I feel like I wrote this post last year. I checked, though - I didn't. Odd.
This has been a good year in college football. I've enjoyed upset after upset after upset, without one dominant team truly standing out. It's been refreshing to watch.
Of course, it just further highlights the need for a playoff system. I've ranted a few times about a playoff system using the conference champions and at-large teams to fill a 16-team bracket, and to use existing bowls to make it happen. It could start after exams (in this case, Dec. 22nd) and still end in early January (in this case, Jan. 12, only 5 days after the actual BCS"championship).
11 conference champions give the small schools a chance, and the at-large bids give props to the really tough conferences like the SEC and Big 12 (at least, this year)
So, what would that yield?
ACC: VT or BC
Big 12: OU or Missouri
Big East: WV
Big 10: Ohio State
C-USA: UCF or Tulsa
MAC: Bowling Green
Mtn. West: BYU
Pac-10: Arizona State
Sun Belt: Troy
WAC: Hawaii
SEC: LSU or UT (but come on, UT is not winning this game - bastards, I hated Saturday's game. I fricking HATE Rocky Top. HATE HATE HATE.)
Use the current "ranking system to seed the teams and figure out the other 5 at-large teams. Right now, that would be:
Loser of Missouri/OU (both ranked high enough)
USC
Georgia
Kansas
Florida or BC/VT loser (close call)
Any way you sort them, this would result in a lot of really good games.
As it is, we'll have a bunch of meaningless bowl games in San Francisco, Boise, and Mobile, and only a couple of games that people will care about and a championship game which is not going to determine who really is the best team in the country.
You get what you pay for, I guess.
At least Georgia will get to go to Pasadena (probably) or Miami (maybe). It's a nice change of pace and a nice payday.
Now if I could only get free tickets and a package out.....
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
We need a playoff (again)
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4 comments:
Let me start by saying this. I am fine with your scenario. This 16 team playoff with the 11 conference winners would be preferable to the current system. No doubt about that. Just wanted to make that clear up front.
That said, I still think I prefer an 8 team version.
My basic problem with your scenario is it gives the weak conferences an equal entry to the dance. Yeah, that works for basketball where we're talking about 65 teams. Then only a handful are going to feel screwed every year. But under this system, many teams would still feel wronged that they were left at home while Troy or Tulsa were included and would be killed by the real contenders. Do we really need to see early-September like 70-10 blowouts in December playoff games??
Also the larger format would seriously threaten the bowl games, which let's face it, aren't going anywhere regardless. They generate too much money and attention.
So I would propose an 8 team playoff where the 6 BCS conference champs get entry. That would make winning your conference really meaningful. It would also force the Pac 10 and Big 10 to crown a true champion with a conference championship. Then I'd give 2 wildcards that would not have to be conference champions. However, I would institute a rule similar to the one Notre Dame currently enjoys. If a non-BCS conference champion (i.e. like Hawaii this year) is ranked in the top 10 in the final AP poll, they must be given a spot in the playoff before any non-conference winner can get a wildcard. I'd also be ok with a rule that limits a conference to 2 teams in the playoff.
Anyway, it's just my two cents on the matter. But let's face it here. If we want a playoff, the clear enemy is now the Big 10 and Pac 10 conferences. I've heard they are the only entities really standing in the way. And their fucking Rose Bowl too. They are elitist snobs who don't even have a title game, lest a weak team like Ohio State be exposed for what it truly is. I hope pollsters punish schools from these conferences with lower-than-deserved ranking to force the schools presidents to get their West Coast and Upper Midwest heads out of their collective asses!!
I don't think you can really assume that such games would be "70-10 blowouts". There have been many games this year that have defied expectations such as that.
I think you have to give some chance to the mid-conference champions. Denying them just continues the problems that existed until last year when Boise State crashed the party.
The major conferences are still well-represented, and frankly it's much different to have a third-place team whining about not making it - they had their chance, and lost too many times. It's not like a team going undefeated and getting no chance (like Auburn or LSU in previous years) or a deserving one-loss team getting shafted (like Colorado and Oregon a few years back after Nebraska gave up 62 points and still made the big game).
Don't forget the Big East - they don't have a championship game either.
I don't think there is a single one of the teams I mentioned that could be considered an easy W. That's the whole point of it. While 8 would be OK, 16 would be ideal. Start with the GMAC, Independence-type bowls the first weekend, move up to the Holiday/Cotton/Outback/Peach bowls the second weekend, then the big bowls for the championship (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar). The Orange Bowl's getting torn down anyway, so removing it or demoting it is much easier.
While Boise State and Appalachian State proved that smaller schools are capable of being dangerous when completely overlooked by larger opponents, I still believe this will prove to be the rare exception to the rule.
You can't tell me that Southern Cal vs Central Florida or Bowling Green vs LSU will tend to be good games when everything is on the line. I stand by the idea that they'd usually be 70-10 blowouts and that would damper this tourney.
True, the Big East doesn't have a chapionship. But the Big East is merely grateful to still field 8 teams and be called a BCS conference. They are not standing in the way of a playoff system. Trust me. It's the Pac 10, Big 10, and the Rose Bowl. I've heard this from several sources.
The Orange Bowl game hasn't been played in the actual Organge Bowl in almost 20 years. They are part of the current BCS rotation and get a title game every 4 years. So any plan that overlooks them would probably have issues.
Anyway, it's a fun debate. Like I said, I'd take your system over the current one by far. I just feel it might be a little too complex for these knuckleheads!
You can't really say Boise State was overlooked in the Fiesta Bowl. App. St., maybe.
Troy and UCF had some big close calls this year, and so did many others.
I don't think you can assume the point, because when you assume...
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