Let me preface this with i don't really think we need to change anything currently but it's fun to discuss options.
During the BCS years I was constantly frustrated by the rankings and how nearly every college football season ended. Almost every year there was a team (or two) that had a grip about not getting a shot at the title. Undefeateds Utah, Auburn and Boise state are all teams i felt had arguments to this at one point or another. When this was happening I was blogging (yes blogging) about my solution. Now, 15 years later my solution still makes the most sense ( to me ) on how to "fix" things.
A true 32 or 16 team playoff would make nearly everyone happy in theory but logistically it's not an option with a 12 game regular season and conf championship game for the power 5.
My proposal:
10 team playoff similar to the NFL's format, top four get a bye (if they played in a conference championship game). Power five winners get automatic bid and 5 at larges. Seeds are determined by rankings. However, winning the conference title could swap a multi loss team with a one loss team to a top seed but both would still make playoff.
First rd playoff games are played at the lowest seeds home stadiums and the semifinals/finals are on neutral fields. All playoff games are played in three consecutive weeks (essentially you would add a week before the current semifinal game already scheduled). All other bowl games are filled the current way for all teams not in the playoff.
Here is how it would look using this year as an example:
Top seeds:
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma (Notre dame doesn't play in a conference championship game therefore they cannot receive a bye rated seed)
4. Ohio state (OSU gets the nod over UGA bc they won their conference)
At large:
5. Notre Dame
6. Georgia
7. Michigan
8. Central Florida
9. Washington
10. Florida
Rd 1: Dec 22
#10 Florida vs #5 ND
#9 Washington vs #6 UGA
#8 UCF vs #7 Michigan
Winners advance to play appropriate seed the following week on natural field. #1 seed plays highest remaining seed etc.
The ONLY team who plays an extra game this season, for this setup, is UGA. Winner gets the trophy and the only argument is who is 9th-10th...
In this setup you can literally play your way in or get a shot by being a quality at-large. The teams lobbying for the final spot this year would be:
UF, LSU, PSU, WSU, UK, & TEXAS... i think that's a better argument than UGA vs OU or OSU imo.
Thoughts? Improvements? Criticisms?
During the BCS years I was constantly frustrated by the rankings and how nearly every college football season ended. Almost every year there was a team (or two) that had a grip about not getting a shot at the title. Undefeateds Utah, Auburn and Boise state are all teams i felt had arguments to this at one point or another. When this was happening I was blogging (yes blogging) about my solution. Now, 15 years later my solution still makes the most sense ( to me ) on how to "fix" things.
A true 32 or 16 team playoff would make nearly everyone happy in theory but logistically it's not an option with a 12 game regular season and conf championship game for the power 5.
My proposal:
10 team playoff similar to the NFL's format, top four get a bye (if they played in a conference championship game). Power five winners get automatic bid and 5 at larges. Seeds are determined by rankings. However, winning the conference title could swap a multi loss team with a one loss team to a top seed but both would still make playoff.
First rd playoff games are played at the lowest seeds home stadiums and the semifinals/finals are on neutral fields. All playoff games are played in three consecutive weeks (essentially you would add a week before the current semifinal game already scheduled). All other bowl games are filled the current way for all teams not in the playoff.
Here is how it would look using this year as an example:
Top seeds:
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma (Notre dame doesn't play in a conference championship game therefore they cannot receive a bye rated seed)
4. Ohio state (OSU gets the nod over UGA bc they won their conference)
At large:
5. Notre Dame
6. Georgia
7. Michigan
8. Central Florida
9. Washington
10. Florida
Rd 1: Dec 22
#10 Florida vs #5 ND
#9 Washington vs #6 UGA
#8 UCF vs #7 Michigan
Winners advance to play appropriate seed the following week on natural field. #1 seed plays highest remaining seed etc.
The ONLY team who plays an extra game this season, for this setup, is UGA. Winner gets the trophy and the only argument is who is 9th-10th...
In this setup you can literally play your way in or get a shot by being a quality at-large. The teams lobbying for the final spot this year would be:
UF, LSU, PSU, WSU, UK, & TEXAS... i think that's a better argument than UGA vs OU or OSU imo.
Thoughts? Improvements? Criticisms?
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude"
~ Scott Hamilton
~ Scott Hamilton