College football has been plagued for the past few years by computer rankings. Don't get me wrong there is a lot more anticipation and heartbreak letting a computer choose who should play in the big games but shouldn't we let the players choose that? The word playoffs has been thrown around for the past few years in division one college football but no one has seriously considered them yet. I am about to propose a plan that might work and that could eliminate any of the smaller teams concerns they might have about a playoff bracket.
First let us start with the actual playoff bracket. There are eleven conferences and four independent teams in the nation. This means we could set up a sixteen seed bracket. Each conference will have a champion which is the team with the best record. They will all have a seed in the playoffs. A seed will come from an independent team as well. Two more teams will be selected from any conference. They will need to have the next best record and voted on by coaches, analysts, and fans as the best teams. As for the last two seed there will be a play-in game for a chance for the last seeds and to play the number one team on that side of the bracket. These four teams have a choice which I will get to later. The season will be about the same length as it is right now possibly even shorter. Instead of waiting two weeks for the conference championships and the bye week before the bowl games to begin, we could already be into the second round of the playoffs. Now I realize that finals week is during this time. The mid playoff bye could be during this week. Even with that the season would end in the first week of January just like it does right now. Instead of having a computer generated winner we could an actual champion.
Now for the teams that did not make the playoffs. We still have the bowl games!! It is a great tradition in college football but the champion should not hinge on them. Now the teams that are eligible to be in the play-in games have a choice. If they believe they can run the table, than they can choose to play in the playoffs. If not, than they can decline the invite and be eligible for a bowl game. Either way the school decides where they think they belong and where they can do the best. The season is still the same length. The bowl games go on like they usually would. Playoffs on the weekends and bowl games prime time week nights.
Now what about the money issue? Teams are more likely to be in a post season games.The sponsors don't lose any money either that's the great part. They might even make more. The bowl games plus the playoffs create even more opportunities to be noticed. Who doesn't want more football? The better match ups create more exciting games for the fans to watch. As well as more games for the fans to watch they can have the peace of mind that the team that does won the championship defiantly has proven they deserve it.
So I have been ranting that a 16 team playoff is the perfect system for college football. Monetarily, it makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteI would disagree with your idea of having every conference champion. My reasoning is that every year a crappy team wins a crappy conference. 2004 Big East sends an 8-3 awful team that was ranked 18th in the nation. Instead of having poor teams ending up in what would be an amazing tournament, just do the top 16 teams under the current BCS ranking system (maybe some minor tweeks). This would pull in the all the teams 1-10 that have an actual shot at winning it all, as well as give those 2 loss teams that are good teams but fell short to tough games the outside chance everyone wants them to have. The best of the smaller conferences would usually end up inside the top 16 giving the fairness you spoke of.
Anyway I love the idea and great article!