Yes, we need a playoff

This post was published 3 months 7 days ago so the points made in the article may be outdated.

Folks at BCS headquarters are likely very happy this morning with how its annual bowl selections have gone.  After all, it has #1 and #2 headed to the national championship game in Pasadena and all ten of the Top 10 teams in the final BCS poll are playing in one of the BCS bowls.

However, as is usual this time of year, all is not right in the world of the Bowl Championship series, no matter how much its sponsors want to spin it otherwise. 

For one thing, there remain five undefeated teams in the land, and just two spots in the title game.  So while #1 Alabama gets to play #2 Texas for the BCS national title, #3 Cincinnati, #4 TCU and #6 Boise State get to play for…pride, despite at least one of these teams guaranteed to finish undefeated.

Make no mistake, Alabama and Texas might be the best two teams this season, but more importantly they each have something that the other three teams do not:  history.

The only reason that Alabama and Texas are playing in Pasadena is because a) they were each ranked higher in the preseason than the other three teams and b) they are both perennial football powers with storied histories and a boat-load of national championships between them.

The other three:  not so much.

Therefore, it remains very clear that the nation’s top college football teams deserve a playoff system, rather than the current BCS mess that continues to not play equally with all teams.

Consider these three scenarios:

Plus-One

In November, PSUFootball.com suggested its own variance of the often-spoken “plus-one” scenario which takes the top two teams following bowl season and puts them into a true national championship game.

In this example, #1 Alabama would play #4 TCU in a national “semi-final” while #2 Texas would play #3 Cincinnati in an equal bowl.  Thereafter, the Alabama/TCU winner would play the Texas/Cincinnati winner. 

All this scenario would require is another BCS-level bowl, let’s say the Cotton, to bring the total number of BCS bowls to five (Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, Rose and Sugar), with one of these sites also hosting the national title.

While very similar to the current system, here the bowls would ultimately decide who plays for the national title. 

The Eight-Team Playoff

Here, the top eight teams play in a playoff format that takes the team through three weeks of competition:

December 19^th weekend

#1 Alabama vs. #8 Ohio State (assume Alabama wins)
#2 Texas vs. #7 Oregon (upset: Oregon wins)
#3 Cincinnati vs. #6 Boise State (Cincinnati)
#4 TCU vs. #5 Florida (Florida)

January 2^nd weekend

#1 Alabama vs. #5 Florida (Bama plays lowest seed) (Alabama)
#3 Cincinnati vs. #7 Oregon (Oregon)

January 9^th weekend

National title:

#1 Alabama vs. #7 Oregon

This scenario requires the ultimate victor to play two more games than the current plan. 

The Sixteen-Team Playoff

Here, the top 16 teams play through four weeks of competition:

December 19^th weekend

#1 Alabama vs. #16 West Virginia (Alabama)
#2 Texas vs.  #15 Miami (Texas)
#3 Cincinnati vs. #14 BYU (Cincinnati)
#4 TCU vs. #13 Penn State (TCU)
#5 Florida vs. #12 LSU (LSU, upset)
#6 Boise State vs. #11 Virginia Tech (Boise State)
#7 Oregon vs. #10 Iowa (Oregon)
#8 Ohio State vs. #9 Georgia Tech (Ohio State)

December 26^th weekend

#1 Alabama vs. #12 LSU (Alabama)
#2 Texas vs. #8 Ohio State (Texas)
#3 Cincinnati vs. #7 Oregon (Oregon, upset)
#4 TCU vs. #6 Boise State (Boise State, upset)

January 2^nd weekend

#1 Alabama vs. #7 Oregon (Alabama)
#2 Texas vs. #6 Boise State (Boise State, upset)

January 9^th weekend

National title

#1 Alabama vs. #6 Boise State

Here, the ultimate victor would play three more games than in the current system.

These are just three possible systems and of course, many others are floating similar and/or different proposals as well.  However, the point remains:  the current system needs revised.

Related posts:

1. PSU remains in BCS hunt From Penn Live: Southern California, LSU, Penn State and Miami...
2. BCS title game tonight The 2009 football season ends tonight with the crowning of...
3. Hawkeyes feel love from BCS Iowa’s last-play win against Michigan State on Saturday that kept...
4. The case for Florida vs. Alabama…in BCS In our latest predictions for the post-season, we concluded that...
5. Crowning a plus-one champion, II The BCS still has its problems, but admit it:...
6. Big Ten holds three Top 10 spots The Big Ten conference finished with three of its teams...
7. Crowning of a plus-one champion The BCS still has its problems, but admit it: most...
8. Opinion: Lion’s to Capital One Bowl Barring last-minute “reprieve” BCS to select Iowa, not Penn State...
9. BCS: Iowa #6, Penn State #13 The inaugural BCS poll for the 2009 season has Florida...
10. Bowl projections, October 25, 2009 We now believe that Penn State will finish the season...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.