Create a playoff system

[busabus114]

Actually, most fans are just not smart enough to think this whole thing through on a number of levels.

They see the end result and think that is where the problem must lie. However, the problem starts with the conferences themselves. The solution must be a holistic solution that considers change at all levels.

Here are some of the silly things people have proposed.

1) 9-2 Arkansas State and 10-2 NIU should have a shot at a NC, when 11-1 Bama should not.

2) #4 Stanford should be able to play for an NCA, while #5 and P12 Champ Oregon, wouldn't.

3) If Oregon beats Wisky and Stanford beats OSU, there would be no controversy as to which of the two would play the winner of LSU / Bama.

A seeded plus 1 would have stanford playing LSU....if they won that game they obviously wouldve earned it. Every system will have complaints from the last team out. In this case Oregon would be upset but they had their chance to beat USC at home and didnt

Nothing will be perfect but a plus 1 is a very simple addition that would vastly improve the current system

 

[BigRedPowrWagon]

I like the 8 team playoff. Your going to need to get rid of traditional at bowl bids. Let a ACC and a Big 12 play in the rose. Take the 4 great bowl games of yesteryear. Orange, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta or Cotton. Use the winners of those and go from there. If you moved up the games 1 week you would have enought time to fit them in with the other bowl games. The only problem i can see is getting team fans to travel to 3 different games if your team went all the way.

 

[ssckelley]

I don't think so.

My system uses the 4 BCS games as the quarterfinal round of an 8 team playoff.

The traditional BCS bowl games have already been all but destroyed already, since they no longer have any say in who wins the title. They've all become consolation prizes at best.

If anything, my system will bring back relevance to the BCS bowls, generate a ton of excitement and money, and will give 8 schools a chance at the title.

I don't think there is a perfect system, but I would love to see this.

Yeah it would, any kind of playoff system other than a +1 will make the bowls meaningless and ruin the system.

 

[kuhntz]

All of the playoff scenarios will never answer the biggest problem.

HOME FIELD - Still being determined by arbitrary rankings that some one came up with....and will almost always decide who advances in college football playoffs.

Then when the later rounds are moved to the "bowl game" stadiums...how the hell are fans going to travel to 2 or 3 or 4 bowl games?

 

[PeoriaHWKI]

12 Teams.
You need to get rid of most of the subjectivity. This takes out the biases and the idiocy to a degree. There will still be some subjectivity but you can try to control it unlike now with the BCS(ec). My system will award top conferences, top teams in those conferences, and reward the highly ranked teams outside of the power conferences. If Bama and LSU want to play again in the BCS then fine but I want to see Bama them earn it instead of sitting at home watching their conf championship. No way that should ever happen.

1. No rankings released of any kind until after the 1st week of conference play
2. No more than 2 teams from the same conference.
3. At the end of the season the Top 6 conferences are ranked and given automatic bids
4. The top 4 Conference reps get bye weeks the 1st week.
5. The remaining 6 teams are At large bids in order done by the BCS Rankings.

So here is what you get if we did it like that this year. ( Arkansas SEC, S Carolina SEC, Baylor Big 12, Oklahoma Big 12, Georgia SEC, and Mich St Big 10 miss out because of the 2 team conf rule ) ( Big East gets no rep because their conf did not make the top 6 conf and no teams in top 18)

Top 6 Conferences:
SEC
PAC12
BIG 12
BIG 10
ACC
Mountain West ( sorry BIG east... not this year )

Week1
LSU Bye
Wisconsin Bye
OK St Bye
Oregan Bye

Stanford vs Clemson Alamo Bowl
K State vs Michigan Insight Bowl
Bama vs TCU Ticket City Bowl
Boise ST vs V Tech Outback Bowl

Week 2
LSU vs Boise St Gator Bowl
Wisky vs Bama Cap One Bowl
Oregan vs Mich Rose Bowl
OK St vs Stanford Cotton Bowl

Week 3
LSU vs Wisky Fiesta Bowl
Oregan vs OK St Orange Bowl

Championship : LSU vs OK St Sugar Bowl

 

[Cover3]

I emailed this to my Dad last year (so my scenarios are for 2010 teams):

My idea is this: to eliminate one early-season non-conference game, bringing the schedule down to 11 games (initially), then set aside the week after conference championship week to align inter-conference quasi-playoff games (like the mid-season bracket-busters in BBall) but include exceptions for the top teams in the country so they can 'weed each other out'. The main priority would be to get down to two unbeatens (or unanimously worthy 1-loss teams as can happen in some years).

