Thursday, July 5, 2012

An exciting playoff plan

College football is going to a four-team playoff in 2014. The sport is evolving after being in a bowl culture since 1900.

A problem with this four-team playoff is that access would be cut out for many, many teams.

I have a new plan which I feel would help alleviate the problem of highly-ranked teams not making it, but would allow all the teams that have a legitimate chance to win a national title have a chance.

I believe a six-team playoff would be the best idea to help preserve the regular season, and to let all the teams that have a chance at a national championship have one. Six teams would allow the top two teams in the final poll to get a huge advantage; they would only have to play two games to win the national championship.

My real goal is a 16-team playoff involving every conference (including non-BCS), but this might not happen for 10 or 15 years.

The six-team playoff would still include semifinals on New Year's Eve and Day with the bowl games. With each semi being bid out with the bowls, along with the finals, there would be five different bowls or locations for this six-team playoff.

There would be no Champions Bowl, but the four major bowl games (Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta) would still exist, allowing fourteen teams to participate in either the BCS or the playoffs.

They would select teams with the conference tie-ins. The Orange would still have the ACC tie-in, the Rose a Pac-12/Big Ten tie-in, and the Sugar a SEC tie-in. The Big 12 and Big East's top teams, along with non-BCS teams, could fill the final 3 spots.

I'll talk more in future posts, but I have a list of the what the match-ups would be in the last six seasons since the BCS National Championship was added.

2011: No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama get byes to Football Four.

No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. No. 6 Arkansas
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 5 Oregon

2010: No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Oregon get byes.

No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Ohio State
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 5 Wisconsin
 
2009: No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas get byes.

No. 3 Cincinnati vs. No. 6 Boise State
No. 4 TCU vs. No. 5 Florida

2008: No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida get byes.

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Utah
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Southern California

2007: No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 LSU get byes.

No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. No. 6 Missouri
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Georgia

2006: No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Florida get byes.

No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Louisville
No. 4 LSU vs. No. 5 Southern California

This playoff would also include the four major bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange), which would have the opportunity to present two games a year.

Fourteen teams would get a chance to be in these games every year. You'd have the six team playoff each year, then eight teams in the major bowls, which would still carry lots of prestige.

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