The BCS trophy will be fought for in a playoff now.
Start off by reading this link to this story detailing what’s going with the BCS playoff situation.
If you haven’t heard, college football is going to a four-team playoff by 2014. The semifinals will be in the existing bowl games and the national title being bid out to cities like the Super Bowl.
Followers of the blog know I’m old-school and like the bowl system. I was fine with the top two teams going to a specified bowl that got the national title game.
I know, what about the No. 3 team getting screwed? One idea that never came up was the concept of if No. 2 and No. 3 are in dispute, have them have a playoff game right after the regular season for the right fight No. 1. If there’s a clear cut No. 1 vs. No. 2, then leave it alone.
Overall, I like that every week is playoff week in the regular season if you are in the running for the national title. Lose one, and you still have a conference title shot. Lose two, and you can still salvage the season with a pretty good bowl.
After that, finishing with a .500 or above record gets you into a lower bowl. You get the extra practice so you can move up the following year.
It worked this long, don’t fix it. You don’t want to get to the college basketball scenario where the regular season doesn’t mean anything. Just qualify for the NCAA tournament and that’s when the majority fans get interested — it kills your regular season.
17 comments
calbeav says:
Jun 23, 2012
What doya mean? I’m going to be waiting on the edge of my seat every week to see how many SEC teams are going to fill those four slots. Obviously they are waaaay better than anyone else just ask em. ;p. I used to be a fan of playoffs, still neutral up to about 8 teams. I think the playoff system is going to make it harder for a lot of teams because the playing field is not equal. Wouldn’t it be a great utopia if every university had the same amount of $$ to work with? I think this new system will leave fans less than satisified. But it is probably better than a beauty pagent winner that is voted in. #5 is going to yell a lot though especially if it is from the South.
Chris says:
Jun 23, 2012
So basically if the Rose Bowl is the stepping stone you can never see a Big 10, Pac 12 championship game? Am I missing something here?
FM says:
Jun 23, 2012
Terrible idea…what is the saying…the more that are invited to the party, the more hurt feelings among those who are not invited. Here are the 2009 final BCS standings…pick your top four
1 Alabama (58) 13-0 1498
2 Texas (2) 13-0 1425
3 Cincinnati 12-0 1302
4 TCU 12-0 1376
5 Florida 12-1 1253
6 Boise State 13-0 1237
7 Oregon 10-2 1128
8 Ohio State 10-2 1080
9 Georgia Tech 11-2 952
10 Iowa 10-2 925
11 Virginia Tech 9-3 866
12 LSU 9-3 686
13 Penn State 10-2 883
14 Brigham Young 10-2 658
Beavrob says:
Jun 25, 2012
The 2009 BCS standings are one of many perfect examples of why choosing only the top 2 for the NCG is ridiculous. 5 undefeated teams and one 1-loss team in 2009. See also the final regular season standings in 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004. Too much parity in the league now to just select 2, or even 4. Taking 4 is a big improvement over 2, but really they should take the top 8. A solid case can be made for the top 12 or 16.
As for “more hurt feelings”, who cares? I sure don’t, I just want to see the all legit contenders decide the championship on the field rather than the pollsters matching up the two THEY THINK are the best. Besides that, any team that loses more than twice during the regular season has no right to have “hurt feelings” for not being invited.
ObjCritic says:
Jun 25, 2012
Umm, Alabama, Texas, Cinci, and TCU?
I don’t think it really matters until the play off seedings are not determined by journalists. It has to be empirical to have a true number one. As long as the media rank the teams, and those teams inform even playoffs, much less bowl pairings, the championship isn’t really decided on the field.
Won’t people now just debate about the final four that the journalists select?
ObjCritic says:
Jun 25, 2012
Those “rankings inform the playoffs” not “those teams inform the playoffs”…
Beavrob says:
Jun 25, 2012
The selection will always be debated. The main problem in CFB is not the selection, but the representation. Only two of the many legitimate contenders get to play. If all legit contenders, say all teams with 2 or fewer losses (usually around 16 teams) got to play, the selection problem would diminish and the representation would be dramatically improved. Even if the seedings are determined by the journalists, all of the contenders at least have the chance to do their part on the field. In the current system, only two lucky teams get that chance, that is why the system is broken.
