleteWhat is exciting about the NCAA basketball tournament? The idea that absolutely anybody could win in, or at least make a run at it (see: George Mason). If you say a 12-0 Boise State (who has now won their conference five years in a row) does not deserve a shot, then what mid-major will you ever let in?
I don't actually think BSU could beat LSU or Michigan, don't get me wrong. However, why are so many people upset about the Florida over Michigan decision? Because it wasn't decided on the field. Simply saying that BSU doesn't stand a chance is no different. BSU did everything that was asked of them ON THE FIELD, and that is how things should be decided, not with opinions.
Whoever complained that finals would get in the way should realize that Bowls already start on Dec. 19th and run through Jan. 8th.
ReplyDeleteA few comments
ReplyDelete1. All wins against any schools that is not in a conference with an automatic bid should not be counted in any ranking system. If at WAC team cannot qualifiy for the post season, then any victory by a BCS team against the WAC should not be counted.
2. How do schools that have seven or eight home games suddenly make three road games. The first round would be played in front of half empty stadiums with no bands, pep squads, etc.
3. Are the BCS schools going to share the money like the NCAA shares the basketball tournament money.
I'll try to stick to clarifying my thoughts, and not being overly defensive because I realize my proposed system may not be 100% perfect -- although I believe it is light years ahead of the 2-team playoff currently in place.
ReplyDeleteBut a WAC team can qualify for the playoffs by being one of the top 2 at-large teams. The reason it's unlikely is because of the voters and the computers.
It's not me who says that Boise State doesn't deserve a shot, it's the voters and computers.
Teams haven't had a hard time getting to their bowls in the past on time, or their basketball bracket equivalents, so I don't see a logistical problem there.
As for the money, I'll let someone who actual knows something about that, figure it out.
I'm sure these geniuses need that extra time to study for their finals in Applied Quantam Physics and Artificial Intelligence 101.
ReplyDeleteFinals affected by bowls? Puhleese.
Since all schools do not end their academic years on the same day, there could easily be a situation where one school ended two weeks before the bowl game and thus the football can have unlimited practice (under NCAA rules) whereas the other school can be in the middle of finals and be limited to the number of hours for practice time.
ReplyDeleteSeveral big time basketball schools went from quarters to semester to take advantage of this situation during basketball season in January.
This is almost exactly the playoff format I posted on my own site this weekend so, yeah, I like your plan. /grin/
ReplyDeleteThe only difference I had was that instead of two at-large spots, I would go with one at-large sport and one guaranteed spot to the highest ranking non-BCS conference champ/independent. I think it's important to give the non-BCS guys a shot.
As to whether Boise could beat LSU ... why should we care about a team that couldn't even make its own championship game? LSU is a third place teams in their conference, at best. LSU is a classic example of a team that's ranked 5th simply because of when their losses occurred. Heck, Auburn beat both LSU and Florida. Had their losses been at the right time they'd be ranked where LSU is. I'm not saying LSU is bad or anything, I'm just saying they're really only ranked #4 because they were done losing on October 7. I don't see why we should reward them instead of a team like Boise.
Great set of posts on the BCS, BTW. Quicker we get to a playoff the better.
"2. How do schools that have seven or eight home games suddenly make three road games. The first round would be played in front of half empty stadiums with no bands, pep squads, etc."
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with this, and would modify your system such that the first round of games are played on the home field of the higher seeded team (yet another reason to win all of your games during the "regular" season).
Then rotate the big bowl games between the two semi's and the NC game.
To keep the remaining big bowl games happy, the losing teams could be paired up in a consolation bracket--or they could select teams that have lost in the first round when making their selections in an attempt to create the best/most exciting (read: profitable) match-ups.
Games stop because of class and finals?
ReplyDeleteTell that to the guys that play basketball you douche bag.
You need to pay more attention to the sports landscape.
A lot of college football fans across the country are fed up with the Bowl Championship Series. Most people agree that something need to done, but don't know where to start. I am launching an online campaign to pressure the NCAA to Sack the BCS.
ReplyDeleteIf fans join together, we can pressure the NCAA to finally get rid of the BCS mess. Sign onto our petition here: http://ga4.org/campaign/sackthebcs
With your help, we can get the word out to college football fans about the effort.
Thanks,
Mike Dean
Something to consider: scrap the Gator and Cotton Bowl in the quarterfinals and use the existing BCS bowls (retaining traditional rivalries, ie Big 10 vs. Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl) as the quarterfinals, then rotating them as semifinal and championship sites. The one issue here is that retaining traditional rivalries would come at the expense of fair seeding.
