College Football Preview, 2011-12 Playoffs: Better Than the BCS

Before anyone points it out to me, I know that there is no postseason tournament in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Fortunately, however, there are a sufficient number of college football fans frustrated with the current postseason system that this article might make for an interesting "What If?" read, as well as demonstrating just how easily a shift could be made from the current Bowl Championship Series (BCS) format to an eight-team, single-elimination tournament.

For those readers who want some background information as well as examples of the potential postseason tournaments going all the way back to the 1998/99 season (the first year of the BCS), you can read the following articles:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/51983-broken-championship-system-heres-how-to-fix-it (1998/99 through 2007/08)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/442678-college-football-preview-2010-11-playoffs-there-can-be-only-eight (2008/09 and 2009/10)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/538595-college-football-fbs-8-team-playoff-2010-11-edition (2010/11)

I'll cut to the chase. Here are my "predictions":

Quarterfinals (Jan. 2, 2012)

• Rose Bowl: Stanford (Pac-12 champion) vs. Wisconsin (Big "10" champion)
• Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (Big "12" champion) vs. Stanford (at-large)
• Sugar Bowl: Alabama (SEC champion) vs. Texas A&M (at-large)
• Orange Bowl: Florida State (ACC champion) vs. West Virginia (Big East champion)

"Losers":  Georgia*, Utah*, Nebraska*, Virginia Tech*, Boise State, LSU, Oregon

* = As loser of a conference championship game, these teams would be ineligible for a quarterfinal berth, but free to participate in a non-playoff bowl game.

The "losers" are those teams that aspired to make the eight-team tournament, but came up short, either by losing their conference championship game (which means they are not conference champions) or by not finishing high enough in the NCAA Gridiron Power Index (GPI).

Right now you're probably thinking to yourself: "Wait, what?"

Well, the GPI is a real statistic, similar to the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), and is already used by the NCAA for at-large selection in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.

http://collegesportingnews.com/content.php?125

This would in fact be preferable to using either the Associated Press poll or the BCS ranking; those measures are too closely linked to the previous postseason system (1936-97) and the current system (1998-?), respectively.

Now, back to my hypothetical eight-team playoff: what comes after the quarterfinals?

Semifinals (Jan. 9, 2012) and Final (Jan. 16, 2012)

• Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX (pictured at top of article)

Why Reliant Stadium? Well, last season I used Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX; the year before that, Ford Field in Detroit; and the year before that the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. These hypothetical neutral sites for the "FBS Final Four" are intended to provide a location which is large enough to handle an event of this magnitude while also guaranteeing ideal playing conditions. I was going to use Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, but apparently they'll be quite busy with preparations for (the real) Super Bowl XLVI (to be held Feb. 5, 2012).

As previously mentioned in last year's articles, this is a way to keep the four BCS bowls intact, while at the same time implementing a playoff system. The function currently held on a rotating basis by the four bowls--that of a national championship game--would be assigned to the "FBS Final Four" site (along with the semifinals, of course).

This system would take elements from both the NCAA Div. I basketball tournaments (with the "Final Four" being held at one site, which changes from year to year) and the NCAA College World Series (by using a fixed site, in this case for the four quarterfinals).

By doing this, college football could generate both enough income and enough public interest  (as quarterfinals) while adding the appeal of a true "Final Four" site (with a "Final Four" atmosphere) which changes each season... but which does NOT exist at the moment in the top tier of college football. At the same time, the tradition involved with the four BCS bowl sites, including conference tie-ins, could be preserved (but need not be, if either geographic or seeding considerations take precedence) if so desired.

In any case, I'll be following this college football season as closely as any other. When it comes to November and December, however, I'm likely to become more interested in the NCAA Division I playoff that will definitely happen: the one held by the Football Championship Subdivision. If you haven't watched it before, I encourage you to do so--and to imagine it on an FBS scale.

Try it, you'll like it.