National Championship Playoff

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National Championship Playoff

Filed on August 29th, 2007 in NCAA Football ⋅ ⋅

The full theory and explanation of this can be found here.

REGULAR SEASON FORMAT

12 Game Maximum Schedules

All teams must finish regular season play by the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In 2007, that makes for 14 Saturdays from September 1 to December 1

Any conference championship game must be played within this time frame as well, even if that means cutting the regular season schedule to 11. This would be up to each conference. They could also choose to scrap the conference title game and determine a winner through standings.

To be bowl-eligible, you must have at least six wins vs. I-A opponents

To be eligible for the National Championship, you must have at least nine wins vs. I-A opponents (can include conference championship, if applicable)

POSTSEASON FORMAT

16 teams in playoff to play in National Championship Playoff

16 teams in Second Tier Tournament similar to college basketball’s NIT

32 teams in 16 Bowl Games to reward players and schools and to keep small

Bowl-hosting cities in the mix

Total of 64 teams in postseason (64 in 2006-07)

Total of 48 postseason games (32 in 2006-07)

Same number of teams in postseason, with 16 additional games.

Teams to play in National Championship Playoff

Six major conference champions (must be ranked in BCS top 20)

Any other conference champions ranked in BCS top 20

Independents must be ranked in the Top 20 for consideration, top 15 for guaranteed entry

At-large bids based on BCS standings and an expert committee

No more than three teams per conference

Winner of previous year’s Second Tier Tournament, if in top 20 or nine I-A wins

Teams to play in second tier tournament

All other conference champions

At-large bids based on expert committee

Teams to play in Bowl games

Teams not selected in either tournament will be allowed to accept any invitations they wish from any Bowl. Individual bowls may choose to keep their current affiliations.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF FORMAT

16 teams in a single elimination tournament

Seeding based on final BCS standings

All first round games are at home field of higher seeded team

Second round games are at neutral site

Semi-Final games are at a neutral site

National Championship game at a neutral site

Neutral site games are a rotation of major BCS and other bowls

Total of seven neutral site games to be at currently existing bowl sites

SECOND TIER TOURNAMENT FORMAT

Winner of tournament can get into National Championship tournament the following year with a top 20 BCS finish, or nine Division-I victories.

16 teams in a single elimination tournament

Seeding done by expert committee

First and second round games at home field of higher seeded team

Semi-Final and Championship game at neutral site

Neutral site games are at currently existing bowl sites

BOWL GAMES

All bowls to be played as they previously have in the past

Single game format only

Here’s what the 2006-2007 National Championship Playoff would have looked like:

Round One (all games hosted by higher seed)

Game 1
1 Ohio State
16 BYU

Game 2
2 Florida
15 Rutgers

Game 3
3 Michigan
14 Virginia Tech

Game 4
4 LSU
13 Wake Forest

Game 5
5 USC
12 West Virginia

Game 6
6 Louisville
11 Notre Dame

Game 7
7 Wisconsin
10 Oklahoma

Game 8
8 Boise State
9 Auburn

Round Two (using higher seed as winner for illustration, also top-seed hosts)

Game 9
Games 1 & 8 Winners
Ohio State vs. Boise State (Gator Bowl)

Game 10
Games 2 & 7 Winners
Florida vs. Wisconsin (Capital One Bowl)

Game 11
Games 3 & 6 Winners
Michigan vs. Louisville (Sugar Bowl)

Game 12
Games 4 & 5 Winners
LSU vs. USC (Orange Bowl)

Round Three – National Semi-Finals (neutral site games)

Game 13
Games 9 & 12 Winners
Ohio State vs. LSU (Fiesta Bowl)

Game 14
Games 10 & 11 Winners
Florida vs. Michigan (Rose Bowl)

Championship Game
Games 13 & 14 Winners
Ohio State vs. Florida (at Sugar Bowl)

Scheduling format for playoff would be as follows:

Round One: Saturday, December 9, 2006
Round Two: Saturday, December 16, 2006
Semi-Finals: Monday, January 1, 2007
Championship: Monday, January 8, 2007

Second Tier Tournament

Tier Two Seeds:

1 – Arkansas
2 – Tennessee
3 – California
4 – Texas
5 – Texas A&M
6 – Oregon State
7 – Nebraska
8 – Boston College
9 – UCLA
10- Georgia Tech
11- Georgia
12- Houston
13- Hawai’i
14- Penn State
15- Troy
16- Central Michigan

Tier Two Dates:

Round One: Thursday & Friday, December 7 & 8, 2006
Round Two: Thursday & Friday. December 14 & 15, 2006
Semi-Finals: Saturday, December 23, 2006
Championship: Monday, January 1, 2007

The Tier Two Tournament would follow the exact same game format, including two home game rounds, followed by three neutral site games.

Rounds three and four games would be played at current Bowl Game sites not used in the National Championship Playoff. The Tier Two Tourney would get second choice of bowl tie-ins, before the final bowl games are played under the old bowl standards.

BOWL GAMES

Staggered on weekdays to keep the feeling of bowl season during tournaments

32 teams and 16 games

The bowl games here and above can be changed according to the needs of the current season. This is just an example template.

Dec. 19
Poinsettia
TCU vs. Northern Illinois

Dec. 20
New Orleans
Middle Tennessee vs. Rice

Dec. 21
Papajohns.com
South Florida vs. East Carolina

Dec. 21
New Mexico
San Jose State vs. New Mexico

Dec. 22
Hawaii
Arizona State vs. Florida State

Dec. 26
Motor City
South Carolina vs. Clemson

Dec. 28
Texas
Navy vs. Kansas State

Dec. 29
Champs Sports
Maryland vs. Purdue

Dec. 30
Alamo
Kentucky vs. Iowa

Dec. 31
Independence
Oklahoma State vs. Alabama

Jan. 1
Armed Forces
Utah vs. Tulsa

Jan. 1
Sun
Oregon vs. Missouri

Jan. 1
Humanitarian
Miami (Fla.) vs. Nevada

Jan. 1
Insight
Texas Tech vs. Minnesota

Jan. 7
International
Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan

Jan. 7
GMAC
Southern Mississippi vs. Ohio

Here is what the playoff would have looked like for 2007-2008.

In the end, all of the teams that played in a bowl game would still have a post-season game, or maybe a few. Increasing the number of post-season games, and the importance of many of them is better for the sport in the long run. What may be lost in the regular season is more than made up for in the post-season.

College football needs a playoff system. There may be some people who won’t realize it until they live through it, but it needs a playoff. The only thing holding it back is the stubborn-ness of the powers that be, and the unwillingness to make a logical change for the good of the sport.

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