I was tempted to sign the petition, till I read their rules. http://nobcs.net/plan.php By their calculations, the final four last year would have been #1 Ohio St. vs. #4 Boise St. and #2 Florida vs. #3 Louisville? The "You must be a conference champion" rule throws everything for a loop. Simply because some conferences are much tougher than others. I say do a plus one just by taking the top 4 BCS teams. (And make Notre Dame ineligible for anything until they join the Big 10.) Last year it would have been #1 Ohio St. vs. #4 LSU and #2 Florida vs. #3 Michigan. This way LSU and Florida would have played for the national title last year because they were the two best teams. Just as they are this year. :helmet:
If I get started on a playoff discussion I'll end up saying a lot more than people want to hear, I reckon. LSU was good enough to play for a NC last year, but I wouldn't have had them going. A small playoff has to be very efficient, but somewhat inclusive and diverse. We weren't undefeated and we weren't conference champions, so we didn't deserve to play for a NC.
LSU was fortunate to make it to the Sugar Bowl after two losses and not even participating in the SECCG.
A 4 team playoff would be the way to go, but it shouldn't be "inclusive and diverse". You could just take the top 4 teams using the original BCS formula before they started f ing with it to benefit certain teams that pollsters felt should have been in the BCS CG. The original formula weighted the computers as much as human polls(which are obivously biased). But the way the computers are now are basically useless because that took out all the factors that computers are good at computing, like margin of victory (up to 21 points) and strength of schedule. Put that back in and chances are you'll get the 4 most deserving teams. For example, the Sagarin computer poll that uses margin of victory (his 'predicator' ranking) has florida ranked #5 right now, which in reality is probably where they should be if you base it purely on how good a team is and not just straight up off there record. While the Sagarin computer ranking taking out margin of victory, which is the one used for the BCS has Florida ranked #21 which is purely ridiculous.
Playing devil's advocate (because I would support just about any 4-16 team playoff system over what we have now), if a team had to win their conference, that would add even more excitement to the conference games.
I believe well designed computer rankings are the better standard, but some of the computer rankings are completely off. The BCS seems to use more of this type of computer ranking for some reason. Just taking the top 4 teams isn't the best way to do it. A diverse playoff would spread the wealth and eliminate ranking errors caused by teams being in the same conference (one team's high ranking can falsely cause other teams around it to rise). By bringing in a diverse group of schools (multiple conferences) you ensure that the final champion is more likely the true champion (not to mention it gets a wider spread of people involved). An inclusive playoff would give nonBCS teams a chance, and I think it is becoming more and more apparent that nonBCS teams deserve that chance. There is an inherent bias against nonBCS teams included in ranking teams. That doesn't mean they should have a cake walk, but they deserve a fair shot. It is also possible (though unlikely) that 4 teams would not be enough. I believe a flexible playoff is the way to go (though more than 6 teams will probably never be needed).