All unbeatens--regardless of conference or ranking--would be aligned to play each other. This year, with three unbeatens, would be interesting. Here are a couple exceptions that could be built in to get a champion decided among these three:

1) Oregon and TCU, as Nos. 2 and 3 (still would be played if TCU was No. 7 but undefeated), could play for the chance to face Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. Auburn could be granted some sort of immunity (they already have it for their violations) because their AD would absolutely want to have a 12th regular season game for budget purposes (in a theoretical future season), but it would be tough to resolve who would play the TCU-Oregon winner if Auburn were to play this extra game and lose. This 'bye' possibly would have made last weekend more interesting by raising the stakes to be No. 1 and not No. 2.

2) Option 1 could be done another way, albeit with the same result this year. Instead of mandating that No. 2 and No. 3 play each other, there could be a provision which states that IF there is ONE team among the three that plays a conference championship game, they could just have an off week. Thus, if Oregon were number one instead of Auburn, it would still be Oregon vs. TCU for the chance to play Auburn. In fariness, that would require all teams to go 12-0 and not for some to go 13-0.

And aside from these three, you could have all teams' budgets fulfilled with a 12th game by having the aforementioned agreed-upon inter-conference matchups (i.e. Big Ten #3 vs. ACC #3; to avoid Big Ten-SEC Outback Bowl redundancy, etc.). This year, that would pit Michigan State against Maryland or NC State. It's not a HUGE showdown and it's not in September, but it's still more interesting than popping a fourth MAC team onto the schedule. Subsequently, Sparty would get to continue on to the Capital One bowl against the Crimson Tide.

In seasons where there are two unbeatens through 11 games, they could either both be granted immunity to play in a bowl against each other for the national championship, or they could play during 'playoff week' and duke it out right then. In the latter scenario, the winner gets the crystal football and goes to play in the bowl aligned for their conference (Rose for Big Ten, Sugar for SEC, Fiesta for Big 12, etc.) After the bowls, if the champ loses, the voters can award titles to whomever they please, but it would not affect disposition of the crystal football.

I think this option would preserve some semblance of tradition (at least Big Ten OR Pac-10 in Rose Bowl each year, maybe both depending upon #1/2 situation), it would stimulate some intriguing regular-season matchups which would be guaranteed juiciness (instead of scheduling a team five years in advance, only to have their program crumble in three; can you imagine a regular-season tilt where the SEC #1 plays up in Big Ten country in November?), and also preserves the bowl system that is so pervasive in our sporting culture that I don't think I would know New Year's from any other day without it (although the infusion of the Ticket City Bowl and all these other Jan. 4-8 games have given it a wart).

 

[hawkfan33]

SEC, ACC, B1G, P12 make an agreement for a one off after a Conference championship game.

Tell P12 and B1G to add two more teams.

Leave it at that. However, if a conference wanted to add two more teams and go to four divisions, they could add two rounds of in-conference playoffs for extra revenue.

LOL like any other conference is going to tell the B10 what to do. Delaney runs college athletics every other conference is just following his lead.

 

[shonblatt]

Yeah it would, any kind of playoff system other than a +1 will make the bowls meaningless and ruin the system.

How so? I completely disagree.

Right now, all the bowls except the title game are meaningless exhibitions. They've already been ruined.

Under my system, you pretty much play the whole bowl season just like it is today - and the 4 BCS winners advance to a Final Four to play essentially a +3. The BCS bowls would actually be a part of the playoff, but you'd want to market in a way that focuses first round on the bowl tradition that feeds into a the Final Four playoff.

Don't get me wrong - at this point I'd happily take a +1 over what we currently have, but I'm not sure 4 teams is enough. I think 8 is the right number.

 

[ssckelley]

How so? I completely disagree.

Right now, all the bowls except the title game are meaningless exhibitions. They've already been ruined.

Under my system, you pretty much play the whole bowl season just like it is today - and the 4 BCS winners advance to a Final Four to play essentially a +3. The BCS bowls would actually be a part of the playoff, but you'd want to market in a way that focuses first round on the bowl tradition that feeds into a the Final Four playoff.

Don't get me wrong - at this point I'd happily take a +1 over what we currently have, but I'm not sure 4 teams is enough. I think 8 is the right number.

It is all about money, these bowl games generate a ton of money for the communities and the conferences. We can sit here and debate playoffs all we want but the fact of the matter is football will never change to a conventional playoff system. We will be lucky if they ever go to a +1 system.

 

[bcl20]

Wrong thread.

 

[DDStretch]

I'm not sure this idea has been suggested yet. Apologies if it has.

1. 8-team playoff. Everything else pretty much stays the same. Keep all of the bowls, keep the BCS. You use the BCS to set up the seeding for the playoff and to allow qualifiers.

