FBS Playoff Series: Eight Teams

Streamlining Our Current Playoff Games

For the SEC, Big 12, and ACC the Conference Championship Games are really like playoff games. One team makes it into the BCS, and 24 of the 26 losers end up on the outside looking in.

These championship games have really been about the money first and honoring their playoff-like position only when it can result in even more money.

The simple solution is to cash in on this extra money the playoff like atmosphere brings and order these games into a true playoff.

In previous iterations of the FBS Playoff Series we've looked at these Conference Championship Games and other potential games as "play-in" games for the BCS. Now, we will examine three ways in which these will become true "playoff" games!

1) Re-Structuring The Conference Championship Games

The top eight teams as ranked by a poll (BCS, AP, something new) make the playoff with the only exception that a conference can send no more than two teams. There is no need to grant automatic bids to teams ranked in the teens or twenties and dilute the field.

The sites for these four games will be determined ahead of schedule and some will be hosted by conferences like the Big 12, SEC and perhaps also the ACC. If two teams from one of these host conferences qualifies then they will be matched in their Conference Championship Game.

In the case where the Big 12 or SEC fail to place two teams in the playoff, then their conference champion will be determined by record as other conferences do.

Beside the Big 12 and SEC, the two other games will be hosted by the top 2 conference champions (not limited to BCS conferences) of that year. Matchups will then be paired by the highest-ranked team remaining against the lowest-ranked host champion and on down the line.

This year's matchups, using AP rankings:

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida (SEC Quarterfinal)
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (Big 12 Quarterfinal)
No. 5 USC vs. No. 9 Boise State (West Quarterfinal)
No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 7 Utah (East Quarterfinal)

2) Maintaining The Bowl Season

Firstly, the ACC and the Big East will not be forced to give up their automatic BCS bids. All BCS bids are determined as normal except instead of the top two teams automatically receiving placement, the four quarterfinal winners will.

These four teams are matched top to bottom around New Year's in two of the BCS bowls. Three more BCS Bowls (including a fifth, like the Cotton) are also played at this time, and the National Championship is played more than a week later.

In the example where the Big Ten Runner-up makes the playoff but the Big Ten Champion does not then the Big Ten Champion still makes the Rose Bowl, although they are ineligible for the National Championship.

The revenue associated with both the BCS as well as every other bowl stays as is. Because the quarterfinal games are played at the conclusion of the regular season the losers of these games are all bowl eligible.

3) Keep The Money Going To The Right Places

Revenue for the Quarterfinal games will be distributed equally among each participating team's conference with an extra share given to host conferences (the SEC, and Big 12) for forfeiting the right to a Championship Game if two teams do not place.

Qualifications for becoming a host conference include having the NCAA mandated minimum of 12 teams needed to host a conference championship game and a minimum performance requirement, like placing a team in the playoff twice in the last four years.

The SEC, Big 12, and ACC all qualify in this manner, although the ACC would rarely again see a true Championship Game.

The SEC would make more money on this game provided they place two teams in the playoff and on average (incl. years with one playoff team) would be breaking even. If only one Big 12 team makes the playoff then they would receive only slightly less than they do traditionally, so the Big 12 on average would be receiving more money.

Other conferences from the Big East to the Mountain West would also be receiving a substantial benefit from these additional playoff games (est. 6 million per participant).

Conclusion

It might take a miracle for the SEC to agree right now on any playoff larger than four teams. The last time an SEC team was outside the top four prior to their conference championship was 2000.

This model would award the best teams without penalizing (at least not monetarily) the larger conferences. Even throwing out the caveat of a non-BCS Champion getting a bid if in the top 14 or 18 and keeping the postseason field limited to eight and not 10, there would be more Playoff "Busters," SIX, if using the AP polls.

Many fans want a playoff but tacking a large playoff on top of the playoff-like Conference Champion Games, is a flawed approach. These need to be combined and this is the model that does just that.

More Iterations Of The FBS Playoff Series

Two Teams

Four Teams

Sixteen Teams