College Football Playoffs: Setting Up the System

College football has improved dramatically since 1998, when the BCS was first implemented. The rankings system made it simple to finally have an assured national champion each year with no debate, and people supported that.

Now, however, we have reached a point where the BCS has ripped apart the whole idea of fair placement, leading to frustrated fans, players and universities. The computer rankings are completely based off statistics, while the Coaches' and Harris polls are totally subjected to bias. The idea is solid, but the overall results seem flawed.

Teams like Boise State and TCU have been ultimately screwed out of an opportunity to prove themselves, while some undefeated squads were squandered chances to play in the title game. Many fans are begging for a playoff system that every other major college and professional sports league has, and until now, a system on how a playoff would work has never been made.

This article examines the current way things are run and how a 16-team playoff system could work for the future four super conferences of the nation.  

The Four New Super Conferences

As I have discussed in multiple other articles, the Big 12 and the Big East are completely unstable and will eventually collapse. With Texas A&M leaving the nation's central conference, while Pitt and Syracuse already planning to move on from the Big East to the ACC, not even additions of weaker teams could save these two.

The Pac-12 is too strong of a draw for Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech. UT will eventually get over their whole network and consolidate it into a regional part of the Pac-12 plan, making way for them and their Big 12 companions to head west. This will form the Pac-16.

The SEC has already officially announced the addition of Texas A&M, putting them up at 13 members strong. The best football conference in the nation will need to eventually make that number 14, and West Virginia is the perfect fit. With both coming in to join the party, the SEC will top off at 14.

The Big Ten has finally made it to 12 with the addition of Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers won't be the last team to fill out this conference. Notre Dame has been sought after for ages, and when the 11th hour comes for the Irish, they will finally join in with the Big Ten and take a grateful Missouri with them.

Depending on the conference's desires, Kansas and K-State might also receive an invite, but seeing their position now, 14 seems like the max for the Big Ten.

The ACC is already adding Syracuse and Pitt to their conglomerate of teams, putting them up at 14. UConn and Rutgers would complete their domination of the eastern seaboard, leaving the ACC at 16.

This would conclude the four super conferences compilation, leaving a Big 12/Big East merged together and the MWC, C-USA and MAC cleaning up any scraps. 

The New Regular Season and Conference Championships

Since playoffs will consume four extra games that we don't usually have, the NCAA would be forced to decrease the regular season down to around 11 games. Decreasing the regular season by one game would only help to protect players and would be popular with many of the academic supporters.

With an 11-game regular season, the SEC and Big Ten teams would each play six division games, three non-divisional conference games and one non-conference game. The Pac-16 and the ACC teams would each play seven division games, two non-divisional games and one non-conference game. 

This may seem a bit far with how most teams would only play a team from their opposing division once every three to four years, depending on which conference they are in. However, to protect players and to create strong incentive for team's seasons to continue in the playoffs, this is necessary.

As for conference championships, they will be eliminated. An extra game would be too much on the stronger teams of the conferences, and the playoff system will solve any "who wins the conference?" kinds of questions each year.

The 16-Team Playoff Dream

The basics behind this whole playoff system would be the take a significant number of teams from each conference without extending the season too long for the two squads who play in the title game.

With 16 teams in the playoffs and only an 11-game season, the playoffs will only be extend those last two teams to 15 games, two games past what normal bowl teams play now and only one more than what teams play if they are in conference championships. This won't cause much more strain on teams than is necessary and will create strong incentive to do better throughout the season.

Basically, the whole idea is that with a 16-team playoff, three teams from each super conference will be chosen, the winner of each division as well as the wild card. The fourth spot will be filled by the conference champion of one of the four mid-major conferences.

The division winners of each conference will occupy a piece of the bracket. The wild card slot will be filled by the third best team in the conference, no matter the division. The four mid-major conferences who will send their champion to the playoffs will be the Mountain West, Conference USA, the Big 12/Big East merger and the Mid-American Conference.

The MWC will play a Pac-16 division winner, the C-USA will play a SEC division winner, the Big 12/Big East merger will play an ACC division winner and the MAC will play a Big Ten division winner.

The bracket will have two major sides, the East and the West. In the East, the SEC will play the ACC, while in the West, the Pac-16 will face off against the Big Ten. 

The Eastern Bracket

The Eastern Bracket would be the SEC vs the ACC. With eight teams total, four would be division winners, two would be wild cards and the final two would be from the Big 12/Big East merger and C-USA. 

The top part of the bracket would be led by the SEC West and the ACC Coastal division victors, while the bottom would be owned by the SEC East and ACC Atlantic division winners. 

The better of the two ACC division winners would play the Big 12/Big East merger champion, while the second would face off against the SEC wild card. The SEC division winners would be similar, with the stronger one playing the C-USA champ and the weaker versing the ACC wild card. 

For the first round, the team with the better record would have the home field advantage. After that, the top of the bracket would play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, while the bottom would face off in the the Chick-fil-a Bowl in Atlanta. The final game between the winners of the two brackets would be played in the Orange Bowl in Miami.

The victor would advance to the national championship game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, which is centrally located between the four conferences in a southern, mostly temperate climate. 

The Western Bracket

The Western Bracket would be the Pac-16 vs the Big Ten. With eight teams in the mix, four would be division winners, two would be wild cards and the final two would be from the MWC and the MAC. 

The top part of the bracket would be owned by the Pac-16 North and the Big Ten Legends division winners, while the bottom would be led by the Big Ten Leaders and the Pac-16 South division victors. 

The better of the two Pac-16 division winners would play the Mountain West champion, while the second would be versing the Big Ten wild card. The Big Ten division winners would have the same layout, the stronger one playing the MAC champ and the weaker facing off against the Pac-16 wild card. 

For the first round, the team with the best record in the matchup would have the home field advantage. After that, the top of the bracket would play in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, while the bottom would face off in the the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix. The final game between the victors of the two brackets would be played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

The winner would take off to the national championship game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, allowing for a somewhat central location between the victor of the this bracket and Eastern bracket.

For Those Who Don't Make the Playoffs

There are 35 bowl games this season, one of which is in a repeat stadium (the National Championship). Of the 34 locations, seven are used in the playoffs. Therefore, this leaves 27 bowl games for teams that don't make the "Big Dance."

Since just three teams from each super conference are taken to the playoffs, this leaves many six-win (.545 on the year) teams available to play in the 54 slots. Additionally, the mid-major conferences would provide multiple teams to play in the bowls, filing out the games.

The bowl season is huge for universities and will help interaction between the conferences who don't have many non-conference games available each season.