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Editor’s Note: We are diverging from our general Top 5 format to address the abomination that is the BCS. Francis and The Consigliere are graduates of the University of Kansas and the College of William & Mary respectively. As such, Francis is familiar with the frustrations of the BCS system and The Consigliere is well-versed in the awesomeness of the playoff system.
First of all, despite the proclamations of the most merciful, the messiah, Barack Obama, I don't foresee a NCAA Division I football playoff in any future, much less the near one. More important than the fact that the big conferences (and their blazered oligarchs) and the bowl system (and their blazered oligarchs) don't want to give up any of their power/money, is the fact that the general public, or to be precise, the television-viewing public, seems to support the current system. I don't foresee guys turning off the tube on the 1st Monday night in January, so I don't anticipate any change. Sorry, Barack.
However, it is an anathema to competitive sports in its current form. College football's champion is less legitimate than the champion crowned on Dancing with the Stars. And now, its lunacy has bled into determining the champion of my conference, the Big XII. Oklahoma in the title game of the conference has everyone up in arms- and it is baloney. But, it is no different than Oklahoma being in some artificially construed "national championship", which is what we have now.
So, the brain trust here at Top Five, Brothers, and All Things Fried has constructed our own playoff system. Yes, millions of others have done the same, and no, none of them are likely to ever happen. But, nonetheless, this is our blog, so we're doing it. The Top Five is a firm believer in not wasting valuable energy in reinventing the wheel, so we used a system that has been proven to work - that of the Football Championship Series, formerly known as Division I-AA. (It’s also substantially the same system used in every other level of NCAA football.) In doing so, we use a selection committee of 10 rotating regional ADs from D-I schools. For the purposes of our 2008-2009 tourney, The Consigliere and I will serve in their stead. In the FCS, eight conference champs and eight at-large bids comprise the 16-team field. Ours will have the 6 BCS conference champs along with 10 at-large bids. The top-4 seeds are named, and then teams 5-16 are assigned regionally. This is important in FCS because of budget constraints, a problem the BCS lacks - so regionality was not a factor for us. As with the FCS system, conference foes could not square off in the 1st round. And unlike the BCS, the two-team conference limit does not exist in our rules. In our setting, every conference would have a championship game that would have to be completed by the 3rd weekend in November. This would probably call for an 11-game schedule, maximum. First round playoff games would be played at the on-campus sites of the higher seeds. Six rotating bowls, including the Big 4 (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange) plus two others (for us, this year would be the Cotton & Peach) would serve as sites for quarterfinal and semifinal games. Cities would bid for the National Championship game, as they do in college basketball. For our purposes, we'll use the site of the 2009 Basketball Championship, Ford Field in Detroit, MI.
So, here's how our playoffs would work:
(note: we have assumed a win by the higher seeded team for hypothetical purposes.)
ROUND 1
TUE, DEC 2ND 8PM (ET): Georgia Tech @ Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, AL.
WED, DEC 3RD 7PM (CT): Ball State @ Oklahoma in Norman, OK.
THU, DEC 4TH 7PM (CT): Texas Christian @ Texas in Austin, TX.
FRI, DEC 5TH 8PM (ET): Oklahoma State @ Florida in Gainesville, FL.
SAT, DEC 6TH 12PM (ET): Boise State @ Penn State in State College, PA.
SAT, DEC 6TH 2 PM (CT): Virginia Tech @ Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX.
SAT, DEC 6TH 4PM (MT): Ohio State @ Utah in Provo, UT.
SAT , DEC 6TH 6PM (PT): Cincinnati @ Southern Cal in Pasadena, CA.
ROUND 2
THU, DEC 11TH 8PM (ET): Utah vs. Alabama in The Sugar Bowl.
FRI, DEC 12TH 7PM (CT): Texas Tech vs. Texas in The Cotton Bowl.
SAT, DEC 13TH 2PM (PT): Penn State vs. Oklahoma in The Fiesta Bowl.
SAT, DEC 13TH 8PM (ET): Southern Cal vs. Florida in The Peach Bowl.
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
SAT, DEC 20TH 6PM (ET): Florida vs. Alabama in The Orange Bowl.
SAT, DEC 20TH 6PM (PT): Texas vs. Oklahoma in The Rose Bowl.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
THU, JAN 1ST 8PM (ET): Oklahoma vs. Alabama at Ford Field.
Imagine the possibilities. Get pissed off. Don't watch the BCS.
Comment.
First of all, despite the proclamations of the most merciful, the messiah, Barack Obama, I don't foresee a NCAA Division I football playoff in any future, much less the near one. More important than the fact that the big conferences (and their blazered oligarchs) and the bowl system (and their blazered oligarchs) don't want to give up any of their power/money, is the fact that the general public, or to be precise, the television-viewing public, seems to support the current system. I don't foresee guys turning off the tube on the 1st Monday night in January, so I don't anticipate any change. Sorry, Barack.
