As I’ve written about each and every year, a playoff in college football is not only necessary, but it is far more simple and achievable than the idiots at the BCS will have you believe (particularly the idiots who are in charge of their twitter page).

And speaking of the dipshits that run the BCS, among the propaganda websites that they have to “debunk” the playoff theories, is my favorite, Playoff Problem. This is where these geniuses ask us common folk questions like who should get in, how to seed them, blah blah blah, then conclude that there is no good way to make a playoff. Well, on behalf of all of us college football fans with a brain and no financial interest in keeping the big six conferences the richest, here’s your answer.

The bottom line, as it is every year, is that if you want a proper postseason with a proper champion, a playoff is the only way to do it.

So as per usual, here is the playoff brackets for this year, based on the formula that I’ve spent years perfecting. If you’re not familiar with my entire manifesto on an NCAA playoff system, here is a summary of what the tournament will consist of.

REGULAR SEASON FORMAT

• 12 Game Maximum Schedules

• All teams must finish regular season play by the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

• 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 (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

• 36 teams in 18 Bowl Games to reward players and schools and to keep small bowl-hosting cities in the mix

• Total of 68 teams in postseason (68 in recent years)

• Total of 48 postseason games (34 in recent years)

• Same number of teams in postseason, with 14 additional games.

Teams to play in National Championship Playoff

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

• Any other conference champions ranked in BCS top 20 or undefeated

• 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

• All undefeated teams will play in the playoff, regardless of conference standing (ie. two undefeated Big Ten teams with no conference championship would both get in)

• No more than three teams per conference

• Winner of previous year’s Second Tier Tournament, if in top 20 or ten 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

So, without further adeiu, here are your 2009-2010 playoff matchups!

Round One (all games hosted by higher seed)

Game 1
1 Alabama
16 West Virginia

Game 2
2 Texas
15 Miami, FL

Game 3
3 TCU
14 Penn State

Game 4
4 Cincinnati
13 BYU

Game 5
5 Florida
12 Virginia Tech

Game 6
6 Boise State
11 LSU

Game 7
7 Oregon
10 Iowa

Game 8
8 Ohio State
9 Georgia Tech

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

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

Game 10
Games 2 & 7 Winners
Texas vs. Oregon (Capital One Bowl)

Game 11
Games 3 & 6 Winners
TCU vs. Boise State (Sugar Bowl)

Game 12
Games 4 & 5 Winners
Cincinnati vs. Florida (Orange Bowl)

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

Game 13
Games 9 & 12 Winners
Alabama vs. Cincinnati (Fiesta Bowl)

Game 14
Games 10 & 11 Winners
Texas vs. TCU (Rose Bowl)

Game 15 – Championship Game
Games 13 & 14 Winners
Alabama vs. Texas (at Sugar Bowl)

Scheduling format for playoff would be as follows:

Round One: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Round Two: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Semi-Finals: Monday, January 4, 2010
Championship: Monday, January 11, 2010

Second Tier Tournament

Tier Two Seeds:

1 – Pittsburgh
2 – Oklahoma State
3 – Oregon State
4 – Arizona
5 – Stanford
6 – Nebraska
7 – Utah
8 – Wisconsin
9 – Central Michigan
10- Troy
11- East Carolina
12- USC
13- Houston
14- Texas Tech
15- Northwestern
16- Clemson

Tier Two Dates:

Round One: Thursday & Friday, December 10 & 11, 2009
Round Two: Thursday & Friday. December 17 & 18, 2009
Semi-Finals: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Championship: Saturday, January 2, 2010

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.

*****

So as you can see, a legitimate playoff is very possible. Not only is it possible, but it could be quite simple. Unfortunately, the powers that run the BCS have one priority — money. They make a boatload of money through the current BCS system, and since it is rigged, they get to keep that money being passed around to the big conferences.

Switching the format to a playoff allows the risk of a team like Boise State, TCU or Utah winning a national championship. Right now, that is their worst nightmare. The day that that happens is the day that the illusion of big conference supremacy is busted.

And until these teams get to prove it on the field, they’ll never get the respect in the polls, which sadly, determine everything.

Considering the fact that three of the voting coaches from the USA Today poll had Oregon ranked ahead of Boise State in the final poll tells you that these coaches (or rather the SIDs who vote for them) are either so biased or so uninformed that the system can’t overcome their stupidity.

Fact: When you go undefeated and shit on a team who ends the year with a 10-2 record, you have absolutely no justification for the 10-2 team to be ranked higher. No first downs for nearly three quarters for Oregon’s offense against Boise, and there’s coaches that have the gall to vote them higher? And you wonder why college football is the most corrupt system in American sports.

So until there is a major change (I’m looking at you Congress!), we’re stuck with this. It’s a money grabbing, old-boys network game and the fans, the athletes and the students at these schools all pay for it. The conference commissioners, meanwhile, laugh all the way to the bank.

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