What is the best format for determining the national champion?

[DunderMifflinHk]

16 is too many. I like an 8 team playoff with no automatic births. Only the top 8 teams in the country should go. If your conference has a terrible season where the champion has 3 losses then they shouldn't get in anyways.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

How about a double elimination tournament like they do in the movie Over the Top?

 

[kicker22]

16 is too many. I like an 8 team playoff with no automatic births. Only the top 8 teams in the country should go. If your conference has a terrible season where the champion has 3 losses then they shouldn't get in anyways.

But then you run into the same problem as a 4 team format in which you have to come up with a way to determine who deserves the 8 spots.

 

[kicker22]

One thought might be to keep the conference format but then geographically establish regions (no conference affiliation) in which a set number of teams are selected to play "wildcard" games to earn their way into the playoff field. This way the field could expand to 12 teams in which the 4 "automatics" are selected based on the current format and then 4 "regional" games (ie. southeast, east, west, Midwest, etc.) pitting the 2 best remaining teams in a specific region against each other for the remaining 4 spots to make an 8 team Championship bracket.

No idea how to decide the criteria for determining how to select who would play in the regional games.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

College football is headed in the right direction, the playoffs will be 8 teams before long. All conferences will be playing nine conference games, there will be more quality non-conf matchups. The B10 has already banned scheduling FCS teams, the P12 has been pushing it's teams to schedule better competition.

 

[deanvogs]

4 Team is fine just the way it is. Let's let this year play out. Still a lot of games to be played and time for teams to eliminate themselves from qualification with losses.

Every game matters and that's why college football is so great!

Actually every game DOESN'T matter the same at all. For instance Bama losing doesn't matter, the committee says that today they would still be in over indefeated teams. Yet for Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma St., and TCU every game does matter.

Look back over the last 10 years and there has been maybe 1 time that at least 1 or multiple teams with the same records as the playoff teams that are left at home.

It has been a crap system for a long time. Quit protecting nothing bowl games that make zero money and get a real playoff. It is embarrising that FCS teams can do it, baseball does it, basketball does it, but college football is the only major sport that doesn't have a proper playoff.

 

[DYK88]

I like four playoff teams. It really retains the "every game matters" vibe. If we go to 8, then you'll have teams sitting guys like week 16 of the NFL. And an 8 team field would be stacked with 3 SEC teams.

Well, except 1-loss and 2-loss teams get in every year so kinda but not really.

 

[proudhawkfan21]

Actually every game DOESN'T matter the same at all. For instance Bama losing doesn't matter, the committee says that today they would still be in over indefeated teams. Yet for Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma St., and TCU every game does matter.

Look back over the last 10 years and there has been maybe 1 time that at least 1 or multiple teams with the same records as the playoff teams that are left at home.

It has been a crap system for a long time. Quit protecting nothing bowl games that make zero money and get a real playoff. It is embarrising that FCS teams can do it, baseball does it, basketball does it, but college football is the only major sport that doesn't have a proper playoff.

Four teams is fine...but i'd prefer 8. Four teams will eliminate any argument that the best team got left out. Eight would be cool...5 champs..then 3 from ANYWHERE. Champ could be replaced if 2 losses or more, etc...

This would be a whole lot less controversial if they released the cfp rankings in week 11. Earlier than that is guess work and for college football fodder.

 

[SpiderRico]

There is nothing wrong with this format that I can see.

We b!tch and moan early in the process....no different than when it was the BCS....but I can't recall a single time (other than when an undefeated Auburn was passed over) that at the end of the year the "system" hasn't put the 2 best or 4 best teams against each other. We already have a playoff going during the regular season for the most part which makes the regular season so freaking exciting. If college football had an NFL-type system, then we wouldn't be as excited as we are that we are 8-0 and going up against an Indiana to be 9-0. We'd pretty much say, "Man, it'd be cool to beat Indiana, but even if we don't, we'll still be in a 16 team playoff." I don't EVER want college football to get to that point. We have the most exciting regular season in all of sports and I don't ever want to see that go away.

I'd say that, for the most part, college football crowns its best team as National Champion. The NFL can rarely say that as often times it's the team that's hottest at the end of the year that wins it, not the best team.

EDIT: The only thing I might tweak would be to go to a 6 team playoff. Take the 5 conference champions and one "wildcard". Seed them 1 thru 6 and give the top 2 seeds a bye and have 3 play 6 at 3's home stadium and 4 play 5 at 4's home stadium. Then do the semi's and the finals the same way as now.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Actually every game DOESN'T matter the same at all. For instance Bama losing doesn't matter, the committee says that today they would still be in over indefeated teams. Yet for Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma St., and TCU every game does matter.

Look back over the last 10 years and there has been maybe 1 time that at least 1 or multiple teams with the same records as the playoff teams that are left at home.

