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PrintIt's time for a NCAA Division I-A football playoff system
News Type: Event — Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:09 AM EST
Live Poll
How should the NCAA Division I-A football championship be determined?
| an 8-team tournament | |
| a 4-team tournament | |
| the current BCS system is fine | |
| other (be specific) |
This ain't working.
A playoff is used to determine the football champion in Division I-AA, Division II and Division III, and also every other sport sanctioned by the NCAA.
But not in NCAA Division I-A football.
Of course, it's all about money. The big leagues such as the Big Ten are making so much money from their current TV deals, it's not in their best interest to go to a playoff system. And the archaic post-season bowl game structure is so powerful, it would be almost impossible to alter it in any meaningful way without creating major problems for at least some of the participants.
Nobody wants to kill off the Golden Goose.
Except the fans. Many of whom want to see a real playoff system introduced in Division I-A. The poll-driven BCS system is screwy at best. How can an Ohio State team, which was ranked #7 just a few weeks ago and has not played a game since, suddenly be in the title game if either Missouri or West Virginia loses this week? Or if both Missouri and West Virginia lose, which team with two losses would then "deserve" to play for the national championship? What a totally arbitrary mess.
Can you imagine in the spring, if a computer picked two teams in college basketball to play one game for the national championship? That's pretty much what we've got here in college football. I realize there can't be a 64-team elimination tournament in football, but there certainly can be an 8-team tournament.
The NCAA needs to figure out a way to get this done.
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Published to:
- Groups: Ohio Staters, Sports Fans, Sports Writers Guild, Utopia
 | How a College Football Playoff System Would Work | Yahoo! Sports | Tue Nov 27 | 1 |
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I suppose if there were an 8-team tournament, we'd be hearing lots of squacking for whoever ended up #9.
I find it amusing that you submitted this to the group Utopia, especially considering its Latin origins ;-)
I agree, schnoo, there needs to be a playoff system. This season is proof of that. LSU got knocked off by Arkansas, but does that really mean that they shouldn't be playing for the national title? I don't think so. Of course, I would also say the same thing for Kansas. There needs to be a playoff system. Period.
Adam
Is there a PipeDream group? ;^)
I'd be all in favor of a playoff with the team with an algorithm established for seeding combining GPA and curriculum to reward the teams from schools with high academic standards and punish those with "skoller-athaleets" majoring in Domestic Economics, a/k/a How to Balance Your Checkbook. But I'm an NFL guy and generally could care less about minor league football.
bill
So, you'd like to see Vassar vs. MIT?
Notre Dame may have a whole three wins in that system.
schnoo, I think BC counts. They actually have some academic standards for their student athletes.
Things can't be as bad as they used to be at the football factories. Remember when ABC used to let the players do their own introductions at the beginning of the games.....name, position, class and major.
"Phys Ed, Phys Ed, Phys Ed, Business, Phys Ed, Phys Ed, Phys Ed, Phys Ed, Phys Ed...."
Heh. Michigan, Stanford, ND and some others have always run programs with high academic standards. One thing that hurts UVA bigtime in both recruiting and eligibility after admission are the academic standards. When was the last time anyone heard of a Virginia Tech player being suspended for not making his grades? And I'm not kidding about the Domestic Economics thing. Some of these majors are frankly ridiculous. When poor ole Dexter Manley left Oklahoma State after playing all four years and joined the Redskins, the team found out he was illiterate. I @!$%# you not.
I remember the Dexter Manley story, but I thought it didn't come out he was functionally illiterate until he was done in the NFL. Who was the pro athlete who ended up washing dishes somewhere?
Can't remember the exact details but I believe you're right about Dexter. There have been any number of sad stories of pro athletes on the skids after their playing days. Dozens of them as a matter of fact. Ex-Steeler Mike Webster's was particularly sad.
Mike took too many blows to the head.
I called a buddy of mine who's a total sports junkie and he helped me "remember" who I was thinking of. ;^)
Bob Love.
jmack
The way the system is set up now, there could be a season with half a dozen undefeateds....or even a season with no undefeated or one-loss teams.
The championship needs to be decided on the field, not in a computer.
I think you misunderstood my earlier remark, Schnoo. I'm as anti-BCS as you get. I think the whole system should be scrapped in favor of a playoff system.
Nah, I got your meaning. Was just adding a bit.
I am in favor of a 16 team tourney. Teams would have to play less non conference games to allow for the possible 5 extra games.
2 non conference games
6-8 conference games including conference championship
Then the top 16, defined by the AP, Coaches, and maybe the BCS would play in a tourney.
The National Champion would end up playing about 15 games instead of about 13. I think it would work.
I think the AP and coaches polls should just go out and computerized polls that take into account the teams that have played, the teams they've played and that uses a non-biased statistical approach to looking at these teams.
the coaches and ap poll both do a disservice to many teams and falsely inflate the level of other teams based on their history (prior to the current season)
I think an 8 team tournament would be easier to "sell" to all those who cared with the tournament taking place in the big "bowls" (rose, sugar, fiesta, and sugar? - I can't remember which are considered the top 4, and two more maybe cotton and ??) - then a championship game.
Get rid of the patsy game at the start of the season where teams like Michigan play Appy state. While it was a crazy game it was a waste of time in the grand scheme of things.
I don't really have the time at the moment to get more indepth but I did write an article that is applicable back in Jan (I'll need to re-read it myself later to see if I still agree with it all)
http://finalcut.newsvine.com/_news/2007/01/09/512831-ncaa-bowl-playoffs
The big problem with incorporating the bowl scenario building to a championship is that the bowls would have to be assigned new game dates over at least a three-week period (for an 8-team tournament). The dates could be rotated for the various games year to year, so that every bowl could have the championship game.
It could be done if there were a will. Of course, there is no will for this on the part of the bowl committees, so it would have to be forced on them.
schnoo:
I have to admit, I'm the person who voted for "it's fine" even though it isn't fine because there's way WAY too much at stake for too many people to budge off the status quo.
Yeah, the status quo always seems to get in the way of progress. ;^)
i used to think we need a playoff, but now i've gone over to the dark side. my new mantra is the official slogan of the BCS: the regular season is the playoff.
last year USC lost to UCLA in their last regular season game, and it rocked the college football world. also Ohio State and Michigan played an epic #1 vs. #2 game with everything on the line. but if we had an 8 team playoff, or even a 4 team playoff, those games wouldn't have meant nearly as much. both Ohio State and Mich. would have playoff berths already locked up, and USC still would have probably backed in, even though they just lost.
this year, i don't care how good USC is playing right now. they have 2 losses, including the worst loss in history, at least according to Vegas. if we had a playoff USC would have an engraved invitation every year. the BCS system is designed to reward the teams with the best bodies of work throughout the course of a whole season. that's what makes college football so special - every game counts! no other sport can say that.