Playoff system - what format?

[kolya23]

If college football went to a playoff system, what would be the best system? There are two aspects to the question: what would be the actual best system, and what would be the best system that could realistically occur?

Looking at what could realistically occur, I think that any new agreement could not be radically different from the current system. In other words, nobody in the system will want to be worse off than they are now, and will fight to keep any special previleges they have now.

Here's the current BCS:
#1 and #2 in BCS are in the NC game
there are 10 BCS teams, with 5 bowls
6 BCS conference winners are in
No more than 2 teams from one conference
Notre Dame is guaranteed in, if they finish in the top 8 in BCS

and the last long rule:
"One conference champion from among Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Western Athletic Conferences will automatically qualify to play in a BCS bowl if it is: (1) ranked among the top 12 teams in the final BCS Standings; or (2) ranked among the top 16 teams in the final BCS Standings and ranked higher than the champion of one of the conferences whose champion has an annual automatic berth in a BCS bowl."

The main arguments put up by defenders of the BCS and/or bowl system:

The regular season would lose meaning in a playoff. Now, every game is extremely important, because one loss means you probably don't get to the title game. If there was a playoff, teams may stop trying at the end, and sit their starters, like the NFL.

The student-athletes need time off in December for exams and visiting families before the bowls. A playoff would ruin this.

The bowls are what make college FB special. The students get to take a trip somewhere warm, and lots of teams end the season with a win. In a playoff, only one team ends with a win.

Lots of fans plan to spend a few days wherever the bowl is, and if there is a playoff, this would be ruined. They wouldn't go to the early bowls. Then for the later bowls, they'd be more inclined to just fly in for the game, instead of making a vacation out of it, since they can't have 3 or 4 vacations in a row like that - and they don't know when they'll lose. The bowls would lose big in a playoff system.

Different options for a playoff:

+1 game: The BCS seems to be considering a +1 game fairly seriously. Here, the entire system stays intact, except that #1 and #4 go to one bowl, and #2 and #3 to another. Then there is an added NC bowl at the end, after all the bowls.
This might be the best compromise. The bowl system remains intact, and if you want a playoff, it's better than before. It also could lead to a playoff with more rounds later.

12 or 16 game playoff: I've seen this floated a lot on AO. A 16-game playoff would probably have all 11 conference champs, plus 5 at-large. A 12-game playoff would probably be similar to the current system, plus 2 more at-large. The playoffs go through the month of December, like lower divisions of college FB. In either system, early games are probably home games for the higher seeded teams.

8 game playoff: This is my favorite system. The 8 teams are the 6 conference champs, plus ND if top 8, and a mid-major conference champ if it is top 12. The first round are home games in early December. The losers in the first round still go to bowls like normal. Then the 4 winners go into basically the same as the +1 system would be.
This system seems like a winner for everyone. For rational fans, it's way better than the BCS now. For the major conferences, they get an extra big home game, and I'm presuming that higher ratings could result in a bigger TV payout. For the mid-majors, they get a shot at the national title, which they'll never get now. The bowls stay intact, just like in the +1 system, so the bowls still make plenty of money. There's still a break for student-athletes. Also, the regular season is still really meaningful... you pretty much must win your conference. If ND is top 8 and one mid-major qualifies, then there are no at-large bids. And no team would want to be at the mercy of the voters to get one of those at-large spots.

If that system was used this year:

(1) OSU
(8) Wake
(4) USC
(5) Louisville
(3) Michigan
(6) Boise State
(2) Florida
(7) Oklahoma

The big fight would have been over the final at-large team, with Michigan probably getting picked over LSU - and LSU promptly getting vindicated by Boise State's thrilling win in the Big House. Those playoffs would have been exciting, in any case.

Thoughts?

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Start with 4.
After a few years, it gets expanded to 8.
After a few more years....

[BuckyBadger]

I like your 8 team playoff a lot. I would make a few tweaks:

1) Take out the bowl game for first round losers... they would not care. Leave the bowls for teams that didn't make the playoffs, however.

2) Change the rules for qualification to: any conference champion in the top 12 of the BCS automatically qualifies. Any other spots are filled by at large teams. If 9 or more different conference champions are in the top 12, then only the top 8 go (but I don't believe this has ever happened).

3) No home games... all playoff games are at neutral sites.

Here is how this would look this year:

(1) Ohio State vs. (8) Boise State
(2) Florida vs. (7) Wisconsin
(3) Michigan vs. (6) Louisville
(4) LSU vs. (5) USC

Wake Forest would have just missed, finishing 14th in the BCS standings.

Last year, we would have had:

(1) USC vs. (8) West Virginia
(2) Texas vs. (7) Georgia
(3) Penn State vs. (6) Notre Dame
(4) Ohio State vs (5) Oregon

Miami FL was 8th in the BCS and would have been left out at the expense of West Virginia, who qualified as a conference champion ranked 11th. TCU finished 14th and would have just missed getting in.