BeaverDon says:
Jun 23, 2012
What difference will this make to the Beavers? Is getting into a National Playoff a goal of Riley? or Bobby D?
Boomslang says:
Jun 24, 2012
It works for FCS, Division I and Division II. No good reason it wouldn’t work for FBS.
alex says:
Jun 24, 2012
I can’t believe this is controversial…its not perfect but its a step in the right direction. 8 or 16 team playoffs would be ideal imho. And even a 16 team playoff would not destroy the regular season…think about it. That’s a 1 or 2 loss season. If the Beavs ever pulled that off I’d sure like to see us get a chance to go all the way.
As for a 4 loss team devaluing the regular season, that is absurd. Many teams in the #3 and #4 spot will be undefeated from a slightly weaker conference. If the conf champion of every BCS conference went undefeated, you think the pac 12 guy would be in the top 2? Not a chance. Know what I think destroys the regular season? The possibility of going undefeated and not getting a shot at the national title. An 8 team playoff would basically guarantee an undefeated team their shot.
And am I the only one that thinks the bowl system is incredibly lame? It’d like Little League, trophies for everyone. Plus the schools have to subsidize heavily.
Beavrob says:
Jun 25, 2012
I agree, an 8 or 16 team playoff would not destroy the regular season, the regular season is just not that long. Besides that, a playoff would do nothing to take away from the conference rivalries.
The bowl system IS incredibly lame…for determining the national champion. And the bowls are meaningless anyways. But I do enjoy watching bowl games that have interesting matchups, and of course I like to watch the Beavs play in bowl games. My view is, take the top 8 or 16 to play for the NC, and let the rest play in the bowl games.
alex says:
Jun 25, 2012
Agreed…with the qualifier that I’d prefer you needed 7-8 wins to qualify for a bowl. That would greatly increase the frequency of interesting matchups, and make the remaining bowls worth watching.
I might not get to see the Beavs in the post-season as often….but then again maybe the increased pressure forces Riley to step it up? Not like a Kraft Fight Hunger bowl is really anything to get excited about…
OS_Beaver says:
Jun 24, 2012
Riley will certainly never make this Playoff.
Oregon State amongst the Pac:
http://beaverbyte.com
Tagup says:
Jun 25, 2012
This from a guy that doesn’t have tickets…..you can keep your negative blather……
WFO says:
Jun 24, 2012
Playing more than one D2 team in your regular season should automatically disqualify a team from the playoffs.
90% of the SEC would be ineligible every year.
73GradMike says:
Jun 25, 2012
The 4-team playoff is my top pick for determining the BCS football champ. Choosing 4 teams makes it extremely likely that the top 2 teams in the country will be included. Every week is STILL playoff week in the regular season (at least as much so as is the case currently) or else the loser is unlikely to make the final four. Then let good play and good fortune determine the National Champion in the 3 playoff games. Of course, “the devil is in the details” and “the proof is in the pudding”. I am looking forward to seeing how well it works.
Beavrob says:
Jun 25, 2012
“It worked this long, don’t fix it.”
Cliff, it rarely ever works, if ever. Not in the last 30+ years. CFB needed some form of a playoff in the 80s, and need it more now than ever. Every champion decided by the bowl system is mythical champion.
“You don’t want to get to the college basketball scenario where the regular season doesn’t mean anything. Just qualify for the NCAA tournament and that’s when the majority fans get interested — it kills your regular season.”
Disagree. The CFB season is already much shorter (in games) than BB, so there is still not much room for error. And if you put it like that…in the current system, any team that loses more than 1-game is basically out of the NCG picture, so then all their subsequent games are rendered meaningless by this argument. It seems to me that if we had a playoff system, the regular season would actually become much more meaningful to a lot more teams that could qualify for a playoff spot.
Besides that, I think most true BB fans follow their team throughout the season and would do so regardless of the post-season format.
Bring on the CFB tournament!