BCS or Playoff System

No to a 32 team playoff system. That would be absolutely horrible and would take away from the feel of the regular season.

An eight team playoff would do just fine. Decide which eight teams go by the current BCS system. The four BCS Bowls could be incorporated within the tournament. For example:

Eight teams: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H

First round-- A vs. B; C vs. D; E vs. F; G vs. H

Now, the second round is where two of the four BCS Bowls would be incorporated. Decide which two bowls you want to be the primary bowls - or the bowls that “mean the most” - and have the winners play in those. Keep in mind that the two "primary" bowls can be rotated each year so certain sponsors don't get their panties in a bunch. So, let's say teams A, C, E, and G win, and let's say this year the primary bowls are the Rose and Sugar Bowls.

Second round-- Rose Bowl: A vs. C; Sugar Bowl: E vs. G. The winners of these two games would then play in the BCS Championship Game.

Before the final game though, the other two bowls can be decided. Pick two of the losers from the first round - decided by their BCS rank (and perhaps how well they did in their first round game) - and match them up against the losers of the second round. This can be done in a way where there wouldn't be a repeat game.

Other two bowl games-- Fiesta Bowl: B vs. C; Orange Bowl: D vs. G

Final-- BCS Championship: A vs. E

The rest of the bowl games - whatever that number is up to now - could be decided based on the teams remaining as they usually are.

Now, this is just something off the top of my head, so obviously it could be fine tuned. I am also well aware that college football will not be seeing a playoff system anytime soon. So, if your argument is, "Well, it's never going to happen anyway," then please do not participate in the conversation.

 
And for those screaming about DETERMINING THE BEST TEAM ON THE FIELD, that's excactly what computer rankings do: who have you beaten and to whom have you lost, and who have those teams beaten and to whom have they lost.
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I couldn't disagree with this more! Having this kind of a system is what is causing this B.S. in the first place. And I also hate that the system gives small schools no real chance at a title at all. If you don't want the "non BCS" conferences to have an equal chance, than what the hell are they doing in Div I in the first damn place!

 
I totally see where you're coming from, the same point is made when discussing this with my friends.

Then I counter with, win your conference and all will be well...back and forth, back and forth. Then we reach the conclusion that there are just TOO MANY low quality teams in Div I and that a restructuring is needed.

I guess we'll find out if you get both your wishes(playoff and restructuring) by 2012 when the current reclassification moratorium is over. I doubt that a playoff is implanted before then.

 
In the spirit of fair play, I think a different team should be chosen at the beginning of every year to be that year's national champion. That way everybody gets a shiney trophy for their trophy case and nobody get's their feelings hurt....

All the other teams will get a lovely "participant" ribbon for their trophy case.

The champion would be chosen by alphabetical order starting with A in 2009 and ending with Z somewhere around 3012...

The 2009 National Champion will be the University of Akron.

This method of determining a champion will go far in the promotion of self-esteem for ALL athletes and fairness for all athletic teams...and isn't that what sports is all about...fairness and self-esteem?

Now...pardon me while I projectile vomit..... <_<

 
Cy the Cyclone said:
In the spirit of fair play, I think a different team should be chosen at the beginning of every year to be that year's national champion. That way everybody gets a shiney trophy for their trophy case and nobody get's their feelings hurt....

All the other teams will get a lovely "participant" ribbon for their trophy case.

The champion would be chosen by alphabetical order starting with A in 2009 and ending with Z somewhere around 3012...

The 2009 National Champion will be the University of Akron.

This method of determining a champion will go far in the promotion of self-esteem for ALL athletes and fairness for all athletic teams...and isn't that what sports is all about...fairness and self-esteem?

Now...pardon me while I projectile vomit..... <_<
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In that case, I can't wait for 2082! :bonez

 
VA Husker Fan said:
huskersok said:
If college football were a business that had to rely on profits and fan participation to survive, how would that business be doing now? Has college football ever had so much success as it has had over the last few years? If you were the owner of the business, why would you change something that is working so well and making money? Why take the chance of making something people want to buy - the regular season - into something only the diehard fans may watch each and every week.

IMO, College football is special because of the regular season. I may be in the minority here, but I like the way it is set up now.
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If you were a business making money, you wouldn't look for better ways to make more money? I sure would. I would be looking at other models and see how they work. March Madness looks to be doing very well, and doesn't seem to hurt the regular season. So is the College World Series, for a sport that has a very small following in college. I think removing the CWS would make that following even smaller.

Like I said, you have to keep teams motivated to stay in the top 4 or top 8 to make the regular season meaningful. One loss, and you maybe you don't get a bye, or a home game.

And as far as the championship goes, there really are only a few meaningful games out there right now. TT at OU, the Big 12 championship game, and the SEC championship game. Certainly any Big East, Big 10, ACC or Pac 10 game that has meaning only to fill the remaining BCS games would have a lot more meaning if it meant getting a spot in a playoff.