It has been a crap system for a long time. Quit protecting nothing bowl games that make zero money and get a real playoff. It is embarrising that FCS teams can do it, baseball does it, basketball does it, but college football is the only major sport that doesn't have a proper playoff.

Let it play out. Bama won't get it with 1 loss before an undefeated Iowa or if 1 of those B12 teams go undefeated. If all of the teams above lose a game and Bama ends as with 1 loss then they deserve it. Their schedule is tougher than Iowas and B12 doesn't have a conference tourney.

 

[deanvogs]

Let it play out. Bama won't get it with 1 loss before an undefeated Iowa or if 1 of those B12 teams go undefeated. If all of the teams above lose a game and Bama ends as with 1 loss then they deserve it. Their schedule is tougher than Iowas and B12 doesn't have a conference tourney.

If Clemson wins out they are in. If LSU or Bama win out they are in. If Notre Dame wins out they are in. If TCU/Baylor win out they are in.

If if this happens and Iowa wins out, they are on the outside looking in. They are all currently ahead of Iowa in the rankings and there isn't a scenero in the world where a 0 loss Iowa teams jumps a blue blood like Notre Dame or Bama. The committee also wouldn't screw the Big12 2 years in a row, especially if they were undefeated this year. So yeah, Iowa could win out and miss the playoffs.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

8 teams... power 5 conference champs and 3 at large. No conference can have more than two teams in.

Solves the whole thing.

 

[deanvogs]

8 teams... power 5 conference champs and 3 at large. No conference can have more than two teams in.

Solves the whole thing.

16 solves it. 5 conference champs, to be determined in a conference championship game (so that is 10 teams already). Why should the at large teams play 1 less game? So instead you have 6 at large teams play on conference championship week. Basically the same thing as 8, but you make the at large teams play in as well.

 

[ibahawkeye]

If Clemson wins out they are in. If LSU or Bama win out they are in. If Notre Dame wins out they are in. If TCU/Baylor win out they are in.

If if this happens and Iowa wins out, they are on the outside looking in. They are all currently ahead of Iowa in the rankings and there isn't a scenero in the world where a 0 loss Iowa teams jumps a blue blood like Notre Dame or Bama. The committee also wouldn't screw the Big12 2 years in a row, especially if they were undefeated this year. So yeah, Iowa could win out and miss the playoffs.

If that happens I'll change my stance. I just don't see this many teams staying undefeated and I don't see a Power conference champion being left out if they are undefeated.

 

[IATrainMaster101]

If Clemson wins out they are in. If LSU or Bama win out they are in. If Notre Dame wins out they are in. If TCU/Baylor win out they are in.

If if this happens and Iowa wins out, they are on the outside looking in. They are all currently ahead of Iowa in the rankings and there isn't a scenero in the world where a 0 loss Iowa teams jumps a blue blood like Notre Dame or Bama. The committee also wouldn't screw the Big12 2 years in a row, especially if they were undefeated this year. So yeah, Iowa could win out and miss the playoffs.

If OSU wins out they are in. If MSU wins out they are in. If Iow wins out including a win over an undefeated team, they are in. Only way B10 is left out is if they have no undefeated team to offer.

ND does not get in in that scenario unless B12 has no undefeated teams to offer.

 

[deanvogs]

If that happens I'll change my stance. I just don't see this many teams staying undefeated and I don't see a Power conference champion being left out if they are undefeated.

I want it expanded no matter what happens this year. It makes ZERO sense to leave out a Power5 conference champion. Winnimg the conference should be an automatic birth to the playoffs.

 

[deanvogs]

If OSU wins out they are in. If MSU wins out they are in. If Iow wins out including a win over an undefeated team, they are in. Only way B10 is left out is if they have no undefeated team to offer.

ND does not get in in that scenario unless B12 has no undefeated teams to offer.

I disagree. I dont think that a blue blood like Notre Dame gets jumped by Iowa. We are behind them now, and our SOS is gonna get way worse over the next 4 weeks. Not even a win over OSU will let us jump ND.

 

[Seth53]

8 teams. All conferences play nine conf games. All conf's have a champ game.
Five auto bids, 3 at large. No limit to amount of conf teams.
Strength of Schedule over anything else.
Seed the teams 1-8.
Higher seeds get 1st round home game.
Rotate semi's among the big bowl venues

 

[IATrainMaster101]

I disagree. I dont think that a blue blood like Notre Dame gets jumped by Iowa. We are behind them now, and our SOS is gonna get way worse over the next 4 weeks. Not even a win over OSU will let us jump ND.

Possibly, but ND jumping an undefeated team, from a power conference, who beat an undefeated top 4 for setting up a rematch with a team that already beat them? I can't see it.

 

[bcl20]

The FCS playoff looks fun. I like fun. Do whatever they do.