College Football 2011: 5 Ways To Make It Better Without a Playoff
A playoff system in college football, the holy grail of sports fans. In college basketball, March Madness is one of the most exciting things in the sporting world, and football fans are clamoring for such a colorful and full blown championship experience.
Don't hold your breath.
However, there are many things that could be done to improve the sport that we love. Some are small tweaks, others are probably unrealistic and radical, but the system that we have in place could definitely use some tweaking.
Here are some of my thoughts; please, feel free to share some of your own!
Make the BCS Games an Audition for the National Championship
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There are many people who feel that a playoff system would be too unwieldy for college sports purposes. It would take too long, and the potential for extra injury is high.
However, why not use the eight teams that get to play in the four BCS bowls to determine a winner based on performance?
The Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Rose Bowl generally feature high quality teams. After the eight teams play, you can use one of two ways to pick the two championship contenders.
1. Vote
Much like the Heisman ballot, coaches and members of the media would have to turn in a ballot with the name of the team they feel deserves a shot at the national championship based on the performance at their designated bowl.
They only have to pick between the four winners, and that would not be a lengthy process.
2. Have the games use a point system.
If a team wins a BCS bowl 45-17, chances are, that team is pretty solid. You could award points based on who was the top scorer, passing team, running team, and other stats.
If nothing else, this would make the BCS games even more intense to watch.
Do Away with the Computers, Rely Only on Coaches Vote for Champion Matchup
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Robots don't always know best!
Seriously, the computer coding needs to be done away with. Why not ONLY rely on the Coaches poll to come up with a championship game?
I will discuss a different approach to the point system in a later slide, but do we even need a point system? Who is generally the most knowledgeable about the teams that they play? The coaches. Who is most likely to put aside personal biases that plague media members? The coaches.
The coaches not only understand the game, but they know the players, coaches and abilities of their brethren way more than anyone else.
Why not put the robots to rest?
Create a Simpler Point System
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Seriously, does it take a math major to understand how the pick the teams for the BCS championship game? It is a convoluted mess, and most people don't understand how it works.
I am not a NASCAR fan. However, they constantly discuss on their programs how superior the points race is in their program.
It rewards winning, simple as that.
Why not come up with a simple, streamlined point system to come up with your championship match up?
Set the NCAA into three tiers... Tier One (BCS Conference Teams) Tier Two (Non-BCS Conference Teams) and Tier Three (Football Subdivision teams).
If you beat a BCS Conference team, you earn three points. Tier two, two points and tier three, one point. That's it. Don't take away points for losses.
This would do a couple of things, one, it would give the one loss teams an easier way to compare one another (whichever team played the more brutal schedule would have more points) and two, it would solve the issue of scheduling cupcakes, which I will address later.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Do Away with Scheduling "Cupcakes"
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The age old issue of great teams hitting the field against alleged "cupcake" teams is an issue that I don't envision going away any time soon.
The money is too good for those small schools to ignore, and it gives the bigger schools a chance for an easy win.
Is it fair to give an easy win to any team? There are some bigger schools out there who schedule two to three of these games A YEAR. It is basically like starting the season 3-0. All you really have to do is show up (unless you are Ole Miss or Virginia Tech).
This strikes at a core issue for college football, you are comparing teams that are incomparable if they don't play one another, all schedules are not created equal. While you can sit there and say the computer takes that into account, the reality is, is that they don't. When you have a national champion who played Arkansas State, Chattanooga, and Louisiana Monroe, that says something.
Don't think I am pointing out Auburn all alone... it happens every year.
What if you had a one team limit? You wouldn't allow a team from a BCS conference to play more than one small school in one season. If they do, they forfeit the chance for a national championship.
There are schools out there like East Carolina and Southern Mississippi who are good solid mid range teams these schools can schedule without issue. You don't need James Madison involved to fill out a schedule.
Move the Championship Game Closer to the End of the Actual Season
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January 10, 2011 was this season's date for the BCS Championship.
Do you know when Auburn last played?
December 4, in the SEC Championship Game against South Carolina. That is the same day Oregon played last (against Oregon State).
Seriously, almost a month passed between these games. That is a ridiculous amount of time. I understand that you have many bowl games to get through, but come on. The championship game should be played on New Year's Day.
It really should be. Most people have that day off, and if you think that business was booming when the game was shown on a Monday night, try showing it on a day when most people are off.
It just takes so long, and the teams are so rusty. Start the bowl games early. Make the BCS games over by New Year's Eve, then play the championship the day after. It is a sham that these schools had to wait that long to play.
This is realistic, and is something I feel should be fixed immediately.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
