College Football Playoffs

[erpowers]

Many people have been asking for a playoffs series in college football. One question is how would a playoffs series work. My two idea are one have all of the division champions play in a playoff series. Two put a certain w-l mark and any team that reach or exceeds that mark goes to the playoffs. What other ideas do other have?

[bigwillq]

1. So you would eliminate all of the bowls?

And just have those teams that would've gone to a bowl game make the playoffs?
It could work in a playdown type format. Start it the second week of December and have the final set for what would be the date of the BCS Championship.

[erpowers]

2. Yeah

I would just eliminate all of the bowl games and have those teams go into a playoff. That way we would never have to question or dispute whether the best teams made it to the championship game.

[bigwillq]

3. There are a lot of factors

that may prevent this ever happening though.
TV rights, sponsors, money paid out to each schools. The timeframe that the games can be played in.
This way would make college football almost like march madness.

[joeybee12]

4. I've always thought you could do it with 8 teams...

...number 9 might have a claim thet it got screwed out of a bid, but it's not as persuasive as #3 saying it got screwed, as is the case now. Can't see having any more teams than that, because this means the winner will only have to play 3 games, and that would be the limit in this type of sport.

It would mean getting rid of the bowl games, and that's the real sticking point--there's too much money involved for any school to really care about getting rid of the bowls.

[northzax]

9. I don't think number three got screwed this year

they did lose, after all, and there will be an undefeated number one on January 5th. Number 5, on the other hand, got shafted.

[joeybee12]

11. I didn't mean this year...I was referring sort of hypothetically to

the possibility,a nd also that the past two years a team has been screwed--last year it was #3 Auburn, the year before--can you believe it--the #1 team in the nation doesn't get to play for the championship!

[Awsi Dooger]

5. A playoff would be ridiculous

There is typically severe imbalance in college football at the very top, a couple of teams with distinct ability and power rating edge above the rest. That's why they survive unbeaten. A playoff involving 8 teams would merely stamp that superiority and give unworthy teams an extra shot. My Canes, for example, are a very flawed team that doesn't deserve any sniff of a title shot after losing at home to Georgia Tech plus an opening loss at FSU. Yet in the 8 team scenario they would be included in the rotation.

And right now #4 drops to a two-loss team in Ohio St. Are you telling me we're supposed to ignore Ohio St losing twice, including at home to a Texas team ahead of them? Or include Notre Dame despite losing twice at home?

A playoff after the bowls would be similarly lame. It might have given Auburn a deserved shot last year, but this season you've got two clearly deserving and lofted above the pack. The winner of the Rose Bowl is the rightful champion period.

Comparisons to college basketball are silly. The power ratings in that sport are bunched much closer than football. Plus the nature of the sport allows for upset potential due to a hot or cold shooting night. You have to play a grueling conference schedule with home and home against every other school in many conferences, plus a conference tournament in almost every conference. Non-conference games severely favor the home team much more distinctly than football, so won-loss records can become misleading. In football a playoff would quickly reveal just more certification of dominance, much more often than not.

[erpowers]

6. Unbeaten

I did point out that we could do a win-loss criteria so that teams who have lost a certain number of games will not be allowed in the playoffs. Two loses would not keep teams out of the playoffs though.

As far as USC and Texas goes they are going to the bowl only because each team remained unbeaten. If either one of the teams had been beaten it is possible that even though they were the two best teams one of them would have been left out of the championship game. I understand that some school would be totally against a playoffs series due to the money they would lose.

[Bill McBlueState]

7. Most college football teams *are* eligible for playoffs

Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III all have playoffs. In each case there's a single-elimination bracket with 16 or 32 teams. It works fine in those divisions, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work in Division I-A. Many people who make money off the current bowl system would be opposed, but they would likely find ways to involve themselves in a playoff.

[Bill McBlueState]

8. here's one idea

Have a 16-team bracket.

The eleven conference champions get automatic bids, as long as they meet some relatively low standard like at least seven wins over I-A teams. This allows teams in mid-major conferences to have at least a mathematical shot at a national championship. This year, the first nine slots would be awarded at this stage, since Akron (MAC) and Arkansas State (Sun Belt) don't meet the seven win standard.

Next, any independent with at least eight wins over I-A teams gets a spot. This year, Notre Dame would enter under this criterion.

The next bid would be awarded to the highest-ranking team in a national poll that is not already eligible. This procedure would continue until all sixteen spots are filled.

Finally, a committee seeds the teams one through sixteen.

Using the BCS as the national poll to determine at-large bids, the sixteen teams this year would be...

Conference champions:
Florida State, Texas, West Virginia, Penn State, Tulsa, TCU, USC, Georgia, Boise State

Independent:
Notre Dame

At Large:
Ohio State, Oregon, Miami (FL), Auburn, Virginia Tech, LSU

Alabama at #13 is the highest team in the BCS not to be invited.

There would be four rounds, usually occuring on the second through fourth Saturdays in December with the national championship on New Year's Day.

[CatholicEdHead]

10. That is why I only care about D-IAA, D-II and D0III football

The playoffs make it real. Anyone can knock off anyone.