What about this for college football?

hardcorehockeyfan

College football is in dire need of a playoff system, regardless of what the big wigs say! I respect your thoughts whether you agree or not, and also respect your opinions and ask you to explain your thoughts as to how you think a champion should be crowned! If this has been discussed before, I have not seen it, so here is how I feel!


What do any of you think about my opinion on it?



To not knock teams out of deserved bowl games, make a playoff system at the end of the season, and have the top 8 teams play in typical playoff format. Teams that are undefeated in a major conference automatically knock off a #8 team, should said undefeated team not be ranked in the top 8, if there are two, then they knock off #7 and #8, think you get the point! #1 plays #8, #2 plays #7, #3 plays #6, and #4 plays #5. Get those winners, then have winners of #1 and #8 play winners of #4 and #5, and have the winners of the others play also! Then both winners play each other in the the BCS bowl game to decide the national championship! It would only add on two more games per team, with a third being the big one, and it would also not knock lower ranked teams out of a bowl game!

I would also say, you take the champion of each conference regardless of record, and they automatically fight it out for the title game, but as I see it, there are 4 teams that are not affiliated with a conference, and the major independant is Notre Dame! That would more than likely lead to a bunch of bltching also, especially if there are ties in records at the top in a conference!

Or, redesign when bowl games are played, meaning, the dates they are played. This format would knock a few deserved bowl worthy teams out of bowl games, but what else can be done, many teams do not play for 1 1/2 months before they play in a bowl game anyways, so there is plenty of time! Make the BCS bowl games the playoff games, and I know it sounds stupid, but it happens every year, START UP A NEW BOWL GAME TO BE THE NATIONAL TITLE GAME, call it the Title Bowl or some stupid name like that, and have it played on different sites each year, much like the Super Bowl! Take the format listed above, let them play the playoffs in for instance, the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, and so on. It can be mocked, "December Decision," or something like that, much like "March Madness!" This format would knock a few teams out of a bowl game, having a few teams play in more than one!

To myself, either seems more of an obvious system, than the current state of a computer deciding who has the ultimate right to play for the national championship game!

MPeter

What do you consider "major" conferences........all Division IA? What happens to teams that are in conferences that you don't consider major?

Take this scenario.......Texas and Michigan are both undefeated and ranked #7 and #8. Right behind them at #9 and #10 are LSU and Wisconsin....both undefeated. The top six are also undefeated.....Cal, USC, Ohio State, Miami, Louisville and Southern Miss.

Now with the number of schools in each conference, you aren't playing every team each year. This particular year, Wisconsin doesn't play OSU or Michigan and Michigan doesn't play Ohio State. They all end up undefeated. Texas wins the Big 12, LSU wins the SEC, Southern Miss wins Conference USA, Louisville wins the Big East, Miami wins the ACC and USC and Cal both go undefeated in the Pac 10.

So that leaves the top 10 teams all undefeated. So now what? According to your idea, if major conference teams are undefeated and not ranked in the top 8, they would automatically replace the #7 and #8 teams. So in this case Texas and Michigan would be replaced with LSU and Wisconsin. It would obviously make no sense to replace them, because they are undefeated and ranked ahead of the others to begin with.

So what happens if say a team like..........hmmmmm Boise State is undefeated and ranked #6 and they aren't in one of your "major" conferences? When it comes time for a playoff, are they just eliminated from the playoff system and replaced by the next team in line? What happens then when the final rankings come out.......I'm guessing the top eight playoff teams will be ranked #1 through #8. Will Rutgers then fall to the #9 spot by default of not playing?

hardcorehockeyfan

<< <i>What do you consider "major" conferences........all Division IA? What happens to teams that are in conferences that you don't consider major?

Take this scenario.......Texas and Michigan are both undefeated and ranked #7 and #8. Right behind them at #9 and #10 are LSU and Wisconsin....both undefeated. The top six are also undefeated.....Cal, USC, Ohio State, Miami, Louisville and Southern Miss.

Now with the number of schools in each conference, you aren't playing every team each year. This particular year, Wisconsin doesn't play OSU or Michigan and Michigan doesn't play Ohio State. They all end up undefeated. Texas wins the Big 12, LSU wins the SEC, Southern Miss wins Conference USA, Louisville wins the Big East, Miami wins the ACC and USC and Cal both go undefeated in the Pac 10.

So that leaves the top 10 teams all undefeated. So now what? According to your idea, if major conference teams are undefeated and not ranked in the top 8, they would automatically replace the #7 and #8 teams. So in this case Texas and Michigan would be replaced with LSU and Wisconsin. It would obviously make no sense to replace them, because they are undefeated and ranked ahead of the others to begin with.

