what i think should happen for a college football playoff system in FBS

this is going to be a little long, but if you read the whole thing it makes sense.  So please take the time to read this and tell me what you think.

So since President-Elect Barrack Obama was elected he has added something  to look forward to once he takes office. In two recent interviews, the first one during Monday Night Football the night before the election, and this past weekend on CBS’s 60 Minutes, the President-Elect has said that there needs to be a playoff system in the Football Bowl Division.

Since then, there has been much discussion on how something like this could be accomplished. Earlier this year there was interest in a plus-one format where there were four ranked teams and they play for the championship. The problem though is the FBS makes money a healthy profit from all the corporate sponsored bowl games. So how do you balance money and still make everyone happy? Well lets dive into this. First off all the BCS conferences need to expand to 12 teams, so each of the power conferences could have a conference champion. I think other minor conferences need to expand also, but we will take a look at the major conferences and their schools. Here are the major conferences who already have 12 teams.

SEC

East Division: Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt

West Division: LSU, Arkansas, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss. St.

ACC

Atlantic: Maryland, FSU, NCSU, Wake, Clemson, BC

Coastal: UNC, Duke, UVA, GT, Miami, VT

Big 12

North: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas St., Iowa State

South: Texas, Oklahoma, OK St., Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor

So those three conferences all have 12 teams. Let’s look at the other three major conferences and start with PAC Ten, which will start off the movement to change the landscape of college football.

PAC Ten

USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal., Arizona, AZ St., Oregon, Oregon St., Washington, Wash. St.

So in order to convert their conference into a 12 teams, they need two more teams. Boise St. fits this conference perfectly as they have been a nationally ranked team for over five years now. Another smart move for travel would be Hawaii, as most of their would not be as far as going to LA Tech. So then you would split the new Pacific Conference into two different divisions.

North: Washington, Wash. St. Oregon, OR St., Boise St. Stanford

South: USC, UCLA, Cal, AZ, AZ St., Hawaii.

Some people may ask why shouldn’t Utah be considered for the new Pacific conference. Well because Utah would be used help make a new Big 12 and a new Big 10. The Big 12 would still be called the Big 12, but the Big 10 would become the Big Middle Conference or something to that effect. I really don’t know what to call it yet, but someone much more intelligent in marketing and production could produce a suitable name. So Utah would join the Big 12 and join the North Division in place of Iowa St, who would then move to the new BMC conference, which would be separated into two divisions and for time being they will be called East and West.

West: Iowa St. Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois

East: Penn. St., Michigan, Michigan, St., Ohio St., Mich. St., Purdue

Five down and one more to go and this one is going to be the toughest one yet and hardest to accomplish because of the “traditions” of college football. The Big East currently has eight football teams in their conference.

Big East: Rutgers, Cincy, West. VA, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, South Fla.

So how do you turn this once powerful conference who lost 3 of its members to the ACC a few years ago turn. Well the first logical team would be Notre Dame. Yes I know Irish fans say that it’s a “tradition” that we are INDY. Well you play in a conference in the basketball don’t you? Why is that so that you could have a shot at the national tournament every year. Well if you join the Big East under this new playoff system that I am formulating it would be a chance for you to play for a shot. Villanova would be the next team to join the conference. They already play in the conference as a basketball member, but play as a FCS team in the CAA. So they would make the jump up. The next team that would be added would be Temple and take the MAC back down to 12 teams which will be important later on. So that leaves them with 11 teams and one more football team has to come from somewhere and I think that team will be App. St. and they will join as a football member only and stay in the SoCon for basketball. I know that team has been dominant in FCS, but they are quickly expanding the stadium, and I think the team already thinks it can compete with top teams. Remember Michigan? Yes they would take their lumps for a few years, but more recruits would come there and Coach Jerry Moore could turn this into a great thing for the Mountaineers.

So lets create a divisions. There would be a North and South

North: Notre Dame, Syracuse, UConn., Pitt, Temple, Villanova

South: WVU, South Fla, Cincy, Rutgers, Louisville, App. St.

So that’s how all six BCS conferences could be converted to 12 team league to qualify for a conference championship game at the end of the year. The six winners would automatically qualify for a shot at national championship with an eight-team playoff. The other two teams could come from the rankings, and if a school from the other conferences finishes the year in the top 10 they will automatically qualify for the postseason and take away one at large berth. The other teams in their conferences who don’t qualify for the national title will still play bowl games, and the Big 4 bowls would be the hosts for the first round games and try to put traditional opponents against each other Rose Bowl would be PAC Ten Champion vs. BMC champion, Orange would be ACC vs. Big East, Fiesta would be SEC vs. Big 12 or something like that or try to make it where most fans would follow their team in order to create revenue. The next two games for the national semifinal would be at those sites and rotated on a yearly basis. That means they would host the national semis every other year and be able to make double profit every three years. The national championship would be played at sight to be determined by the NCAA. Create a new sight for the championship or rotate the spot like the Superbowl. Something I haven’t thought about where it could be hosted. But the NCAA and the schools would still make money because the bowls would sponsor the first round and then commercials and advertising would make money for everyone involved for the semis and the finals. This is just what I think, and I have more to come, but I am getting tired and need to go to bed.

~ by renji1898 on November 19, 2008.