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A simple 16 team playoff right now? You get 3 more Saturdays of great games, then play the championship game and the rest of the bowls as normal. 4 teams get 3 extra games, 4 more teams get 2 extra games, and 8 more teams get 1 extra game. That doesn't seem like the academic-killer all the presidents would have us believe.

Check out the matchups we'd get to enjoy this Saturday.

OSU/Rutgers -- classic Cinderella story

Florida/Va-Tech

Michigan/Wake -- another great Cinderella

LSU/W.VA -- potential exciting shootout

USC/Arkansas -- revenge opportunity for Arkansas after early-season beatdown

Lousville/Notre Dame -- Louisville would SMOKE ND and it would be great

Wisconsin/Oklahoma -- just a plain great matchup

Boise State/Auburn -- another great game -- Boise certainly wouldn't complain about the opportunity.



This would create a TON more money for everybody involved, it gives the fans what they overwhelmingly want (80%+ in most polls in favor of a playoff), it doesn't extend the season much except for the final 4 teams, it gives the little guy a better shot at the title, and it would make for some of the best football any of us could hope for. It seems like it's a plus for everybody involved -- I don't understand why this won't happen.

No reason a playoff wouldn't work. Hilliard Davidson High School who just won the Division I state championship played 15 games this season and it didn't get in the way of their studies.

I support a 16 team playoff system. My one caveat is that I think all conf. champs get an automatic berth. That still leaves a few at large berths for teams like UM this year to get in. Sure those little guys are likely just gonna be fodder for the big boys, but once every couple years or so there would be a team that could make some noise, or at least provide a close game.

hammb wrote:I support a 16 team playoff system. My one caveat is that I think all conf. champs get an automatic berth. That still leaves a few at large berths for teams like UM this year to get in. Sure those little guys are likely just gonna be fodder for the big boys, but once every couple years or so there would be a team that could make some noise, or at least provide a close game.

Great point -- I forgot about conference champs who should get in. This year, you would lose Rutgers for MTSU, VaTech for CMU, Arkansas for BYU, and W.Va for Houston.

hammb wrote:I support a 16 team playoff system. My one caveat is that I think all conf. champs get an automatic berth. That still leaves a few at large berths for teams like UM this year to get in. Sure those little guys are likely just gonna be fodder for the big boys, but once every couple years or so there would be a team that could make some noise, or at least provide a close game.

That's the plan I would like to see.

And still have the "secondary" bowls to provide enjoyment to people like myself who were crazy enough to drive to Mobile and have a BLAST at an after-thought bowl like the GMAC.

I don't buy the conference champions should get a birth argument, because you end up with a 7-4 pitt team three years ago who couldn't hang its jock on the Utes and they got pummeled. Best 16 teams based on BCS rankings is fairest way.

But there should be a SOS bonus for out of conference play. If you play a tough OCC you should be rewarded as opposed to some schools who play cupcakes year round. There should also be a cap of 7 home games per institution forcing schools to go on the road.

If a MAC or similiar school wants to go to the BCS... they need to win 10+ games plain and simple and you better knock a good team off.

Dayons_Den wrote:And still have the "secondary" bowls to provide enjoyment to people like myself who were crazy enough to drive to Mobile and have a BLAST at an after-thought bowl like the GMAC.

Yep -- that's the thing. The biggest argument I've heard against a playoff (besides the bogus academic crap) is that people like the bowl system and it's a nice reward for a lot of players. The things is, a playoff and the current bowl structure are not mutually exclusive. I love all the little bowl games out there. I like to watch two teams in an interesting matchup on ESPN2 at 8:30 on Dec 19th. A lot of people do.


I'm still waiting for somebody in the NCAA or a university to give a valid reason why a playoff isn't being seriously discussed. I probably shouldn't hold my breath.

redskins4ever wrote:I don't buy the conference champions should get a birth argument, because you end up with a 7-4 pitt team three years ago who couldn't hang its jock on the Utes and they got pummeled. Best 16 teams based on BCS rankings is fairest way.

But there should be a SOS bonus for out of conference play. If you play a tough OCC you should be rewarded as opposed to some schools who play cupcakes year round. There should also be a cap of 7 home games per institution forcing schools to go on the road.

If a MAC or similiar school wants to go to the BCS... they need to win 10+ games plain and simple and you better knock a good team off.

In this scenario, BYU doesn't make it this year, even winning ten games and performing very impressively. Conference champs need to be invited to make it accessible to the little guy. The big schools have enough built-in advantages. I'd like to see the little guy get a little slack now and then.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:

redskins4ever wrote:I don't buy the conference champions should get a birth argument, because you end up with a 7-4 pitt team three years ago who couldn't hang its jock on the Utes and they got pummeled. Best 16 teams based on BCS rankings is fairest way.

But there should be a SOS bonus for out of conference play. If you play a tough OCC you should be rewarded as opposed to some schools who play cupcakes year round. There should also be a cap of 7 home games per institution forcing schools to go on the road.

If a MAC or similiar school wants to go to the BCS... they need to win 10+ games plain and simple and you better knock a good team off.