However, it is an anathema to competitive sports in its current form. College football's champion is less legitimate than the champion crowned on Dancing with the Stars. And now, its lunacy has bled into determining the champion of my conference, the Big XII. Oklahoma in the title game of the conference has everyone up in arms- and it is baloney. But, it is no different than Oklahoma being in some artificially construed "national championship", which is what we have now.
So, the brain trust here at Top Five, Brothers, and All Things Fried has constructed our own playoff system. Yes, millions of others have done the same, and no, none of them are likely to ever happen. But, nonetheless, this is our blog, so we're doing it. The Top Five is a firm believer in not wasting valuable energy in reinventing the wheel, so we used a system that has been proven to work - that of the Football Championship Series, formerly known as Division I-AA. (It’s also substantially the same system used in every other level of NCAA football.) In doing so, we use a selection committee of 10 rotating regional ADs from D-I schools. For the purposes of our 2008-2009 tourney, The Consigliere and I will serve in their stead. In the FCS, eight conference champs and eight at-large bids comprise the 16-team field. Ours will have the 6 BCS conference champs along with 10 at-large bids. The top-4 seeds are named, and then teams 5-16 are assigned regionally. This is important in FCS because of budget constraints, a problem the BCS lacks - so regionality was not a factor for us. As with the FCS system, conference foes could not square off in the 1st round. And unlike the BCS, the two-team conference limit does not exist in our rules. In our setting, every conference would have a championship game that would have to be completed by the 3rd weekend in November. This would probably call for an 11-game schedule, maximum. First round playoff games would be played at the on-campus sites of the higher seeds. Six rotating bowls, including the Big 4 (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange) plus two others (for us, this year would be the Cotton & Peach) would serve as sites for quarterfinal and semifinal games. Cities would bid for the National Championship game, as they do in college basketball. For our purposes, we'll use the site of the 2009 Basketball Championship, Ford Field in Detroit, MI.
So, here's how our playoffs would work:
(note: we have assumed a win by the higher seeded team for hypothetical purposes.)
ROUND 1
TUE, DEC 2ND 8PM (ET): Georgia Tech @ Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, AL.
WED, DEC 3RD 7PM (CT): Ball State @ Oklahoma in Norman, OK.
THU, DEC 4TH 7PM (CT): Texas Christian @ Texas in Austin, TX.
FRI, DEC 5TH 8PM (ET): Oklahoma State @ Florida in Gainesville, FL.
SAT, DEC 6TH 12PM (ET): Boise State @ Penn State in State College, PA.
SAT, DEC 6TH 2 PM (CT): Virginia Tech @ Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX.
SAT, DEC 6TH 4PM (MT): Ohio State @ Utah in Provo, UT.
SAT , DEC 6TH 6PM (PT): Cincinnati @ Southern Cal in Pasadena, CA.
ROUND 2
THU, DEC 11TH 8PM (ET): Utah vs. Alabama in The Sugar Bowl.
FRI, DEC 12TH 7PM (CT): Texas Tech vs. Texas in The Cotton Bowl.
SAT, DEC 13TH 2PM (PT): Penn State vs. Oklahoma in The Fiesta Bowl.
SAT, DEC 13TH 8PM (ET): Southern Cal vs. Florida in The Peach Bowl.
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
SAT, DEC 20TH 6PM (ET): Florida vs. Alabama in The Orange Bowl.
SAT, DEC 20TH 6PM (PT): Texas vs. Oklahoma in The Rose Bowl.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
THU, JAN 1ST 8PM (ET): Oklahoma vs. Alabama at Ford Field.
Imagine the possibilities. Get pissed off. Don't watch the BCS.
Comment.
It makes sense and what they don't realize is they can still make money...
ReplyDeleteGo Noles --- Back for good in 2010!
This won't make sense for fans trying to go to the games and this would destroy the regular season...see college basketball!!! The bowls provide great interest for many alum (Insight Bowl or Liberty Bowl).
ReplyDeleteThe regular season would be determined by pollsters ranking conferences on personal agenda's or past success - see SEC 2008! The non-conference game of meaning would go away and schools like Texas, Florida, USC would be the only teams in real post season contention.
Looking at the beloved NFL, their playoff system doesn't get it right and makes some games point-less. (The reason for Seth's fantasy football change, week 17?) Plus, does anyone really believe that Arizona is the 4th best team in the NFC? They have a losing record outside of their division. Plus how can you argue that Ball State would be in your tourney... Just watch the season. The Texas or Oklahoma arguement is flawed because the true title game should be a rematch. The arguement should be "Why Florida?"
Save the regular season - no playoff!