So what happens if say a team like..........hmmmmm Boise State is undefeated and ranked #6 and they aren't in one of your "major" conferences? When it comes time for a playoff, are they just eliminated from the playoff system and replaced by the next team in line? What happens then when the final rankings come out.......I'm guessing the top eight playoff teams will be ranked #1 through #8. Will Rutgers then fall to the #9 spot by default of not playing? >>



I gave perhaps 2 or 3 scenarios in my beginning post. My meaning of a major conference team, should that way be instituted, are the ones we all know, Big 10, Pac 10, Big East, SEC, etc etc etc, and yes, division 1-A. That is why I said that way would lead to nothing but bltching and moaning!

I would be all for a 64 team tournament like basketball has, but this is football, and that would be waaaaay over the top.

What I meant for the rankings, is the current ranking system, but teams like Boise State do not get into the big game, even if they go undefeated. That is why I say if there is an undefeated team, like a Boise State or such, and they are not ranked in the top 8, they should get an automatic bid into the playoff system, and should an LSU be #8, then they take that spot, ONLY for the playoff system. That way, undefeated teams can not say they are not given a shot! Would it be unfair to LSU, yes, but the current system is not necessarily fair to anyone, unless you are a top team in a top conference! If Rutgers wins out, should they be able to play for a title, I say yes! But let's say Boise State is ranked 8 with one loss, and for instance, a Rutgers goes undefeated, they take that spot.

Michigan will ALWAYS play Ohio State in the regular season too.

Now, let's say Ohio State is #1, and they play a #8 Cal in a playoff game, and Cal loses, end of the season rankings plays the same as it is done today, just that Cal cannot advance to win a championship! They would slip down the rankings just like any loss would cause. But let's say a #2 Michigan loses to #7 USC, USC would continue onto the national title hopes, and Michigan would be dropped out of the playoff system, although they can still end the season ranked at #5 or so, depending how the whole ranking system shapes up!

I am not saying my way is the be all and end all, that is why I asked for input. But coming up with any sort of system seems to be a much more fair way of deciding a winner! If we do not take the top 8 teams, perhaps we can take the top 16, but that would be an extra 5 games, and again, it is football, not basketball. Or perhaps something can be figured out where the top team or two gets a bye, and the top 10 or 12 teams advance to a playoff system. Your input is much obliged!

MPeter

I personally like the system now. It keeps everyone talking, bragging, complaining, wishing, hoping..........ALL YEAR LONG!!! It's college football, it's supposed to be entertaining and it is. We get a clear cut winner some years and others we don't, but it keeps all of our attention and interest. If your team wins, the system is awesome, if you're on the outside looking in, it sucks! That's the beauty of it. If we have a playoff system, they will never be able to perfect that system either. Tons of bowl games, mean tons of cash and interest for everyone! You can compare how this SEC team beat this Big Ten team or how this Big Twelve team was whipped by this MAC team. It's all fun man!!!

hardcorehockeyfan

I agree it is all fun. One of the best games I ever saw, that is in all sports, was the Texas/Michigan Rose Bowl a couple years ago. Being a Michigan fan, I was up and down the whole game, that is how sports should be! I do like the Big Ten teams for instance, saying they can take out the SEC teams, and all that, but constantly hearing that this team could have been much better than that team, gets annoying. Somehow, a playoff system needs to be implemented, and even with a playoff system, you will see Big 10 teams playing Big 12 teams, and so on and so on!

But next week is the big game, Michigan/Ohio State, now let's say one team loses in the 3rd overtime by a field goal, whether it goes that way or not! Does that mean the losing team does not deserve to play for the title? Florida lost to Auburn, Auburn lost to Arkansas, USC lost to Oregon State, Texas lost to Ohio State, Cal lost to Tennessee, now let's say for instance, Michigan loses a close close game to Ohio State, then because it is a "late season loss," then that voids them from playing in a game that in a way, they do deserve? Or even vice versa with Ohio State losing? Hopefully you see my points, I do not want to start a bickering thread, but I do respect anyone's opinions also!

MPeter

Hey, I'm with you man. I'm a Wisconsin Badger fan as well as a Georgia Bulldog fan. I think a close game like that should not change Ohio State and Michigan being in the top two positions. That whole late season loss stuff sucks. So what if Michigan loses.....they shouldn't drop because that is only one loss for them and it was to the top team. You can't drop them for that!!!

I think somehow or another, the computers or people will try all they can to stick USC back in the National Championship if they win their upcoming games. I'm thinking it will be Ohio State vs Texas anyway.

hardcorehockeyfan

I do not know how to think about Michigan/Ohio State. One day I wake up, I feel Michigan will win, the next day I wake up, I feel Ohio State will win! I fully expect it to be a close game, and hopefully, one of the best between the two, my blood will always be Michigan Blue though!