In this scenario, BYU doesn't make it this year, even winning ten games and performing very impressively. Conference champs need to be invited to make it accessible to the little guy. The big schools have enough built-in advantages. I'd like to see the little guy get a little slack now and then.

Plus, if you won your coference, you won your conference. Period. There is a reason that every conference in NCAA hoops has an autobid to the tourney - it is a heck of an accomplishment to win your conference in any sport, and in football, even if a team loses all four non-conference games and then goes 8-0 in-conference, that shows serious imporvement in that team.

But, I'm sure the MAC, WAC, MWC and Sun Belt will get screwed somehow. That has become the NCAA's favorite past-time over the past ten years.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:

redskins4ever wrote:I don't buy the conference champions should get a birth argument, because you end up with a 7-4 pitt team three years ago who couldn't hang its jock on the Utes and they got pummeled. Best 16 teams based on BCS rankings is fairest way.

But there should be a SOS bonus for out of conference play. If you play a tough OCC you should be rewarded as opposed to some schools who play cupcakes year round. There should also be a cap of 7 home games per institution forcing schools to go on the road.

If a MAC or similiar school wants to go to the BCS... they need to win 10+ games plain and simple and you better knock a good team off.

In this scenario, BYU doesn't make it this year, even winning ten games and performing very impressively. Conference champs need to be invited to make it accessible to the little guy. The big schools have enough built-in advantages. I'd like to see the little guy get a little slack now and then.

Exactly. If you pull the top 16 of the BCS you are basically saying the only way a "mid-major" team is going to make the tourney is if they go undefeated. That's asking a lot when you know any game they play against major competition will likely be on the road.

What makes the NCAA tournament so awesome is watching the lesser known schools that are having great seasons. Oftentimes those teams are just as good as the teams ranked 10-30, but nobody knows about them. I think it's just the same in football. There are teams that go 10-2 or 11-1 in the non-BCS conferences that are very good teams. If they win their conference they deserve a shot at the NCAA tournament, plain and simple.

This is the only way the NCAA would conduct a tournament, IMO, because it is exactly how it works in all of their other sports. Conf. champs get in, then they fill in the bracket with some at large bids. Of course this is EXACTLY why it will never happen. The NCAA splits the revenue to all the conferences from the big dance. I'm not positive, but I believe it is split proportionately to how many teams each conference has in the tourney. No way the NCAA people would let the non-BCS conferences get their hands on that revenue for football as well...they want it for themselves.


I also agree 100% about the other bowl games. There is not a single reason why they could not continue to have the smaller bowl games for those teams that didn't make the tournament. The NIT survived the creation of the NCAA hoops tournament, I see no reason to believe the bowls could not survive the creation of a football tournament.

Here's what Pat Forde (ESPN) thinks:

Chris (Phoenix, AZ): Answer the unaswerable question!! What has to happen, specifically, to get to some sort of play-off. Be it 4, 8, or 16 teams?

Pat Forde: (2:10 PM ET ) Chris: The earth must split open and swallow all bowl officials and most ADs and university presidents. There are too many people in important decision-making positions who don't want a playoff. We might eventually get to a plus-one game, but I'd be surprised if we get further than that before my dotage or death.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:Here's what Pat Forde (ESPN) thinks:

Chris (Phoenix, AZ): Answer the unaswerable question!! What has to happen, specifically, to get to some sort of play-off. Be it 4, 8, or 16 teams?

Pat Forde: (2:10 PM ET ) Chris: The earth must split open and swallow all bowl officials and most ADs and university presidents. There are too many people in important decision-making positions who don't want a playoff. We might eventually get to a plus-one game, but I'd be surprised if we get further than that before my dotage or death.

What is the "plus one" scenario that he is referring to? I assume that he means one extra game after the regular bowls are over. If that is correct, who would play in the extra game if Florida beats OSU and USC beats Michigan?

BGGrad01 wrote:

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:Here's what Pat Forde (ESPN) thinks:

Chris (Phoenix, AZ): Answer the unaswerable question!! What has to happen, specifically, to get to some sort of play-off. Be it 4, 8, or 16 teams?

Pat Forde: (2:10 PM ET ) Chris: The earth must split open and swallow all bowl officials and most ADs and university presidents. There are too many people in important decision-making positions who don't want a playoff. We might eventually get to a plus-one game, but I'd be surprised if we get further than that before my dotage or death.

What is the "plus one" scenario that he is referring to? I assume that he means one extra game after the regular bowls are over. If that is correct, who would play in the extra game if Florida beats OSU and USC beats Michigan?

Whoever is 1-2 in the BCS after that I would guess. I don't think a plus-1 game solves anything. what if OSU only fell to 2 in this scenario?

What if OSU would win; USC beats Michigan; Boise, Wisconsin, and Louisville all lose. Then you get an undefeated team playing a two loss team for the title. How does that solve anything? Or even better, Boise wins and gets to play Ohio State for the title. Maybe then the Earth would split open and the BCS folks would scream the system is unfair.