Which is better, a 4, 8 or 16 team playoff?

[Dr. Strangelove]

With 8 teams, you'll have too many 10-2 teams, much like this season. Personally, the max I'd like to see is 6 teams. The top 2 seeds receive a bye in the first round.

 

This preserves the regular season, while giving plenty of teams a chance.

[billdozer15]

8 team playoff. Power 5 Conference Championship winners get invited automatically. 3 at large bids the smaller conferences can fight for along with independents and other power 5 schools.......and that includes ND. Then when you get your 8 teams you seed them out. No more committees meeting once a week to make up bogus rankings 1 meeting at the end of the year. Higher seeds get the home game.

[shyndy]

With 8 teams, you'll have too many 10-2 teams, much like this season. Personally, the max I'd like to see is 6 teams. The top 2 seeds receive a bye in the first round.

 

This preserves the regular season, while giving plenty of teams a chance.

yeah idk why nobody considers 6 an option. You've got enough spots for each conference champ and allows room for a note dame or "bus buster" type team

[URSS]

I say four is okay if they are selected after all bowl games are played. The playoffs should not be a part of the bowl games.

[Redmusky]

this discussion took place a few years ago , I liked 7 teams 5 conference champions and one wild card plus one from all the other conferences. I think this year that would be Boise State with the first place team getting a bye.

[HuskerFanChuck]

First off, my preference is Zoog's fun option. 16, all conference champs and 6 wild cards. Allow for the Cinderella story.

 

Barring that, 12 with 5 Power 5 conference champs and 1 or 2 guaranteed slots to the other 5 conferences and the rest wild cards or 8 with 5 Power 5 conference champs, one guaranteed spot for the best of the other conferences, and 2 wild cards. Either of those would be a good alternative.

 

And regardless of number, like it or not, the weekly rankings/show is here to stay. Viewership is too high and creates too much good drama to not do it.

[Ulty]

6 teams with 1 & 2 getting a bye.

 

I've always thought 6 was the best number. And I'll go at length to tell you all why.

 

Sometimes, such as this year, there are more than 4 teams who can make a claim to being in the top 2 and deserve a chance to play for it. But I don't recall any legitimate arguments by more than 6 teams in any given year. If you have one loss, you have an argument. If you are a conference champion, you have an argument. Going to 8 teams expands too far outside of those parameters. Six is perfect.

 

Having six would increase the stakes during the regular season, as there would be clear advantages to being 1 or 2, versus 3 or 4, and 5 and 6. So going undefeated still matters, strength of schedule still matters, the polls still matter. Furthermore, the games (except the Championship games) should be played at a school's home stadium. This would eliminate the need for fans to travel to three consecutive neutral locations and would increase the importance of the higher seed. Plus, no one would host more than one game (3 and 4 would get one home game, then the winners travel to visit 1 and 2).

 

So if a 5 or 6 seed gets into the Championship game, they have truly earned it. Non-SEC teams would have a chance to earn a home playoff game with a strong enough regular season. No patsies are getting in. Attendance would not be a concern. The regular season (conference and non-conference) would matter more than ever.

 

6 is the correct answer.

[Hedley Lamarr]

In football there would never be a Cinderella story. Could Boise upset a top seed in the opening round? Yeah, could they upset multiple top seeded teams for 3 rounds? Hell no.

[huskerinacaveman]

Here is an idea that I just kind of though of, lemme know what you think.

 

Anyways, I keep coming back to the fact that all teams should be on an equal standing at the beginning of the year. 16 makes the most sense to me. Cut out the early non conf. and replace it at the end with meaningful match ups.

 

9 games played in conference to determine conference championships for all conferences.

 

The 10th week is a match up of the top four W-L record of each conference against a different conference. Power Conference VS Non Power Conference to establish a more realistic pecking order. (Generally the smaller schools will lose, but at least that have a chance to show up)

Look like this

 

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=674EDC75A988F4AC&id=674EDC75A988F4AC%2113384&v=3

Conference winners are automatically in. The remaining 6 teams are

The first round is played at the home team with the lower seed to provide a better atmosphere for the fans, and to give some of the smaller schools a chance for some revenue. The next two rounds are played at home of the higher seed, with the last being played a geographical neutral location for both teams. Ensuring that no team has a geographical home field advantage, and played under a dome for no weather advantages. (There are plenty to cover this.)

 

Bracket may look like this for this year

 

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=674EDC75A988F4AC&id=674EDC75A988F4AC%2113385&v=3

 

So yeah,

[Enhance]

I think eight teams is perfect, but, I also don't think that the Power 5 conference champions should automatically get a birth into the playoff. Thought it is rare, it's possible that an average team can win a conference title. Wisconsin from 2012 is the perfect example - they would've had NO business being in the college football playoff that year, but they would've been. I don't think it's fair to guarantee a conference champion a spot unless they're truly one of the four best teams in the country. For the most part, conference champions are the best teams in their league or close to it, but that doesn't make them one of the eight best teams in the country IMHO.

[skersfan]

If you know you are automatically in by winning your conference, it does away with out of conference importance. 8 teams selected via computer and board. 8 best, two from a conference, none from a conference, I could care less. Make it a real playoff, no guarantees for anyone

 

The stronger the OOC schedule is the better the overall team would be. I want to see meaningful cross conference battles between conference powers. I could careless if Bama plays NE Idaho State. Give me Oregon/Penn State, Nebraska/USC, Bama/Wisconsin and other like games the first three weeks of the year over what we get now. Look for competition, not duck it like some programs do. I am looking at you Florida. Supposedly they have never left the state to play a BCS level team, NEVER other than in bowls. How can you get away with that?

 

three inter conference games, a cup cake and no guarantees for CCs. NCAA/other party, makes all schedules

 

Ohio State backed into the playoff. Had they not been able to run the score up on Wisconsin, TCU or Baylor would have been in. They both played tougher schedules and their losses were far better than Ohio State.

 

Things I would like to see, know it will never happen. Just throwing it out.

[NebraskaHarry]

8 team playoff with power 5 automatic, but you have to have a conference championship game. You have to avoid those three way ties.

[Husker no ka oi]

Make it 64. Let's have march madness in December.

[BigRedPowerWagon]

I think 4 is good, not to many extra games. But 8 is probably the best way to do it. It eliminates all doubt on who the top teams are and let them battle it out. I would like to keep the original bowls in the mix somewhere but 8 teams is going to be the magic number.

[NebraskaShellback]

GO B1G RED!