Should college football have a playoff?

[Cryomaniac]

To save cluttering up the main college football thread, I thought I post a poll to see how many people think that college football should have a playoff.

[actionjackson]

I'll abstain and state that my reason for abstaining is that it is extremely complicated by the exams that students are writing before Christmas. If they started the year a month earlier than they do now, they might be able to do some kind of a sweet sixteen which would take four weeks (in November???) because it is football and they play it once a week for a reason. You're still asking a lot of players who are student athletes and not professional athletes, and you're allowing the NCAA to rake in even more cash on the backs of kids who aren't (supposed to be) getting paid. I don't understand why the moneygrubbing basterds at the NCAA can't see that it is in their best financial interest to do it. Don't tell me they're thinking of the toll it takes on the student athletes. The athletes are unpaid cattle to them and all they can see when they look at them are the dollar signs. Cha-ching!!!

[rudel.dietrich]

4 team playoff. Only those in the current BCS conferences are invited.
i.e. no WAC or Mountain West or Mac

You can go back since the BCS started and find that four teams would cover just about every year. Rarely do you find anything more than four teams that deserve a shot in the Championship game.

This year I would have Auburn play Wisconsin and and Oregon play Stanford.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

I'll abstain and state that my reason for abstaining is that it is extremely complicated by the exams that students are writing before Christmas. If they started the year a month earlier than they do now, they might be able to do some kind of a sweet sixteen which would take four weeks (in November???) because it is football and they play it once a week for a reason. You're still asking a lot of players who are student athletes and not professional athletes, and you're allowing the NCAA to rake in even more cash on the backs of kids who aren't (supposed to be) getting paid. I don't understand why the moneygrubbing basterds at the NCAA can't see that it is in their best financial interest to do it. Don't tell me they're thinking of the toll it takes on the student athletes. The athletes are unpaid cattle to them and all they can see when they look at them are the dollar signs. Cha-ching!!!

Don't student athletes get their schooling entirely paid for? (serisouyl I don't know, hence asking).

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Don't student athletes get their schooling entirely paid for? (serisouyl I don't know, hence asking).

Hadn't thought of that. Oops. However even including that, what do you think the revenue distribution is between the athletes and the cabal? $50 dollars for every dollar they pay out? I don't know (and we never will moohoohahahahah)...Just speculating.

[Cryomaniac]

Here's an idea I posted on another forum earlier:

My idea for a playoff is that you can keep the polls and keep the bowl sponsorships while still having an 8 team playoff (all the other bowls can stay for non-playoff teams too).

How it would work is that the top 8 teams (maximum of 2 per conference) would have a straight knockout tournament.

Based on the latest BCS standings:

#1 Auburn - SEC
#2 Oregon - P10
#3 TCU - MWC
#4 Stanford - P10
#5 Wisconsin - B10
#6 OSU - B10
#7 Arkansas - SEC
#8 MSU - B10 - miss out because of "2 per conference" rule.
#9 Oklahoma - B12

This leaves a first round of:

#1 Auburn - #9 Oklahoma - Fiesta Bowl
#2 Oregon - #7 Arkansas - Cotton Bowl
#3 TCU - #6 Ohio State - Outback Bowl
#4 Stanford - #5 Wisconsin - Capital One Bowl

Semi-finals:

#1 / #9 vs #4 / #5 - Orange Bowl
#2 / #7 vs #3 / #6 - Sugar Bowl

Final

Two winners - Rose bowl.

Obviously, this would end some of the bowl's attachment to certain conferences, but I don't think that matters massively.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Hadn't thought of that. Oops. However even including that, what do you think the revenue distribution is between the athletes and the cabal? $50 dollars for every dollar they pay out? I don't know (and we never will moohoohahahahah)...Just speculating.

Eh probably. For a free education (be it a doctorate or basket weaving) we'll milk you for everything you have. Have fun.

Oh and rescricting it to jsut BCS teams....kind of negates the whole call for a playoff, no?

[dudeosu]

Originally Posted by Cryomaniac

Here's an idea I posted on another forum earlier:

My idea for a playoff is that you can keep the polls and keep the bowl sponsorships while still having an 8 team playoff (all the other bowls can stay for non-playoff teams too).

How it would work is that the top 8 teams (maximum of 2 per conference) would have a straight knockout tournament.

Based on the latest BCS standings:

#1 Auburn - SEC
#2 Oregon - P10
#3 TCU - MWC
#4 Stanford - P10
#5 Wisconsin - B10
#6 OSU - B10
#7 Arkansas - SEC
#8 MSU - B10 - miss out because of "2 per conference" rule.
#9 Oklahoma - B12

This leaves a first round of:

#1 Auburn - #9 Oklahoma - Fiesta Bowl
#2 Oregon - #7 Arkansas - Cotton Bowl
#3 TCU - #6 Ohio State - Outback Bowl
#4 Stanford - #5 Wisconsin - Capital One Bowl

Semi-finals:

#1 / #9 vs #4 / #5 - Orange Bowl
#2 / #7 vs #3 / #6 - Sugar Bowl

Final

Two winners - Rose bowl.

