I have been surfing the BleacherReport world for several months now and a recurring theme keeps rearing its ugly head. Would a playoff in college football really solve everything?
Many people have given their thoughts on the subject and have laid out different ways in which the playoff system would work. So what does someone like me do in this situation? Well, I pick up a stick and continue to beat the dead horse.
DISCLAIMER: I do not, under any circumstance, believe we should go to a playoff system in college football. I have welcomed the BCS system into my home with open arms and I do not plan on kicking it out any time soon. So with that…let us get to the meat of this article.
If someone came up to me and wielded a weapon and said, "I demand you create a playoff system in college football," this is what I envision would be my masterpiece.
1.) THE SPLIT: Divide D-I into two equal halves: D-IA and D-IB. Each division consists of 6 conferences with 10 teams to each conference. Both divisions have a separate National Title that they play for. Because lets face it, under the current system, teams like Ball State, Fresno State and Tulane would never play for a National Title.
Just look at 2006. Boise State was the only undefeated D-I school left at the end of the bowl season and they only climbed to fifth. In 2007, Hawaii was the only undefeated team left at the end of the regular season and wasn’t even considered for the NCG. Under this system, EVERY team has a realistic shot at a National Title.
D-IA contains all six BCS conferences (tweaked slightly), and D-IB contains all non-BCS conferences (again, tweaked slightly).
For the sake of time, I have only drawn out how D-IA would look. Please don’t blow an O-ring if your team wasn’t selected. There are loopholes that will be discussed later.
(Teams in bold are additions to the conference)
ACC: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (Duke has been demoted to D-IB).
Big East: Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, WVU (Syracuse has been demoted to D-IB).
Big Ten: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin (Indiana has been demoted to D-IB).
Big 12: Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech (Iowa State and Baylor have been demoted to D-IB).
Pac-10: Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, California, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Utah(Washington and Washington State have been demoted to D-IB).
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee (Mississippi State and Vanderbilt demoted to D-IB).
2.) THE SEASON: Each team plays a 12-game season. Everyone's season begins on the last Saturday in August and everyone receives a bye week after six games. Each team plays nine conference games plus three non-conference games that are randomly selected at the end of the previous season.
The non-conference games are played first, followed by conference play. Six games are played at home and six are played away. If a team gets two non-conference away games one year, the next year they will two home games.
**Example Season—Oregon**
@ Auburn
Nebraska
@ Boston College
Arizona State
@ Oregon State
Boise State
--Bye Week--
@ USC
Arizona
@ California
UCLA
@ Utah
BYU
If your team gets USC, Florida, and Texas as their non-conference match-ups, then tough luck. There will be no more complaining about teams not traveling out of their region or teams scheduling weak non-conference opponents. Everything is random.
3.) THE RANKINGS
comments (9) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
There's not much point in commenting on your system. It's so unrealistic. Having said that:
- I give you credit for addressing the balance of power issue. It is the critical reason a playoff of less than 24 teams will only perpetuate and exacerbate the present day controversies.
- Even though you cut out half the league, your playoff is still too exclusive. You are only letting 10% of the teams into the playoffs. The NFL lets 38% of their teams in.
- You've eliminated all meaning from the conference championships, which would at least be a secondary goal for the 54 teams that are left out of the playoff every year.
- Using computers to determine the participants will create a firestorm of criticism. The results will be disputed by the left outs just as much as they would dispute a writers poll.
Bottom line - you will end up with at least a 16 team playoff, with 6 conference champions and 10 wild cards chosen on the basis of W-L records.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah I know it is unrealistic. That's why I called it The Mythical Playoff System.
1. - You are right. There is a huge problem with the balance of power in D-I. Dividing it in half would help significantly in balancing the system. Just look at the BCS standings right now. There are 5 undefeated teams and they are ranked #1, #2, #7, #9 and #17. That tells you right there that certain teams are given more respect than others.
2. - The reason I cut it to 6 teams was to make sure an undefeated team is never left out of the playoff. There can't be more than 6 undefeated teams in my scenario. I was thinking about increasing it to 8 and having the conference champions make the playoffs, along with 2 wildcards but I believe that would cause an even bigger uproar if a team ranked below the top 8 got in by simply winning its conference. That's why you should just take the top 6 teams and be done with it. That's as fair as you can get. This also puts more emphasis back on winning as many games as possible. Teams can't cheat the system by losing a few games here and there but end up winning their conference and sliding in...like the NFL. Teams will still need to go out and play every game like it is a playoff game to ensure they are in the top 6 at the end of the season.
3. - There can still be conference championships in my system. They just won't guarantee that you get into the playoffs by winning your conference. Under most playoff proposals, the conference champions get in automatically. Using the BCS system right now...#1 Alabama, #2 Texas Tech, #7 Penn State, #19 Cincinnati, #21 Oregon State, and #22 North Carolina would be in the playoffs because they would be conference champions. Those aren't the best teams in football right now. It should be the top 6 teams and that's it. Taking away the importance of the conference championship would make the playoffs more exciting because the top teams are in.
4. - I think there is more criticism with the humans than there is with the computers. The computers just spit out numbers. You can't get mad at a computer. It doesn't have emotions or any bias towards a certain team. Coaches vote very radically at times and it can sway the polls in favor of one team or another. Using only computers is a way to counteract that.
But like I said...I enjoy the BCS system the way it is. If a playoff system gets installed it will turn college football into the NFL. I enjoy the NFL but I don't want to see its system brought to college football.
There is nothing like it.
about 1 month ago
What an outstanding article, full of great ideas. Thank you for publishing this, Kent!
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the comment BT. I decided to throw my hat into the ring.
Stand by for more.
about 1 month ago
What kind of weapon would be wielded at you?
...for humor's sake... :)
from about 1 month ago
I was thinking along the lines of a prison shank.
about 1 month ago
.
about 1 month ago
Kent,
thanks for checking out my view on realigning division 1B. I like what you did with this.
about 1 month ago
Nice, it's kind of like the English Premier League in soccer, where good teams move in and out of the top division based on their performance the year before.
write a new comment