How does the NCAA College football playoff system work?

Question

It is very confusing and I don't understand. There are so many bowl games and stuff...

Answer 1

BCS stands for Bowl Championship Series. It turns out to be one of the most complex statistical systems that we can encounter in daily life. Unlike other National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports, college football does not have an end-of-season tournament or playoff series. Instead, any Division I-A team with a winning record can play in a post-season competition called a bowl game. These games bring publicity and money to the colleges and universities that participate in them. But with winners of 25 different bowls all claiming to be the number one, it's been hard to call any one team the "National Champion." In 1998, the Bowl Championship Series debuted and promised to solve this problem. The BCS divides the glut of post-season games into two groups:

The BCS bowl games - These four games consist of the Nokia Sugar Bowl, the AT&T Rose Bowl, the FedEx Orange Bowl, and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Each year, one of these contests is designated as the national championship game. These are the premier games that feature only the top-ranked teams. Getting into one of these games guarantees that a school will receive a lot of money from bowl sponsors. Winning one of these games can be like hitting the lottery. This year's Fiesta Bowl, which isn't even the National Championship game, pays the victor and their athletic conference $13.5 million.

All other bowl games - The remaining games are now considered minor bowls. Any team with a 6-5 record can be picked to play in one of these games, but their prestige and the monetary rewards for playing in them are much lower than the BCS games.

Here is a closer look at how the math that produces the BCS rating works. There are four components that contribute to a team's rank.

1. Subjective polls
2. Computer rankings
3. Strength of a team's schedule
4. Number of Losses

Each of these factors is represented by a numerical value. Teams are assigned a certain number of points for their performance in each category. These four values are then totaled to produce a team's final score. The team with the lowest point total gets the number one spot for the week.

Answer 2

There actually is no "playoff system". In fact there is much debate over if there should be or should not be a playoff system of some sort. The way it currently works is determined by voting and polling. Both humans and computers decide who plays in what bowls. IT is decided by quite a few things some of those including strength of schedule, W/L percentage, and overall performance (on the field). Some of these things that decide the bowl games are decided by computers, such as strength of schedule, while others are decided by humans, like game time performance. Overall most college football fans will tell you that the current "system" needs a complete overhaul.

Answer 3

its really quite simple. There are 2 human polls (Harris and Coaches). Harris is media people, former players and university officials. Coaches poll is supposed to be the coaches themselves. The Polls make up two thirds of the BCS final poll. 6 computer rankings make up the last third. In the computer polls, the highest and lowest computer rankings are thrown out to get a better sample. The formula is then figured out using those 3 polls. The top 2 teams in the final BCS poll go to the BCS championship game and play each other.

Under the old bowl system, #1 Ohio St would have to go the Rose Bowl to play the Pac 10 champ USC. #2 Florida as SEC champ would have to go to the Sugar Bowl and they probably would have played Notre Dame (at large). Ohio St and Florida would have been unable to play each other. The BCS was designed to have the top 2 teams play each other in the bowl. Under the old system this was impossible. So people can argue about who belongs in as #2 all day, but the fact is under the old system No 1 and No 2 COULD NOT HAVE PLAYED EACH OTHER AT ALL.

Answer 4

There is no playoff system thats why its confusing!!

Its called the Bowl Championship Series (BCS)

All the bowls are voted by a certain group for the BCS and its totally messed up thats why they should go to a 8 team playoff system.

Answer 5

College football needs a playoff system, but I hope Obama (he's not president yet, btw) will find more important things to do than tell college football how to manage its affairs.

Answer 6

If you have atleast 7 wins then you are "bowl elegiable". If you get selected for a bowl then you play in it. Depending on the size of the bowl (how important it is) then the winning college will recieve money for scholarships. The top teams will be in the BCS (bowl championship series) which is some of the most important bowls (Sugar bowl, Fiesta bowl, BCS National Championship). They will get more money for scholarships. Its not a playoff since each team only plays one game. If they got eliminated it would be a playoff.

Answer 7

there IS not playoff system in division 1 football.

Answer 8

That is one of the questions like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The world may never know.

Answer 9

thats how million of fans across the nation feel. NO ONE KNOWS

Answer 10

IN DIVISION 1A, THERE IS NO PLAYOFFS.