Bleacher Report - Articles by Michael Hoppes

Is a College Football Playoff Patented?

Michael Hoppes — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:45:36 -0400

I recently discovered US Patent #6053823: Method for conducting championship playoff.

It’s quite clear that it’s for a college football playoff. It includes a “Coaches' Poll, Writers' Poll and Independent/Objective Poll,” all combined to produce a playoff bracket.

The top 12 teams go into a “Championship Tournament,” and teams 13-28 into a secondary tournament. The top four teams get a bye the first week and then enter a four-week playoff. Overtime would be a continuation of the game, not the standard college football overtime rules.

The patent seems to be very specific, until the last line.

"Whereas the method of the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof, many modifications, substitutions and additions may be made which are within the intended broad scope of the appended claims. For example, the number of teams utilized in the championship and second tournaments could be anything from three teams on up. The days on which the games are played and particular sequence of the games could easily be varied. Shorter or longer seasons for each team is possible. A third tertiary tournament could be added to the post-season for additional teams ranked below those in the championship and secondary tournaments. Or the tertiary tournament could be consolation games for those teams which lost in the first round of either or both the championship and secondary tournaments. Similarly, the polls could be of any type, whether subjective or objective, and could be of any number."

Perhaps there can’t be a playoff because it’s patented? It was filed July 17, 1998, but the date on the patent is April 25, 2000. Patents last 20 years, so does that mean no playoff until 2020 (or 2018)?

I’m also amazed there’s poor grammar/English in the patent. What the heck did the attorney (Koley, Jessen, Daubman & Rupiper, P.C. Frederiksen; Mark D.) get their money for?

"Also, because team B scored first, team A would no the number of points needed to tie or surpass team B."

Patent is owned by Marc Mathews of Chandler, AZ.

Ohio State Football: Back to the BCS Championship Game?

Michael Hoppes — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:00:46 -0400

Jim Tressel won't be happy to read this.

Ohio State has lost the BCS National Championship game the last two seasons. In fact, they are the only team to ever lose the BCS National Championship game. Yes, it’s only been played twice, but Ohio State has only ever lost it. Congrats to the SEC, who have the only two teams to ever win it.

But here we are getting ready for 2008. Should Ohio State be allowed in the title game once again?

Sure, they are allowed by the rules, but will the voters (Coaches and AP and Harris) actually rank them No. 1 or No. 2 and give them the nod for the game? The computers are blind to this process (or at least should be, they are a computer and don’t have this human emotion).

It’s entirely possible that Ohio State ends up No. 1 or No. 2 in the BCS Rankings, where none of the pollsters put them as No. 1 or No. 2 but the computers give them such a high ranking that it’s enough to pull them up, despite the human wishes.

Let’s say that Ohio State is the only undefeated team at the end of the regular season. With a win over expected quality of teams like USC who could finish in the top 10, it would be hard to say no, especially if they are the only undefeated team.

But in a field of one-loss teams, with one or fewer undefeated teams, it would be a selection by the pollsters. Personally, I wouldn’t rank Ohio State as No. 2 in this case: Even if I thought they were the second best team in the country for 2008. They’ve had their chance—and, well, you know the results.

It seems then that the only way Ohio State makes it in to the game is if they’re a clear choice: As one of two undefeated teams (or the only one), or the only one-loss team with fewer than two undefeated teams.

So what are the chances of Ohio State actually being in the game this year? Don’t count on it.

In fact, here’s my bold prediction: Ohio State will not be playing in the 2009 BCS National Championship game. They won’t go undefeated. I see a one-loss season in a field of one-loss teams, and I can’t pick them as No. 1 or No. 2.

College Football: Why the Coaches' Poll Shouldn't Be Part of BCS Rankings

Michael Hoppes — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:20:23 -0400

A look at how Mack Brown wants the Coaches' Poll out of the BCS Rankings (Well, who doesn’t? And also, who does?) led me to another blog and "A fix for the Coaches Poll?"

They propose a simple approval voting system, where each coach would just list the top 10 teams, in no specific order, and each team would receive one point and then all the points combined.

Sounds fairly neutral, but Part Two shows there isn’t much change. If you read Part Two, you’ll even see an amazing voice for ousting coaches as pollsters:

Before getting to the results, one noteworthy item: It’s apparent when you go through the coaches’ ballots that there were many agendas in play. If you feel like it, go through them (they’re linked from Barnhart’s post). You’ll be surprised, as I was, to see how often you can correctly guess the conference a coach is affiliated with based on the order of his ballot.

Bias? Why can’t the coaches be held to a higher standard?

Oh, and for the record, I would love to be on the committee that selected the BCS contenders. NCAA / BCS: Please contact me.