As a guy who grew up in the deep South, I naturally enjoy college football. If you don't, than this post will not interest you. If you do, then perhaps you'll permit me a minute to ramble...
* The BCS is dumb - so my plan calls for an 8 team playoff (open to 16).
* The only sure entry is to win your conference championship. After the 6 major conferences, the last two spots will be decided by play-in games between champions of lesser conferences (Wac vs MWC and MAC vs Con. USA, just an example). It seems silly to me that, theoretically, a team could win the national championship but not its own conference. This will ensure that conference play is meaningful.
* Every conference should have a championship game - right now those that don't (like the PAC10 have an unfair advantage in reaching the big bowls). You must have 12 schools to have one... so the PAC 10 adds Fresno St. and Nevada (or Utah or Boise St - doesn't matter to me) and the Big 10 adds Notre Dame. If Notre Dame doesn't want to join a conference they don't have to, but they might not be invited to the playoffs. I'm sick and tired of the free ride these guys get just because they're Notre Dame.
* You can incorporate the 4 major BCS bowls into the playoffs - 2 semifinals, a 3rd place game, and the championship game on a rotating basis. All the other bowls can remain for teams outside the playoffs, so you won't lose the traditional bowl season. (Of course, an event called the "Meineke Car Care Bowl" or the "MPC Computer Bowl" sure doesn't scream tradition...)
* BTW - Notre Dame will get invited to a BCS bowl this year (over 10-1 Oregon among others) having won 3 games against teams with winning records - two of which are 6-5 BYU and 7-4 Navy (Michigan is the other). They're going because they're Notre Dame, not because they deserve it.
* Reggie Bush will win the Heisman trophy, and deservedly so. Every time he touches the ball you wonder if he will score a TD. But Texas will beat USC.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
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9 comments:
Alex - let's create a college football postseason campaign committee and suggest, officially, that the BCS system is, as you said, stupid. The NCAA needs to realize this and offer a playoff system. Even if the 8 team attempt is not accepted, lets move for a 16 team playoff. As far as Notre Dame goes, they're going to a BCS bowl game because they'll bring in the almighty $, and for no other reason.
PS - you named two bowls that "don't scream tradition" and both are bowls that Clemson is being considered for - any subtle hints there?
As you know, I'm in complete agreement with you about the unfair advantage enjoyed by teams that don't have a conference championship game, as well as the ND issue (tkerns is right; it's the MONEY that speaks where ND is concerned). The BCS is a farce, and the NCAA folks are wimps. It's simply not that difficult to develop a playoff system of some sort.
Oh come on.. give Vince Young a chance for the Heisman. I mean, Texas IS gonna win the national championship!
I actually do think Texas will win the championship. Vince Young is good - but Bush is your Heisman winner.
Take it easy on the Catholics! I will admit that ND has received a free pass here and there. However, with the exception of the MSU game, they earned their spot this year.
Great idea but I disagree somewhat with your first point. I think that there should be a way to gague the strength of a conference instead of just saying its a "lesser" conference. Some of these lesser conferences are actually populated with teams thatare quite good. Also, some of the best conferences are dominated by one or two very good teams. Just calling a conference "lesser" doesn't make it so.
Otherwise, I like your proposal. Heck, I'd like just about ANYthing other than the BCS. All these arguments against having a playoff system are just plain silly.
I agree with you to some extent, Joel. The MAC or WAC has some teams that could make noise in the power conferences. I suppose my suggestion is a capitulation to the reality (largely an economic reality) that certain conferences get an automatic BCS bid while others don't.
That's why I propose some kind of play-in game between some other conferences so, for example, you'd have the MAC winner play the C-USA winner or something like that while the SEC champ would have no play in game, like having a first-round bye.
Good mid-major teams really grow and benefit from the tournament format in basketball - think Gonzaga. It would be cool for a team like Bowling Green or Middle Tenn St be able to do the same in football.
Alex,
Finally, I have a chance to respond. I was thinking about your post this morning and was going to say something similar to what Joel said.
I like the idea for an eight-team playoff, but I'm not sure I agree that those eight teams should necessarily come from the six conferences plus the two play-in games. For example, let's say the SEC has a particularly strong year. Let's say Georgia and LSU are both undefeated going into the SEC title game. The loser of that game would be out of the playoff picture.
Meanwhile, let's say the Big 10 has a weak year, with an 8-2 Michigan team playing a 9-1 Penn State team in the conference championship, which Michigan wins. Under your proposed system, a 9-2 Michigan team would then make the playoffs over a much stronger SEC team with only one loss. I'd hate to see that happen.
My suggestion would be to come up with a system that ranks teams -- whether by the writers, the coaches, computer rankings, whatever, and take the top eight teams by that ranking system for a playoff. Yes, you'd hear some griping from the teams ranked ninth and 10th, but if they're ranked that low, they don't deserve a shot at the national title anyway. Most likely, the top eight teams in the country would be all the teams that are undefeated or have only one loss. Yes, you'll get some teams with two losses, but so be it. I'd rather have a team in the playoffs who doesn't deserve to be there than to leave out a team that does deserve to be there.
I know there are problems with any system, but you've done a good job proposing something that's a heckuva lot better than the BCS.
I will give Lindie and Alex 6 points on the Texas vs USC game.
Bottle of Pinot if I win, bottle of sparkling cider if you guys win?
I put up, so you do the same.
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