[LifeAct]

Originally Posted by BuckyBadger

I like your 8 team playoff a lot. I would make a few tweaks:

1) Take out the bowl game for first round losers... they would not care. Leave the bowls for teams that didn't make the playoffs, however.

2) Change the rules for qualification to: any conference champion in the top 12 of the BCS automatically qualifies. Any other spots are filled by at large teams. If 9 or more different conference champions are in the top 12, then only the top 8 go (but I don't believe this has ever happened).

3) No home games... all playoff games are at neutral sites.

Here is how this would look this year:

(1) Ohio State vs. (8) Boise State
(2) Florida vs. (7) Wisconsin
(3) Michigan vs. (6) Louisville
(4) LSU vs. (5) USC

Wake Forest would have just missed, finishing 14th in the BCS standings.

Last year, we would have had:

(1) USC vs. (8) West Virginia
(2) Texas vs. (7) Georgia
(3) Penn State vs. (6) Notre Dame
(4) Ohio State vs (5) Oregon

Miami FL was 8th in the BCS and would have been left out at the expense of West Virginia, who qualified as a conference champion ranked 11th. TCU finished 14th and would have just missed getting in.

They need to have home games in order to sell tickets. Most fans are not going to travel to 3 games in 3 consecutive weeks.

I prefer a system where all conferences (I believe there are 11) get a representative. Theree will likely be 4 or 5 teams who have not shot at the champship, but at least at the beginning of the season everybody will have a chance. Plus, a team who is ranked #1 gets rewarded by playing a much worse team than them.

[whisper]

Originally Posted by kolya23

If college football went to a playoff system, what would be the best system?

I'm in favor of the 16 team bowl system. It pushes the debate of who goes into the championship down from legitimate teams who could be the best team to bubble teams.

The main arguments put up by defenders of the BCS and/or bowl system:

The regular season would lose meaning in a playoff. Now, every game is extremely important, because one loss means you probably don't get to the title game. If there was a playoff, teams may stop trying at the end, and sit their starters, like the NFL.

16 team play-offs wouldn't destroy the importance of the regular season - because it would affect seeding and home field advantage.

The student-athletes need time off in December for exams and visiting families before the bowls. A playoff would ruin this.

Disingenous argument. Lower conferences have championships, and many in schools in these conferences have a greater focus on academics. So, if these schools are willing to "risk" student academic career for a championship, division 1 schools could manage the problem as well.

The bowls are what make college FB special. The students get to take a trip somewhere warm, and lots of teams end the season with a win. In a playoff, only one team ends with a win.

Lots of fans plan to spend a few days wherever the bowl is, and if there is a playoff, this would be ruined. They wouldn't go to the early bowls. Then for the later bowls, they'd be more inclined to just fly in for the game, instead of making a vacation out of it, since they can't have 3 or 4 vacations in a row like that - and they don't know when they'll lose. The bowls would lose big in a playoff system.

Then stop being disingenous with the bowl games, and call them what they are - exhibition games and tourist traps.

[Da Bears!]

I definitely think the 8-team playoff system is the way to go.

Two minor tweaks:

1. You MUST be champion of your conference (Top 8 ranked conference champs make it in)
2. ND is banned until they join a conference

[LifeAct]

Originally Posted by Da Bears!

2. ND is banned until they join a conference

This will never happen.

[kolya23]

whisper - I just want to point out that I am not personally making those arguments defending the BCS. I am extremely supportive of a playoff. But, valid or not, those are arguments that would likely need to be addressed by any playoff system, since they will be raised by the various powers-that-be in the college football system.

[Ezzard Charles]

16-team playoff. Any team that wins all of its games (including at least one win against a team from a BCS conference) gets in.

If they do move to a +1 format, they'd better have the WINNER of 1-4 play the WINNER of 2-3. I've heard rumblings about instead taking ANOTHER BCS POLL after the bowl games to determine who gets into the NC game. That will be great when a "dominant" #1 loses to a "weak" (two-loss?) #4 and gets into the NC game because the computers still think they're better. Or, more likely, the voters manipulate their own votes in the last week's poll to prevent this scenario from happening.

[yankeetripper]

8 game playoff: This is my favorite system. The 8 teams are the 6 conference champs, plus ND if top 8, and a mid-major conference champ if it is top 12. The first round are home games in early December.

I like this one too. Conference champs should be rewarded with a chance to compete in a playoff, if ever there is one. You never really know which is strongest and weakest conference anyway. For example had FLA not blocked 3?!?!? kicks against South Carolina they still would have been SEC champs IIRC but would not have had a prayer of showing up in the title game w/ 2 losses.