How an 8 Team Playoff Should Work.

DunderMifflinHk

DunderMifflinHk

Well-Known Member
Select the top 8 teams in the country no matter what conference they are in. Use the committee and add some sort of RPI-like component to help rank the teams. The RPI wouldn't be the deciding factor, just a metric that the committee looks at so its not all just the eyeball test. Elite 8 and Final 4 rounds are played at the higher seeds home immediately after the conference championship games. This ensures fans can attend games and it rewards teams for their regular season performance. This would help to keep the regular season relevant. Teams that lose in the Elite 8 and Final 4 are guaranteed a New Years 6 Bowl. The final two play for the National Championship. This keeps the bowls alive and gives college football a true playoff.
 
Needs to be 16 like every other division.

Better seed gets to play at home, full stadiums, southern teams having to come up north.

Championship game off-site.

Can still have the bowls with the other teams that don't get in. '

TV Ratings would explode beyond anything you can imagine.
 
DunderMifflinHk said:
Select the top 8 teams in the country no matter what conference they are in. Use the committee and add some sort of RPI-like component to help rank the teams. The RPI wouldn't be the deciding factor, just a metric that the committee looks at so its not all just the eyeball test. Elite 8 and Final 4 rounds are played at the higher seeds home immediately after the conference championship games. This ensures fans can attend games and it rewards teams for their regular season performance. This would help to keep the regular season relevant. Teams that lose in the Elite 8 and Final 4 are guaranteed a New Years 6 Bowl. The final two play for the National Championship. This keeps the bowls alive and gives college football a true playoff.
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No way. Won't work.

That does nothing to improve on what they have now which is a popularity contest, only 4 spots deeper. You're still relying on ranking polls which are decided by opinion, not fact. It's been shown time and time again that metrics are unscientific voodoo that only cause problems with selections. Why do you think they got rid of the BCS system in the first place? Because it made no sense and could not account for all the variables that go on in a football season.

The only way to make it fair is to define how teams get in. Period.

Look at any pro sport and you can see that. NFL, MLB, NBA, so on and so on. If you want to get in the playoffs you know exactly what needs to happen before the season even starts. No selection committees, no "metrics," no Oracles of the football gods. It would even go a long ways to shutting up guys like Cowherd and Herbstreit who everyone loves to complain about.

NCAA football needs an 8 team playoff made up of the winners of the P5 conferences and 3 at large spots with set criteria. Then no one could argue that it isn't fair, that the SEC pulls more weight, strength of schedule crap, etc. You want to make the playoff? Win your conference. You want to win the title, beat other conference champs. It's the only way it can work without people whining all year long.
 
make too much sense, it would never work!! I like it though. Could you imagine a home playoff game at Kinnick in December?!
 
Oh. You mean like they pretty much do it now but just add 4 more teams.


My solution. Every P5 conference gets to send its champion. Every conference gets represented. This leaves 3 at large invites which can be left for any dominant independents still out there and/or other conference teams. Use a well defined computer Matrix measuring SOS, wins vs loss and results. Those 3 teams that float to the top who did the best against the best win vs loss strength measure get the invite. Everybody is represented and nobody can ***** if a computer algorithm determines the last 3 spots. May not like it, but can't really complain if is consistent.
 
311hawk said:
Needs to be 16 like every other division.

Better seed gets to play at home, full stadiums, southern teams having to come up north.

Championship game off-site.

Can still have the bowls with the other teams that don't get in. '

TV Ratings would explode beyond anything you can imagine.
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No way. That's diluting the pool and will allow multiple loss teams in. Div 1 teams don't need to play 16 games.
 
Fryowa said:
No way. Won't work.

That does nothing to improve on what they have now which is a popularity contest, only 4 spots deeper. You're still relying on ranking polls which are decided by opinion, not fact. It's been shown time and time again that metrics are unscientific voodoo that only cause problems with selections. Why do you think they got rid of the BCS system in the first place? Because it made no sense and could not account for all the variables that go on in a football season.

The only way to make it fair is to define how teams get in. Period.

