Why Not Convert The BCS Into The NFL's Minor League? (Part One)

With all the talk of a Pac-16, it occurred to me that what really needs to happen is for the NCAA to just sell Division I football to the NFL.

Crazy, right?

How can the NCAA keep it? Oh wait, it's the tradition...right?

Traditional rivalries like Texas A&M vs. Cal? Or USC vs. Oklahoma State?

Tradition is gone. It is ALL about the money—TV money, that is.

So let's look at a college football landscape that levels the playing field.

NFL High School Draft

• Each NFL team gets four D-I schools (bumping the number of teams to 128).
• Each school gets 20 draft picks per year.
• Draft order is the reverse of the team standings in the league the previous season, and players will be drafted by region.
• The total squad will not exceed 120 players, with walk-ons to fill out the remainder of positions.
• All D-I football players get a stipend ($3,000 as freshmen to $10,000 as seniors).
• No D-I Player is allowed to declare for the NFL until after junior year.
• Four 32-team leagues broken into four divisions of eight teams.
• This gives us a 32-team playoff system, with the top team in each division playing each other and four league champions who go into a three-game championship.
• Conferences will be based on region and controlled by the NFL.

What does the NCAA get?

• No more rules infractions.
• Billions of dollars from the NFL.
• More funds allotted to non-football sports.
• Did I mention billions of dollars?
• Athletes that stay in school for their entire four years (continuity).

Why this would work

College football is a business, and a BIG business at that. Billions are spent on the backs of kids who are expected to play for free (yeah, yeah, they get an education...but how many REALLY get an education?) and bolt for the NFL as soon as they are eligible.

How much money would the schools save by leaving scouting to the professionals?

No more recruiting trips.

No more eligibility issues.

No more rescinded commitments on signing day.

Coaches could coach...period.

In five years, UAB or UNT could play for a national title, and unless USC ends up under the Detroit Lions, coaching would still be a deciding factor in playing for a championship.

Why it would not work

USC, Bama, Texas, Florida...

The superpowers would lose their advantage, and that cannot happen.

The BCS would go away forever.

Am I nuts?

The NFL could assign colleges to each team based on region, or they could hold a draft that brings in tons of revenue and speculation throughout the year leading up to it.

So, how to do it? A draft seems logical, so let's look at how that might play out. I will use the final 2009 rankings to base the selections and a few regional switches that could occur.

Making the draft a regional thing would take away from the hype and debate, and it would limit new viewers to each parent team's gold mine. So this is a wide-open draft...

Mock Draft Round One

1. St. Louis Rams: Alabama

2. Detroit Lions: Texas

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Florida

4. Washington Redskins: Ohio State

5. Kansas City Chiefs: Oklahoma

6. Seattle Seahawks: Boise State

7. Cleveland Browns: Cincinnati

8. Oakland Raiders: TCU

9. Buffalo Bills: Penn State

10. Jacksonville Jaguars: Florida State

11. Chicago Bears: Notre Dame

12. Miami Dolphins: Miami

13. San Francisco 49ers: Oregon

14. Denver Broncos: Colorado

15. New York Giants: Oklahoma

16. Tennessee Titans: Tennessee

17. Carolina Panthers: Virginia Tech

18. Pittsburgh Steelers: Pitt

19. Atlanta Falcons: Georgia

20. Houston Texans: Texas A&M

21. Cincinnati Bengals: Auburn

22. New England Patriots: Nebraska

23. Green Bay Packers: Wisconsin

24. Philadelphia Eagles: Utah

25. Baltimore Ravens: BYU

26. Arizona Cardinals: Arizona

27. Dallas Cowboys: Texas Tech

28. San Diego Chargers: UCLA

29. New York Jets: Syracuse

30. Minnesota Vikings: Minnesota

31. Indianapolis Colts: Purdue

32. New Orleans Saints: LSU

Of course there would be trades, but, seeing how this is totally hypothetical, who knows what would happen?

I can see some teams trying to keep the talent regional and others going after new markets. Depending on high school draft rules, it could be entirely regional.

With that, we are off...