Now that the BCS hasn’t worked for the fifth time in the last seven years, let’s take a look at what could have been if Division 1-A college football wasn’t the only sport in the world that doesn’t have a playoff to decide its champion. There are countless playoff systems that could be used but I’ll go with one that I find intriguing. I’ll go with 10 teams.
Rules:
All six conference champions make the playoffs.
Four at-large teams are selected by a committee of non-idiots.
Notre Dame has no special considerations.
The ten teams are seeded in order by a committee of non-idiots.
Play-in games and first round games are played at the higher seed’s stadium.
If a team goes undefeated, in any conference, it must be selected.
Based on the above rules, here is how the playoff would have looked this year:
The 10 teams seeded in order:
1). Ohio State
2). Michigan
3). Florida
4). LSU
5) USC
6) Louisville
7) Oklahoma
8) Wake Forest
9) Wisconsin
10) Boise State
Play in games: (Projected winners in bold)
10 Boise State vs. 7 Oklahoma @ Norman, OK
9 Wisconsin vs. 8 Wake Forest @ Wake Forest, NC
Final Eight
9 Wisconsin vs. 1 Ohio State @ Columbus, OH
5 USC vs. 4 LSU @ Baton Rouge, LA
7 Oklahoma vs. 2 Michigan @ Ann Arbor, MI
6 Louisville vs. 3 Florida @ Gainesville FL
Final Four
5 USC vs. 1 Ohio State
3 Florida vs. 2 Michigan
National Championship game
2 Michigan vs. 1 Ohio State
Any team that can win three games in a row against competition like that deserves to be the National Champion. The NCAA college basketball tournament has so many teams and so many chances for upsets that the best teams often don’t even make it to the end. A ten-team college football playoff would guarantee that every match-up features two elite teams. In this scenario, Ohio State would have to beat Wisconsin, USC and Michigan to win the National Championship. Michigan would have to beat Oklahoma, Florida, and Ohio State in three consecutive weeks. Florida would have to beat Louisville, Michigan, and Ohio State. USC would have to beat LSU, Ohio State and Michigan. Any team that can win all three games in a row like that would clearly be the best team in the country. Instead, we get to see Florida get pasted by Ohio State.
Bowl Bliss
I would like to take a minute to look back at week seven of the college football season because that had some of the worst match-ups of any week in memory. Here are some of the monumental battles from that day.....
Rice vs. Troy
San Jose State vs. New Mexico
South Florida vs. East Carolina
Utah vs. Tulsa
Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee State
N. Illinois vs. TCU
Oh wait, my bad. Those aren't games from week seven, those are BOWL GAMES! Now I can see why the NCAA doesn't want to mess with the bowl system. With marquee games like that, who would even want to watch a playoff? 99% of college football fans (yes, people that actually like and follow college football) could not name a single player from any of those teams if I didn't allow anyone to say Garrett Wolfe. I can't wait for the bowl feast to begin!
If the above games leave you craving for more, don't worry, you have the following games to curb your hunger:
Rutgers vs. Kansas St.
Clemson vs. Kentucky
Oregon St. vs. Missouri
Houston vs. South Carolina
Miami (FL) vs. Nevada
Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati
Ohio vs. Southern Mississippi
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3 comments:
What if Florida pulls out a close victory over Ohio State in an ugly game that Ohio State loses for itself as opposed to Florida beating them. Then michigan blows USC out. Split national title like USC and LSU or does Michigan get the short end again Not saying this will happen but bringing up the possibility
Agreed, Bojo.
Brandon, I will be posting some time later tonight or tomorrow about that subject. You are not off and don't let anyone tell you that you are. Unlikely things need to occur but we've seen stranger things happen.
One hundred yards,
Two things:
1). I like it. In fact, I like any unique playoff system. The plus one system is too easy. The NCAA basketball tournament is at 64 teams and they want to add more. They don't want to add more just for the heck of it. The more teams, the merrier. Obviously, there is a limit at which that is true but the limit is certainly not four for college football.
2). It will never happen. I'm guessing the NCAA will go with something as easy as possible. The Swiss System "sounds" hard which will make everyone freak out. It's kind of like when they tried to put in traffic circles in the States. Traffic circles are everywhere in Europe. They work great. But nobody had ever seen them before so when they started putting traffic circles in the states, people started going crazy. That will happen if the a proposed playoff is too elaborate (meaning anything other than what people have seen before).
Take care,
Jake
A large traffic circle was just constructed near the Van Dyke expressway and it works awesomely. There is also another one by the Sterling Heights Public Library that was recently constructed and as far as I know, has also been endorsed big-time. Change is coming, my good man, change is indeed coming.
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