Obviously, this would end some of the bowl's attachment to certain conferences, but I don't think that matters massively.

Sounds a lot like a system I outlined a little bit back.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...s-florida.html

Only difference is I think a conference champ should be included as long as they're ranked within the top 10.

[stevebydac]

Technically, there is a Division 1 Playoff - it's the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as 1-AA.

And there's a playoff at every other level (Div 2 and Div 3) EXCEPT Football Bowl Subdivision (1-A).

So the argument that it hurts studies is ridiculous. The Patriot League has some of the toughest academic schools in the country in FCS, with Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, Colgate. Plus there are lots of other tough schools in FCS such as William & Mary, Villanova, Richmond etc. And all those schools are in conferences for the FCS playoffs.

The ONLY reason there isn't an FBS playoff is $$$$$ to be made by the bowls and BCS conferences. It has NOTHING to do with academics. The Ohio States, Texas, and Alabamas of the world do not want to share the money with smaller conference schools.

[CONN CHRIS]

Now that UCONN has a BCS bid, I'm a big believer in the BCS!


Actually. I still think it's a lousy system but doubt that it will ever change - bowls = $$$$ and until playoffs = more money, the various powers will not change. I think the BCS system is at least a world better than it was pre-BCS; this may be as good as we can hope for in the near term.

[jaxmagicman]

The only playoff I would be in favor of is a plus one. There are too many teams and there is no way to do a fair playoff.

Why should a conference champ like Connecticut get a playoff bid when a team like Michigan State would not?

[dudeosu]

Originally Posted by jaxmagicman

Why should a conference champ like Connecticut get a playoff bid when a team like Michigan State would not?

All playoffs do that though. One could ask that now, considering MSU isn't in a BCS bowl and UConn is.

Still, in a short tourny (8 teams or less) you could have exceptions like the conf. champ needs to be ranked at a certain level or higher (like the system I outlined previously).

[stevebydac]

Originally Posted by jaxmagicman

Why should a conference champ like Connecticut get a playoff bid when a team like Michigan State would not?

In FCS, they have 20 teams: conference champs and a few at-large teams. Would a team outside the top 20 ever win? Doubtful.

So in your example, the conference champs would get in, and then Michigan State - if ranked high enough - would get an at-large entry.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Cryomaniac

Here's an idea I posted on another forum earlier:

My idea for a playoff is that you can keep the polls and keep the bowl sponsorships while still having an 8 team playoff (all the other bowls can stay for non-playoff teams too).

How it would work is that the top 8 teams (maximum of 2 per conference) would have a straight knockout tournament.

Based on the latest BCS standings:

#1 Auburn - SEC
#2 Oregon - P10
#3 TCU - MWC
#4 Stanford - P10
#5 Wisconsin - B10
#6 OSU - B10
#7 Arkansas - SEC
#8 MSU - B10 - miss out because of "2 per conference" rule.
#9 Oklahoma - B12

This leaves a first round of:

#1 Auburn - #9 Oklahoma - Fiesta Bowl
#2 Oregon - #7 Arkansas - Cotton Bowl
#3 TCU - #6 Ohio State - Outback Bowl
#4 Stanford - #5 Wisconsin - Capital One Bowl

Semi-finals:

#1 / #9 vs #4 / #5 - Orange Bowl
#2 / #7 vs #3 / #6 - Sugar Bowl

Final

Two winners - Rose bowl.

Obviously, this would end some of the bowl's attachment to certain conferences, but I don't think that matters massively.

I still think any playoff of this size would require the 1st round games to be played at the stadium of the top seeded team. Using Auburn as an example, how many fans can afford a trip to Arizona, Florida and California over the span of a month?

[Slackker]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Now that UCONN has a BCS bid, I'm a big believer in the BCS!

Me too! A few friends I see on TV wearing helmets with C's on them also think its a great system.

But really, they don't deserve it. College football fans around here are all just kind of happy with that program being decent, compared to what it was a dozen years ago. I haven't met anyone who is delusional enough to think they've earned the bid - BCS system aside.

It'll be the first complete college football game I've watched in the past few years. I won't be enjoying the outcome.

[dudeosu]

Originally Posted by David Watts

I still think any playoff of this size would require the 1st round games to be played at the stadium of the top seeded team. Using Auburn as an example, how many fans can afford a trip to Arizona, Florida and California over the span of a month?

You'd be surprised. The people going to BCS games these days already have boatloads of money. The bowls wouldn't have any trouble selling tickets.

[Jason]

Playoffs. It's asinine the NCAA doesn't do it now. Look at March Madness. The money would be there.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by Autism Speaks

Playoffs. It's asinine the NCAA doesn't do it now. Look at March Madness. The money would be there.

You actually don't want people to look at March Madness. People would see how that sucked up all the interest in the regular season. Nobody cares about the regular season in that case. The money isn't there.

[Skipaway]

I think what's needed first is to reduce the number of teams in the division.

Make a super college football division of only 40 teams or less, then it'd be much much easier to come up with good systems, playoff or not.

[Mt Fire Fighter]

I recently read "Death to the BCS" and there was also an article in SI from the book. What an eye opener!!!!!

We need the playoff system..... more than some people think!!!

John