How would you construct a Division 1 playoff system?

Question

Many people are saying the results of this year's bowl games point more strongly than ever to the need for a playoff system. But almost no one has actually suggested such a system. Some are just saying that BSU ought to get a shot at Florida. But as a BSU fan, I have to admit that I think USC's credentials are stronger, even with two losses. (One of those losses came after they beat three ranked teams in three consecutive weeks. BSU only played one ranked team in the regular season. And I think USC's bowl victory was much more convincing, if not more exciting and unexpected, than BSU's.)

Specifically, how many teams would be in the playoff? How would they be picked? When would the games be played? What would happen to the current bowl games?

For reference, here is a website with the last polls before this year's bowl games started. It's the BCS standings, but it also shows the Harris and USA Today polls.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/polls?poll...

Sorry, I guess the link automatically takes you to the final rankings. But you can go back a week.

The first suggestion sounds reasonable and workable. But consider some of the results. The following teams would NOT have appeared this year in this playoff system: Michigan (11-1), LSU (11-2), Wisconsin (11-1), Auburn (11-2), Rutgers (11-2), and Virginia Tech (10-3)--second place finishers all. In their place, the following teams WOULD have made the playoffs: Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Southern Miss, and Ohio (all 9-5); Houston and Central Michigan (10-4); and Troy (8-5). Would this really be better than what we have now?

Answer 1

You want an 8 team playoff. The conference champs from the following conferences and 2 at large teams make it:

1. ACC
2. Big East
3. Big Ten
4. Big 12
5. PAC 10
6. SEC
7. Div 1A Team with minimum 9 wins voted in by fans
8. Div 1A Team with minimum 9 wins votes in by media

Have an eight team playoff with above teams. You play round 1 of the playoffs the second Friday night (1 game) and Saturday (3 games) in December. Play the games in New York, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Pasadena.

The four advancing teams play round 2 of the playoffs the 3rd Saturday of December. Play games in Miami and Houston/Dallas (alternate).

Championship game New Year's day in Phoenix.

Locations can be played with. But the Championship game needs to be somewhere that is warm in January.

Never happen, because too much money and too many winners are created by the current bowl system. As long as people keep watching meaningless bowl games, they'll keep putting them on.

Answer 2

A playoff system would be horrible.

First of all, you allow no chance whatsoever for schools in the MAC, WAC, Mountain West, and Conference USA to get in it.

Plus quit thinking that all the bowl games are just about the money. I hope you understand that football is a huge money maker for a majority of schools, in which, helps pay to run the campus, expand the campus, allow for more financial aid and lower cost of attendance, create better educational facilities, improve upon the education, and lets not forget the improvement up the schools atheletics programs.

Yes, the bowl games are also used as a major marketing strategy, but what isn't.

Playoffs would drag out a the players season which in turn adds the liability of injury or any other event that would drastically ruin a players chances at the NFL. This is D-1A, the NFL's draft choices and our favorite teams futures.

The system is flawed, but the bowl games have history. The rose bowl would no longer be the grandaddy of them all. Plus, if you have it right after the end of the regular season, the rose bowl would no longer be so wonderful as it is purposely placed on the first for the Rose Parade. There are more things involved than having your team in the playoffs.

Hell Boise State would never have gotten the feeling of being undefeated and winners of the fiesta bowl.
I've never seen so much controversy. Ohio State lost and thats that. No one was having that much of an NCAA attack when Oklahoma got manhandled by USC a couple years back. The championship game is not designed to make sure its close. It's designed to pit the #1 and #2 together.

And you say Ohio State was overrated. How did the computers put them #1? Computers can't lie and can't favor one team over another. Ohio State deserved the shot as Florida did. This is football. Expect crazier things to happen.