Look at any pro sport and you can see that. NFL, MLB, NBA, so on and so on. If you want to get in the playoffs you know exactly what needs to happen before the season even starts. No selection committees, no "metrics," no Oracles of the football gods. It would even go a long ways to shutting up guys like Cowherd and Herbstreit who everyone loves to complain about.

NCAA football needs an 8 team playoff made up of the winners of the P5 conferences and 3 at large spots with set criteria. Then no one could argue that it isn't fair, that the SEC pulls more weight, strength of schedule crap, etc. You want to make the playoff? Win your conference. You want to win the title, beat other conference champs. It's the only way it can work without people whining all year long.
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You and I are on EXACTLY the same page! You sir, get a thumbs up.
 
You guys beat me to it, but I'd be fine with every major conference champion going automatically (Pac 12, SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big XII), and then 3 more at large teams to round out an 8 team playoff. I guess it wouldn't be much different than the setup for today's NCAA hoops tournament. Your automatic invites + at large selections.

Sure, you'd risk having some "unworthy" teams getting in, but so be it. There are some relatively soft teams who make the playoffs in pro sports as well, and don't hear much complaint about it.

If it was ONLY conference champions, I guess that would render the non-conference completely meaningless, and I don't want to see that.
 
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1977Hawkeye said:
You guys beat me to it, but I'd be fine with every major conference champion going automatically (Pac 12, SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big XII), and then 3 more at large teams to round out an 8 team playoff. I guess it wouldn't be much different than the setup for today's NCAA hoops tournament. Your automatic invites + at large selections.

Sure, you'd risk having some "unworthy" teams getting in, but so be it. There are some relatively soft teams who make the playoffs in pro sports as well, and don't hear much complaint about it.



If it was ONLY conference champions, I guess that would render the non-conference completely meaningless, and I don't want to see that.
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Concerning "soft" teams or teams with with 2-3 losses. This may also give a chance for a team in a really tough conference where they beat up on each other to still have a chance. Say the BIG is really dominant one year and the top 2-3 teams have 2-3 losses. Those teams may be better than a 1-2 loss team in another conference. There is that to put into perspective. Strength of conference.

Concerning your non-conference point. I don't think it would make it meaningless as there is still that computer algorithm for the last three teams to make it in over others comparing schedule and results. So, teams may want to schedule wisely to make sure they are solid there. Also, the jumbo conferences in the future will force teams to schedule harder games as will play more conference games. There may be only one tune-up game.
 
HawkeyeDylan16 said:
8 teams. 2 teams play 4 games.

16 teams would be too many post season games I think.
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I have been out of college for several years, but my math tells me that an 8 team field would be 3 rounds, not 4.

And one of those rounds would consist of bowl games.

So...You would have 2 teams playing one extra game and 2 teams playing two extra games. No fuss needed for 3 additional games out of over 1,500 for the entire FBS.
 
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MelroseHawkins said:
Concerning "soft" teams or teams with with 2-3 losses. This may also give a chance for a team in a really tough conference where they beat up on each other to still have a chance. Say the BIG is really dominant one year and the top 2-3 teams have 2-3 losses. Those teams may be better than a 1-2 loss team in another conference. There is that to put into perspective. Strength of conference.

Concerning your non-conference point. I don't think it would make it meaningless as there is still that computer algorithm for the last three teams to make it in over others comparing schedule and results. So, teams may want to schedule wisely to make sure they are solid there. Also, the jumbo conferences in the future will force teams to schedule harder games as will play more conference games. There may be only one tune-up game.
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Yeah that's what I was getting at. My comment was for if it was ONLY conference champions, then it be only conference record that would matter. An 8 team playoff would obviously require a few at large teams. Non-con would still be important in that case. Guess I overstated the obvious, if only the P5 conferences were given automatics.

