How an NCAA Football Playoff Would Look This Year

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How an NCAA Football Playoff Would Look This Year

Filed on January 5th, 2008 in NCAA Football ⋅ ⋅

The 2007-2008 bowl games have been an absolute mess. There have been some good game, but mostly under-performing teams, and outmatched opponents. Rare has been the game that has been a good matchup on paper, and well played on the field. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say once again, that it is time for a playoff. Based on my playoff format, here’s what this year could have been.

Based on lukekohler.com Playoff Format

The Seeds

1 – Ohio State*
2 – LSU*
3 – Virginia Tech*
4 – Oklahoma*
5 – Georgia
6 – Missouri
7 – USC*
8 – Kansas
9 – West Virginia*
10- Hawaii
11- Arizona State
12- Florida
13- Illinois
14- Clemson**
15- Boston College**
16- BYU*

* – Conference Champions
** – Clemson & Boston College Swap 14 & 15 to avoid B.C. vs. Virginia Tech 3rd meeting of year.

The Matchups

Games Staggered Between December 8-10

(16)BYU at (1)Ohio State
(15)Boston College at (2)LSU
(14)Clemson at (3)Virginia Tech
(13)Illinois at (4)Oklahoma
(12)Florida at (5)Georgia
(11)Arizona State at (6)Missouri
(10)Hawaii at (7)USC
(9)West Virginia at (8)Kansas

Quarter-Finals

Weekend of December 22 & 23, 2007

Fiesta Bowl
BYU/OSU Winner vs. WVU/KU Winner

Rose Bowl
BC/LSU Winner vs. Haw/USC Winner

Cotton Bowl
Clem/VaTech Winner vs. ASU/Mizzou Winner

Capitol One Bowl
Ill/OU Winner vs. Fla/GA Winner

Semi-Finals

For the sake of demonstration, we’ll put through all higher seed teams

January 1, 2008

Orange Bowl
Ohio State vs. Oklahoma

Sugar Bowl
LSU vs. Virginia Tech

Championship

January 8, 2008

BCS Title Game
Ohio State vs. LSU

Second-Tier Tournament

The Seeds

1 – Tennessee
2 – Wisconsin
3 – Texas
4 – Virginia
5 – South Florida
6 – Cincinnati
7 – Auburn
8 – Boise St.
9 – UConn
10- Central Florida*
11- Central Michigan*
12- Troy*
13- Arkansas
14- Texas Tech
15- Oregon State
16- Oregon

* – Conference Champions

The Matchups

Week of December 6-9, 2007

(16)Oregon at (1)Tennessee
(15)Oregon State at (2)Wisconsin
(14)Texas Tech at (3)Texas
(13)Arkansas at (4)Virginia
(12)Troy at (5)South Florida
(11)Central Michigan at (6)Cincinnati
(10)Central Florida at (7)Auburn
(9)UConn at (8)Boise State

Quarter-Finals

Again, based on higher seed winning

December 20 & 21, 2007

Tennessee vs. Boise State
Wisconsin vs. Auburn
Cincinnati vs. Texas
South Florida vs. Virginia

Semi-Finals

December 29, 2007

Tennessee vs. Virginia
Wisconsin vs. Texas

Tier-Two Title Game

January 5, 2008

Tennessee vs. Wisconsin

This would put the winner of Tennessee and Wisconsin (or whoever wins Tier-Two Title) in National Championship Playoff for next year (assuming 9 wins or conference title).

Summary

This system puts 32 teams into 30 postseason games. Currently, we have 64 teams playing 32 games.

In addition to these two tournaments, the other 32 teams that made bowl games would play in their bowl games. That would make 16 more games, bringing the grand total to 64 teams playing 48 games. I’m quite sure that you would keep all 32 current bowl sponsors, and be able to find 16 more if necessary. Another alternative to individual game sponsors is getting one sponsor for a whole tournament, such as the Sheinhardt Wig Company Tier-Two Playoff.

The remaining bowl games would be scheduled appropriately through late December and early January. Yes, you may lose a handful of marquee matchups on New Year’s Day, but really, the luster of the Jan. 1 bowl games has gone away in recent years anyway. I’d rather see meaningful games. And with the added incentive of the Tier-Two Playoff, those games will be quite exciting also.

This is something that could be done. The scheduling is such that it still allows for the “student-athletes” to wrap up the semester. For this to work, you’d likely have to get rid of the conference championship games, opening up even more dates for studying and such.

Can you honestly say that the bowl format is better than this. More excitement, better matchups, and more money to be made. Who in the world can be against this?

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