How would a playoff make the NU-CU game any less meaningful? And there are plenty of other games around the country that will have a strong following, even though teams have no chance for a bowl, or are positioning for a minor bowl. I don't see how a playoff would change that.
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Based on the new ESPN/BCS deal, I think they did figure out how to make more $$. A lot more. <_<

Baseball and basketball teams play what, 200 games a year? :sarcasm Do fans even remember what team won in the first half of the season? These sports have to have playoffs since the seasons are so dang long.

If we had a playoff system now, would the TT/OU game even matter that much? Would not both teams get into the playoff with a loss? Yes, I know they are also playing for the South Championship, but this is just an example.

Why does football have to follow in the footsteps of the other sports? The uniqueness is something they would lose.

 
I'm against any kind of playoff because I like the way it is now for the most part. I look forward to December and the beginning of January because most of the games (even at the bottom of the bowls) are more evenly matched than the rest of the season. There may be 2 games each weekend that I'm interested in watching other than the team I'm a fan of, but in December and beginning of January there are games that look interested almost every day! The only change I think might work would be to have it like it was before the BCS with rotating bowls for "national championships" then if there are possible ties like Nebraska Michigan play the game at a neutral location. That illiminates the who's really #1 thing but doesn't change college football so drastically to take importance away from the rest of the season.

 
Easy way to do it:

8 team playoff 6 automatic bids, 2 at large (4 games at BCS locations), then just have the two semifinal games at one location and the championship game at another. All other bowls stay the same.

 
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huskersok said:
If college football were a business that had to rely on profits and fan participation to survive, how would that business be doing now? Has college football ever had so much success as it has had over the last few years? If you were the owner of the business, why would you change something that is working so well and making money? Why take the chance of making something people want to buy - the regular season - into something only the diehard fans may watch each and every week.

IMO, College football is special because of the regular season. I may be in the minority here, but I like the way it is set up now.
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I agree 100%.

College football is special because every game matters. I'm afraid a playoff would make it NFL Lite. Does anyone remember who won the Super Bowl two or three years ago? But 10 years later I still argue with my friends in Michigan over who would have won, Michigan or Nebraska.

 
I still remember when New Years Day was something more than a day to nurse a hang-over. I still think college service has been done an incredible diservice. With the major bowl games all being played on a major holiday you could have a Whoppin big party with fans from lots of teams. Several TVs in different rooms, lots of ice cold beer, lots of food and snacks and great football. Now we get the "National Championship game on a week/work day with the opportunity to nurse your hang-over at work the next day. That is if you even care about the game. I know the "Goog Ole Days" can never be revisited but what a can of BS got opened when people started all this, "We need to know who the real champion is."

T_O_B

 
huskersok said:
VA Husker Fan said:
huskersok said:
If college football were a business that had to rely on profits and fan participation to survive, how would that business be doing now? Has college football ever had so much success as it has had over the last few years? If you were the owner of the business, why would you change something that is working so well and making money? Why take the chance of making something people want to buy - the regular season - into something only the diehard fans may watch each and every week.

IMO, College football is special because of the regular season. I may be in the minority here, but I like the way it is set up now.
Click to expand...
If you were a business making money, you wouldn't look for better ways to make more money? I sure would. I would be looking at other models and see how they work. March Madness looks to be doing very well, and doesn't seem to hurt the regular season. So is the College World Series, for a sport that has a very small following in college. I think removing the CWS would make that following even smaller.

Like I said, you have to keep teams motivated to stay in the top 4 or top 8 to make the regular season meaningful. One loss, and you maybe you don't get a bye, or a home game.

And as far as the championship goes, there really are only a few meaningful games out there right now. TT at OU, the Big 12 championship game, and the SEC championship game. Certainly any Big East, Big 10, ACC or Pac 10 game that has meaning only to fill the remaining BCS games would have a lot more meaning if it meant getting a spot in a playoff.

How would a playoff make the NU-CU game any less meaningful? And there are plenty of other games around the country that will have a strong following, even though teams have no chance for a bowl, or are positioning for a minor bowl. I don't see how a playoff would change that.
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Based on the new ESPN/BCS deal, I think they did figure out how to make more $$. A lot more. <_<

Baseball and basketball teams play what, 200 games a year? :sarcasm Do fans even remember what team won in the first half of the season? These sports have to have playoffs since the seasons are so dang long.

If we had a playoff system now, would the TT/OU game even matter that much? Would not both teams get into the playoff with a loss? Yes, I know they are also playing for the South Championship, but this is just an example.

Why does football have to follow in the footsteps of the other sports? The uniqueness is something they would lose.
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I guess we agree to disagree. The TT/OU winner would certainly get a bye in my system, and the loser would have an extra game they'd have to win. That would mean a lot, not as much as being out of it totally, but certainly disadvantaged. And it reduces the issue where a late season loss (almost always, exception 2001) takes you out, whereas an early loss can often be recovered from.

Besides, your point is that one or two games (SEC championship being the other one) might become a bit less vital, whereas there's a number of other games that would become critical to get one of the playoff spots. Basically nearly every team in the top 20 would be needing a win to either stay in the playoffs or get a better seeding.

I'm fine with losing uniqueness for a (in my opinion) better system. I'll respect your opinion, but don't agree with it, and don't feel the arguments are that compelling.

 
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