2. The general idea is automatic bids for the champions of each of the 6 BCS conferences (Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, Big East, ACC) and two wild card spots, based on highest BCS ranking.

3. You could throw in a stipulation for non AQ conferences, because in the scenario I'm throwing out, Boise State still gets left out. Not sure what that stipulation would be. Maybe a conference champion would have to meet a certain quota of victories or be booted if a non-AQ school is ranked in the Top 10. Oh yeah, max of two schools per conference in the playoff.

4. The current BCS bowls would be used to host the playoff games. We'd add the once prestigious Cotton Bowl into the BCS mix and use five BCS bowls on a rotating basis. Example: Year 1 the Orange Bowl gets the title game, Year 2 the Rose Bowl gets it, etc.

5. Semifinal games would be hosted at Cowboy Stadium and one more indoor NFL venue (Ford Field, Lucas Oil, Reliant Stadium)

Our playoff qualifiers this year would be (listed by seed) 1. LSU, 2. Alabama, 3. Oklahoma State, 4. Stanford, 5. Oregon, 6. Wisconsin, 7. Clemson, 8. West Virginia.

This year's playoff setup

Fiesta Bowl
1. LSU vs. 8. West Virginia

Rose Bowl
4. Stanford vs. 5. Oregon

Cotton Bowl
3. Oklahoma State vs. 6. Wisconsin

Sugar Bowl
2. Alabama vs. 7. Clemson

Semifinals
LSU/West Virginia winner vs. Stanford/Oregon winner at Cowboy Stadium
Okie State/Wisconsin winner vs. Alabama/Clemson winner at Ford Field

National Title Game

Orange Bowl
Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal Winner



Pretty simple idea, and everybody wins because the bowls still get their money and the schools still get their money. The other bowls like the Capital One, Gator, Insight, etc., etc., etc., could still keep all of their current conference affiliations and such.

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

pretty simple. Final 4.

 

[woodyk1]

120 team free for all.

Yes! Except, add 8 teams from FCS to FBS to make it 128. Every team plays 5 games to get in shape and determine some kind of seeding for home and away draws. Then, randomly choose matchups to go 7 rounds from 128 to 1. Imagine the selection show! The final rounds are played through the bowl system.

As teams are eliminated from the first 128 team tourney, there is a 2nd tourney (loser's bracket) to determine the NIT champ (sorry, didn't have a better term).

Bracket sheets! Everyone wins!

 

[bcl20]

Yes! Except, add 8 teams from FCS to FBS to make it 128. Every team plays 5 games to get in shape and determine some kind of seeding for home and away draws. Then, randomly choose matchups to go 7 rounds from 128 to 1. Imagine the selection show! The final rounds are played through the bowl system.

As teams are eliminated from the first 128 team tourney, there is a 2nd tourney (loser's bracket) to determine the NIT champ (sorry, didn't have a better term).

Bracket sheets! Everyone wins!

Sounds good to me. 7 regular season games, 5 playoff games. Let's do it.

 

[Cover3]

Yes! Except, add 8 teams from FCS to FBS to make it 128. Every team plays 5 games to get in shape and determine some kind of seeding for home and away draws. Then, randomly choose matchups to go 7 rounds from 128 to 1. Imagine the selection show! The final rounds are played through the bowl system.

As teams are eliminated from the first 128 team tourney, there is a 2nd tourney (loser's bracket) to determine the NIT champ (sorry, didn't have a better term).

Bracket sheets! Everyone wins!

I actually love that idea. Much simpler than mine above, but it does the same thing: MOVES THE PLAYOFF TO THE REGULAR SEASON. Schedule a tune-up and the first four conference games. After that, the schedule is reset to have unbeatens play each other (with an odd unbeaten playing a 1-loss team to have a roughly equivalent opponent). The 'regions' in the brackets could try to group conferences, so the final four wouldn't have more than one team out of each conference. At the end, there would be EXACTLY two unbeatens every time, but everyone still only plays twelve games, and you have bowls, including a national championship game. As soon as a team loses, it falls back in the general scheduling pool.

 

[PeoriaHWKI]

I'm not sure this idea has been suggested yet. Apologies if it has.

1. 8-team playoff. Everything else pretty much stays the same. Keep all of the bowls, keep the BCS. You use the BCS to set up the seeding for the playoff and to allow qualifiers.

2. The general idea is automatic bids for the champions of each of the 6 BCS conferences (Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, Big East, ACC) and two wild card spots, based on highest BCS ranking.

3. You could throw in a stipulation for non AQ conferences, because in the scenario I'm throwing out, Boise State still gets left out. Not sure what that stipulation would be. Maybe a conference champion would have to meet a certain quota of victories or be booted if a non-AQ school is ranked in the Top 10. Oh yeah, max of two schools per conference in the playoff.