ReplyDeleteIn order to accomodate this longer season, eliminate the twelfth regular season game and conference championship games.
would like to mention. ohio st, between their michigan win and the national championship.. has a FIFTY DAY LAYOFF. 50 days between michigan and florida.
ReplyDeletelooks like this playoff setup is exactly what people have been talking about, good to see it in words though.
I like that idea, although I would probably have put Boise State in (qualifying under some combination of non-BCS team that finished in the top 8 or higher than BCS Conf. Champion).
ReplyDeleteOne other factor of note with a playoff system, you may have to include all conference winners, like the Basketball Tournament. I think the NCAA could have some legal problems if they wouldn't do that. This would require a 16 team playoff (11 Conference Champions + 5 At-Large Bids).
Then you'd have selections and seedings made by a selection committee akin to Basketball.
A 16-team bracket might look something like this (using BCS Standings to seed, for simplicity):
ORANGE BOWL BRACKET:
4(16 Overall) Troy (Sun Belt) @ 1(1) Ohio State (Big10)
3(9) Auburn (At Large) @
2(8) Boise State (WAC)
GATOR BOWL BRACKET:
4(13) BYU (MWC) @
1(4) LSU (AtLarge)
3(12) Wake Forest (ACC) @
2(5) USC (Pac10)
COTTON BOWL BRACKET:
4(14) Houston (C-USA) @
1 (3) Michigan (A/L)
3(11) Notre Dame (A/L) @
2 (6) Louisville (Big East)
FIESTA BOWL BRACKET:
4(15) Central Michigan (MAC) @
1(2) Florida (SEC)
3(10) Oklahoma (Big12) @
2(7) Wisconsin (A/L)
It'll never happen for a number of reasons (some better than others), but I think it's fun to think about, and addresses some of the hidden problems that aren't addressed in the usual arguments (specifically, rights of minor conferences).
Just like in Basketball, there are some early mismatches that could be over by halftime and some great upset specials.
Try this for size, actual revenue would have to be worked out:
ReplyDeleteKeep AP, Coaches Poll, BCS as is.
Take the top 12 teams in the final BCS (6 major conference winners in if they are out of the top 12).
Top 4 seeds get a bye. Gives a reason to be 1-4. 5-8 seeds get a home playoff game to generate ticket revenue, sharing some % of that with seeds 9-12. 9-12 are just happy to have a shot, so they can't complain too much about the $$ if around same amount as going to a 2nd tier bowl.
After first round we are down to elite 8, with 7 games left to play. Have 1-4 now host a playoff game, giving them revenue, split % again for teams that won in the first round.
Then Final Four and Championship on neutral fields - 3 games that can rotate Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl. Payouts as normal as you advance.
Or, with the elite 8 and final 7 games, make them all neutral bowl games by having the 5 BCS bowls now plus Cotton Bowl and I guess Capital One Bowl. What seeds play in what bowls can be determined pretty much arbitrarily.
This gives a good team a chance to really clean up instead of one big payout, plus gets the playoff.
Drop schedules to 10/11 games, so the max games are 14/15. You could do every other week from when the season ends now to 1/6 to achieve this (weekends of 12/2,12/16,12/30,1/6). I'm sure there should be a limitation on how many teams from one conference, maybe 3? Also, all other bowls played same dates and times with adjustments based on who makes the playoff.
So how would it look this year:
#1 Ohio State - Big 10 Champ
#2 Florida - SEC Champ
#3 Michigan - Big 10 at-large
#4 LSU - SEC at-large
All get byes
#5 Louisville - Big East Champ
#6 Wisconsin - Big 10 at-large
#7 Oklahoma - Big 12 Champ
#8 USC - Pac 10 Champ
All host 1st round games
#9 Boise State - WAC at-large
#10 Auburn - SEC at-large
#11 Notre Dame - Ind at-large
#12 Wake Forest - ACC Champ (ranked #14)
So first round:
#12 Wake Forest @ #5 Louisville
#11 Notre Dame @ #6 Wisconsin
#10 Auburn @ #7 Oklahoma
#9 Boise State @ #8 USC
Winners of these games @ #1 Ohio State, @ #2 Florida, @ #3 Michigan, @ #4 LSU
Then winners play in Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl. Championship is the Rose Bowl.
Any thoughts?