If it's just a 4-team playoff, obviously not all BCS champions will make it. The rules COULD be set up to only allow each conference to have 1 team in the 4-team playoffs, but they don't have that rule now with the current 2-team playoff. Where did you get that "vibe" from? Auburn in 2004 was mentioned as an example of a team that would have benefited from an expanded playoff, but otherwise I don't really see that same undertone. Regardless, of course other conferences would potentially benefit, and not just the SEC.
When the BCSNC game was added, the format for a 4 team playoff is mostly in place. I for one would dislike a full scale playoff because it would diminish the importance of each and every game in the regular season. And to me that is what makes College Football so great. Plus one is the way to go.
Thanks for mentioning this article! I found it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501128_pf.html He makes some great points. Basically, the money just has to be divided in such a way as to bribe, uh, I mean convince the BCS school presidents and big bowls to go along with it.
A like a 2-8 team flexible playoff. It would open a window of opportunity to nonBCS teams, maintain the importance of the regular season (instead of having teams playing safe at the end of the year to make sure they are healthy for the playoff), include as many conferences as possible, and make money for everyone. It wouldn't try to fit a square peg into a round hole by setting a constant number of teams each year, and the logistics aren't as impossible as they might seem. The secondary bowls would still exist with die hard college fans and participating team's fan-bases still interested in them. Teams would be accepted based on rankings similar to the BCS, with different restrictions for BCS teams and nonBCS teams (there is no way around the inherent bias in any ranking system - nonBCS teams are drug down by the weak teams in their conference, which is something they have no control over). Still, nonBCS teams shouldn't get a cake walk. This is just a summary of a well thought out and in-depth playoff proposal that I came up with in association with other like minded individuals and others whose endless critiques helped to streamline it.
The problem will not be fixed as long as this is a part of the system. The only way to field a true playoff, would be to completely eliminate any and all polls (human or otherwise).
The solution is easy: 1. make every conference have a championship game, or not. Drop the regular season to 11 games if so and keep 12 for w/o conf champ game. 2. all bowls remain, including the BCS. The winners of each of the four BCS bowls go into a 4-team playoff to decide the champ One of the arguments is that season would be too long. Well this would only add one game to the seaon and would also allow the bowls for lesser teams to remain significant. The most games that the teams in the champ game would have to play would be 15, in the current format it would be 14 for conferences with a champinoship game. See simple.
I don't agree. If you're going to use simply conference champions, there will be years that fully undeserving teams get into the playoff (see Florida St a few years back). The problem with the rankings isn't that the top teams aren't at the top, the problem with the rankings is that no ranking system can choose 2 teams from 120 after 12 games. There simply isn't enough data usually to narrow down only 2 teams. Narrowing down to 8 or less teams isn't even close to as difficult (except in the case on nonBCS teams, which I would address separately).
Conference championships shouldn't be used as the first round of the playoff because it is possible that the #1 and #2 team would meet in the first round of the playoff while another conference championship game could square the #9 team against the #17 team. That makes for a lopsided playoff.
I wasn't saying that it should. If you read the post again you'll see. The BCS bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Rose) would be the start of the playoffs. So it would really be an 8 team playoff with the winners of the bowls going into a 4 team playoff. The NCAA needs a universal policy on conference champ games. If they decided to do away with all conf champ games then the season would stay at 12 games. If they decided to make all conferences play a champ game the the season would be reduced to 11 games for all.
If you want to truly create the right setting for a playoff and are fully willing to break down barriers and throw tradition to the wind, here's a proposal from a few years ago that does just that. There are currently 120 some Div I teams, with more trying to get in each year. Create 8 conferences, each with two eight team divisions = 128 teams. each division plays a full round robin with other division teams, plus three other games of their choice. The division champs of each conference play a championship game... and poof... you have your 8 playoff teams. done. It takes thinking outside the box. Unfortunately, too many people around the country like their box.