A year like this year, the Big Ten could conceivably have 3 in the Top 8 (MSU, Iowa, OSU). Not sure it would be allowed, though. Maybe 2-per-conference limit or something.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Yeah that's what I was getting at. My comment was for if it was ONLY conference champions, then it be only conference record that would matter. An 8 team playoff would obviously require a few at large teams. Non-con would still be important in that case. Guess I overstated the obvious, if only the P5 conferences were given automatics.

A year like this year, the Big Ten could conceivably have 3 in the Top 8 (MSU, Iowa, OSU). Not sure it would be allowed, though. Maybe 2-per-conference limit or something.
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Same page. :cool:
 
HawkeyeDylan16 said:
8 teams. 2 teams play 4 games.

16 teams would be too many post season games I think.
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Round one should be treated like a non-conference game. Just remove one non-conference game from the front of the schedule and use that game for one of the playoff games. Home field could be determined by poll standings for the first two rounds. This reduces by 1 the number of games played for all other teams. Winning has its spoils... Final four go to the rotating new year's eve bowls. Big 6 bowls can pick from round two losers and at large teams using some matrix formula. Winners of the final four play for NCG.
 
Also playing in your conference championship should only be able to help you, not hurt you. For instance, this year when comparing Iowa to OSU, the committee should do their best to only compare our regular seasons. It makes no sense to have a game like that hurt your resume when one team gets to sit at home..
 
8 teams
seeded 1-8
five auto bids 3 at large
must play in a conf to play (hello ND)

first round, higher seeds, get home game (keeps money in town, fans can go, cuts down on travel)

semi's and finals the same as now

also,

7-5 minimum for bowl participation
all conf's play same # of conf games
all conf's play champ game

there u go...with that, Iowa's playing for something leading to a national title....even with the loss to sparty
 
I know the concept of the student-athlete has gone by the wayside... But playing playoff games the week or two after the CCGs with potentially 1-2 more games soon after would kinda interfere with prep for and taking semester finals, wouldn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a 8+ team playoff. I think to make it happen the regular season schedule would need to be modified in some way - start earlier, eliminate all/some non-con games, or both.

Or does the NCAA/college presidents not have to keep up the student-athlete farce any longer?
 
***Bump***


DunderMifflinHk said:
Select the top 8 teams in the country no matter what conference they are in. Use the committee and add some sort of RPI-like component to help rank the teams. The RPI wouldn't be the deciding factor, just a metric that the committee looks at so its not all just the eyeball test. Elite 8 and Final 4 rounds are played at the higher seeds home immediately after the conference championship games. This ensures fans can attend games and it rewards teams for their regular season performance. This would help to keep the regular season relevant. Teams that lose in the Elite 8 and Final 4 are guaranteed a New Years 6 Bowl. The final two play for the National Championship. This keeps the bowls alive and gives college football a true playoff.
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DunderMifflinHk said:
***Bump***
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Like I said two years ago, rankings by humans are stupid and biased. The only thing you’re doing is making it 4 spots deeper.

It needs to be P5 + 3 with set criteria before the season so everyone knows exactly what they have to do to make the playoffs. You could have people who’d argue about the at-large requirements, but it’s a lot harder to argue about what team is 9th best. And...as long as the requirements are defined before the season, all teams have an equal chance to make it.

Your solution is in no way different than what they have now with the exception of more teams.
 
Fryowa said:
Like I said two years ago, rankings by humans are stupid and biased. The only thing you’re doing is making it 4 spots deeper.

It needs to be P5 + 3 with set criteria before the season so everyone knows exactly what they have to do to make the playoffs. You could have people who’d argue about the at-large requirements, but it’s a lot harder to argue about what team is 9th best. And...as long as the requirements are defined before the season, all teams have an equal chance to make it.

Your solution is in no way different than what they have now with the exception of more teams.
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Totally agree Fry. Every other sport you win your P5/P6 conference and you are in automatically. In pro sports you win your division you are in. Why is college football hell bent on having others tell us who the best team is instead of letting them all play for it. Sorry, but letting Bama in this year and OSU last year because of their names isn’t how it should work. Just because the Patriots are really good, we don’t just annoint then to the AL championship game. They have to actually play the games, win the games and then win playoff games.
 
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