Answer 3

It would be hard. There are 11 Div conf. plus a few independents like Norte Dame. Each conference would get a representative plus the 5 best 2nd place teams to make 16 teams. But I think it would unfair to the PAC 10, Big 10, ACC and the SEC which are the strongest divisions. Say Penn State, USC or other traditional powerhouses finish 9 and 3 and are excluded and the winner of the MAC or WAC finishes 9 and 3 is in because they won in a weaker division. It works for NCAA Basketball and Pro Football(because theoretically they are on a even playing field) but I don't think it will work in NCAA Div. 1 football.

Answer 4

Agree with LS. You also need to start the playoffs right after the end of the season instead of having 4-6 weeks of downtime. You could manage the playoffs similar to the NCAA basketball tourney so that it ends on New Years.

Bottom line, college sports are about the almighty $, if you plan it right you could get greater TV revenue by showing more games over a longer period of time. With the current bowl system, which happens to fall on the holidays, you can't see more than a couple of games.

Answer 5

MAKE EVERY TEAM EVEN NOTRE DAME and make them play in a league. then you take the league champs and those teams get into the playoffs.

pretty easy. because as of right now NO .500 team should be playing in bowl game. and to many teams from big leagues play in these bowl games simply because they got beat by say michigan or ohio state or Lsu etc.

league champs only make the playoffs. second place finishers can have the bowl games.

i would like to add that this is about being fair. fair is when you beat the team on the field to make the playoffs. so what if LSU didn't win their league and still finished with a 11-1 record..yeah and? by my set up they'll end up playing in a money game like the rose bowl...thats unfair? what my system does is make the regular season more meaningful and teams won't be able to sechudle divison 3 teams as warm up games. because league games will be that more important-not records. hey if say a 8-2 georiga team beats a 11-0 florida team in the league champ game...got news for you..that means georiga was better..doesn't matter on what day doesn't matter that florida would beat georgia 9 out of 10 times...what matters is what happened in the game that was played-and guess what? both teams actually WON THEIR WAY INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME-THEY WEREN'T VOTED IN OR PICKED BY A COMMITTE. many of us have to get over the fact that OUR FAVORITE teams don't get the nodd..so what..is it fair that michigan (who played nooooooooooo one) and ohio state (who played the same schedule as michigan) got so much love this year for playing such a weak schedule? only reason they got that love IS BASED ON PAST HISTORY. NOW THATS DOWN RIGHT WEAK.

how about this year? we got LSU who beat up on a really bad notre dame team..and now we are talking about how ther qb is so great? lol...why because the best game he had all season was against notre dame-a team that couldn't beat a donkey standing still? see that's what i mean...giving to much love for beating weak opponets. the sec is tough yes-but each team in that league that has losses lost to each other. i can't give that to much credit when you see their NON league teams they played. meaning. they beat up on the little teams but when they actually have to play each other...they all beat each other up. so again-padding their records to make them look good with say-3 non league games againts the akrons and division 3 teams-then going into league and losing half them games..and still ending up with 10 win seasons and the country saying...ooh the sec is so great because each team is strong there..is it? no other league schedules so many non league games as does the sec teams.

anyway. i think my syste works pretty good. also i'd say that the teams should only have 10 regular season games. meaning most if not all would be league games. let the other games come from either playoffs or the bowl system.

what's not fair is when a team like boise state beats a oklahoma team-and that win is lessend by the critics because-boise state doesn't have a history of it (for the record they lose about 1 game a year so they are pretty damn good)

one last thing..what are you talking about? maryland won the acc so tech woudn't have been there.

aaaaand one last last thing.

i remember the days when if a team was the only undefeated team in the country it was crowned the champs.

NO ONE LOSS TEAM SHOULD EVER BE CROWNED A CHAMP OVER A UNDEFEATED TEAM.

NEVER.

Answer 6

Right after the Season, Every conference champ and a few Wild Card teams, then assign them seeds and let it play out, or have some sort of round robin thing where everyone plays everyone and the team with the best record wins.

Answer 7

I would like to see the 4 major bowl games played and the winners of the bowl games play the following week and then the championship game after that

Answer 8

very carefully