4. The current BCS bowls would be used to host the playoff games. We'd add the once prestigious Cotton Bowl into the BCS mix and use five BCS bowls on a rotating basis. Example: Year 1 the Orange Bowl gets the title game, Year 2 the Rose Bowl gets it, etc.

5. Semifinal games would be hosted at Cowboy Stadium and one more indoor NFL venue (Ford Field, Lucas Oil, Reliant Stadium)

Our playoff qualifiers this year would be (listed by seed) 1. LSU, 2. Alabama, 3. Oklahoma State, 4. Stanford, 5. Oregon, 6. Wisconsin, 7. Clemson, 8. West Virginia.

This year's playoff setup

Fiesta Bowl
1. LSU vs. 8. West Virginia

Rose Bowl
4. Stanford vs. 5. Oregon

Cotton Bowl
3. Oklahoma State vs. 6. Wisconsin

Sugar Bowl
2. Alabama vs. 7. Clemson

Semifinals
LSU/West Virginia winner vs. Stanford/Oregon winner at Cowboy Stadium
Okie State/Wisconsin winner vs. Alabama/Clemson winner at Ford Field

National Title Game

Orange Bowl
Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal Winner



Pretty simple idea, and everybody wins because the bowls still get their money and the schools still get their money. The other bowls like the Capital One, Gator, Insight, etc., etc., etc., could still keep all of their current conference affiliations and such.

Pretty similar to my idea except I think you need to rank the 6 confernces at the end of the yr. I am sorry but the Big East stunk and you have 2 teams from the MW that are better so I would contend they get the nod over the Big East and TCU represents.

 

[DDStretch]

Pretty similar to my idea except I think you need to rank the 6 confernces at the end of the yr. I am sorry but the Big East stunk and you have 2 teams from the MW that are better so I would contend they get the nod over the Big East and TCU represents.

Well, if we're talking a scenario where the BCS decides who makes the playoffs - and, right now, that's the only way it's happening without a lawsuit - then it's not realistic to give the Mountain West an automatic qualifier. Yes, they do have some better teams than the Big East, but the Mountain West is not a BCS Conference. That's the kicker.

The BCS isn't going to give an automatic berth to a non-member school over a member school. No chance. That's why I allow two wild cards, and would probably do some sort of non-AQ stipulation.

 

[rschneider]

I say lets move all but one non-conference game to the end of the season and keep the BCS with all the other bowls.

I was thinking if teams want to be relevant in the BCS they will have to schedule quality teams at the end of the year. This would also allow conf superiority to be compared, and could possibly keep one conf from getting two teams in the Champ game.

Example-
Iowa

Northern Ill
Penn St
Northwestern
Indiana
Minnesota
Michigan
Michigan St.
Purdue
Nebraska
Iowa st
Pitt
Georgia

This schedule would allow us to go through the B1G and gauge where we are in that league, then play non-con games and then determine where teams should be ranked come bowl time.

 

[BlondeTuco]

The only problem I see with the BCS is that not everyone has a fair shot at the NCG. Neither Alabama nor Oklahoma State should be in a position to complain about missing the game, as they didn't play a perfect season. The BCS was much more unjust last year, with 12-0 TCU not given the chance to play for a title. Should be as simple as this: If you can go undefeated, you get a shot.

My solution is a modified BCS selection, similar to what we have now. Any undefeated team is given one of four spots in a NCG bracket. If there are less than four undefeated teams, at-larges will fill the bracket; in the off-chance that there are more than four undefeated teams, the four highest ranked teams would play for the title. The other BCS bowls could still retain their tie-ins, and selection procedure could still play out as it does now. First round is played sometime before January 1st, and the Championship Game is played sometime after.

I can't picture any of the bowls objecting to this, as the only difference would be the possibility of a conference runner-up playing rather than the champion (which is already what happens when their champ is #1/#2). Every team is given a fair shake - the Boises of the world just may be given a "more fair" shake. I don't think a balance exists where the SEC champion and MAC champion have the same challenges between them and a national title. That said, if a 13-0 MAC champion is really that undeserving, they won't make it to the game that matters, and their berth doesn't take away from someone else who managed to run the table.

note: I wouldn't be opposed to a the above-mentioned "at larges" being selected by a committee similar to the basketball tournament, to ensure the "best" teams are selected. But the bowls only care about what is profitable, and I won't take issue with that, as long as profitability doesn't affect who is #1-#4.

edit: the benefits hopefully speak for themselves, but...
- The excitement of the regular season is untainted
- There is still a race in the standings, adding excitement to those top-ranked upsets
- The bowls should love it
- More teams getting a shot should make the schools happy