A plausible football championship playoff format
As the college football season finishes off, and Cam Newton wills Auburn back to life once again and Boise State ruins the hopes of all of the "non-AQ" fans that want a party crasher to the BCS championship game.
As long as Auburn and Oregon keep winning, there should be no beloved controversy to bring debate back to killing the BCS, but if the Beavers or the Gamecocks get lucky next weekend, let chaos ensue:
Because your options are:
- TCU, they are undefeated BUT they played a schedule of cupcakes all season, including a 5-5 Oregon State team.
- Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State - Three one-loss Big Ten teams in the top 10 of the BCS standings. This may be the best "top three" of any conference in the nation, and none are, currently, ranked in the top 6 in the country.
- LSU, who won't even win it's division of it's conference, but only has one loss, to Auburn
- Oklahoma State, a one-loss team assuming they beat OU in Bedlam and Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game. They have had a very solid season and are very exciting to watch. Mike Gundy is a man, and he would want to play in a man-sized game. We'll see how Bedlam plays out tonight.
So assuming that #1 or #2 loses, let chaos begin. Every team here will claim that they deserve a shot to play in the BCS game. But seriously, if they win out, should they all, or should only one, or should some but not all? I think it's crazy that a national championship is up to a bunch of voters and computers... I guess it keeps the sportscasters employed and the corporate dollars flowing, but is it as legitimate as what Duke had to go through to win their basketball title this year?
Not that I want to have a 65 team playoff in football, but it's better than 2. But seriously, the anti-playoff people are right that you can't extend the season an extra month, but a couple of weeks is probably acceptable. However, I would like to propose a system that would give us everything we want, and maybe more. Here are the principles that I think it should be governed by:
1.) Traditional bowl alliances should be honored.
2.) If you win your conference and played a quality schedule, you should have a chance for a title
3.) The #1 and #2 teams get a chance to play.
Here's how it would work:
- The champions from the top 6 conferences (ranked by a "conference BCS" score) would get automatic bids to their championship bowl game. Bowl alliances are honored... Big Ten always plays Pac 10 in the Rose bowl, SEC always sends its champion to the Sugar Bowl, etc. There would be four bowls each year that would be "championship bowls"
- The top 2 teams in the BCS standings not getting automatic bids would play as wild cards.
- These bowls would be played out on January 1st and 2nd, just as they are today.
- The survivors of these bowls would play in a 4 team playoff with seedings based on the BCS standings of the surviving schools.
If this system was played out this year, this is how it would likely play out (if I had my way :) )
Rose: Wisconsin (Big Ten) vs. Oregon (Pac 10)
Sugar: Auburn (SEC) vs. TCU (wild card #1)
Orange: Virginia Tech (ACC) vs. LSU (wild card #2)
Cotton (at Jerryworld): Oklahoma State (Big 12) vs. West Virginia (Big East)
Round two (predicted)
Auburn defeats TCU, plays Oklahoma State who defeats WV - Auburn wins easily.
Wisconsin defeats Oregon (who played in a weak Pac 10), plays LSU who beat VT - Wisconsin wins as LSU's luck runs out.
Championship round
Auburn beats Wisconsin in a back and forth slugfest, trading blows.
-------
You know, maybe Auburn wins in both scenarios and Cam Newton is still the #1 pick in the NFL draft, but isn't this a little more exciting than watching a bunch of overweight analysts pontificate while computers determine which two teams get to play at the end of the day?
Personally, I think so.
As long as Auburn and Oregon keep winning, there should be no beloved controversy to bring debate back to killing the BCS, but if the Beavers or the Gamecocks get lucky next weekend, let chaos ensue:
Because your options are:
- TCU, they are undefeated BUT they played a schedule of cupcakes all season, including a 5-5 Oregon State team.
- Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State - Three one-loss Big Ten teams in the top 10 of the BCS standings. This may be the best "top three" of any conference in the nation, and none are, currently, ranked in the top 6 in the country.
- LSU, who won't even win it's division of it's conference, but only has one loss, to Auburn
- Oklahoma State, a one-loss team assuming they beat OU in Bedlam and Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game. They have had a very solid season and are very exciting to watch. Mike Gundy is a man, and he would want to play in a man-sized game. We'll see how Bedlam plays out tonight.
So assuming that #1 or #2 loses, let chaos begin. Every team here will claim that they deserve a shot to play in the BCS game. But seriously, if they win out, should they all, or should only one, or should some but not all? I think it's crazy that a national championship is up to a bunch of voters and computers... I guess it keeps the sportscasters employed and the corporate dollars flowing, but is it as legitimate as what Duke had to go through to win their basketball title this year?
Not that I want to have a 65 team playoff in football, but it's better than 2. But seriously, the anti-playoff people are right that you can't extend the season an extra month, but a couple of weeks is probably acceptable. However, I would like to propose a system that would give us everything we want, and maybe more. Here are the principles that I think it should be governed by:
1.) Traditional bowl alliances should be honored.
2.) If you win your conference and played a quality schedule, you should have a chance for a title
3.) The #1 and #2 teams get a chance to play.
Here's how it would work:
- The champions from the top 6 conferences (ranked by a "conference BCS" score) would get automatic bids to their championship bowl game. Bowl alliances are honored... Big Ten always plays Pac 10 in the Rose bowl, SEC always sends its champion to the Sugar Bowl, etc. There would be four bowls each year that would be "championship bowls"
- The top 2 teams in the BCS standings not getting automatic bids would play as wild cards.
- These bowls would be played out on January 1st and 2nd, just as they are today.
- The survivors of these bowls would play in a 4 team playoff with seedings based on the BCS standings of the surviving schools.
If this system was played out this year, this is how it would likely play out (if I had my way :) )
Rose: Wisconsin (Big Ten) vs. Oregon (Pac 10)
Sugar: Auburn (SEC) vs. TCU (wild card #1)
Orange: Virginia Tech (ACC) vs. LSU (wild card #2)
Cotton (at Jerryworld): Oklahoma State (Big 12) vs. West Virginia (Big East)
Round two (predicted)
Auburn defeats TCU, plays Oklahoma State who defeats WV - Auburn wins easily.
Wisconsin defeats Oregon (who played in a weak Pac 10), plays LSU who beat VT - Wisconsin wins as LSU's luck runs out.
Championship round
Auburn beats Wisconsin in a back and forth slugfest, trading blows.
-------
You know, maybe Auburn wins in both scenarios and Cam Newton is still the #1 pick in the NFL draft, but isn't this a little more exciting than watching a bunch of overweight analysts pontificate while computers determine which two teams get to play at the end of the day?
Personally, I think so.
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