Bowl playoff championship

[Speedy]

This is just my little fun thing to do at the end of the college football regular season. It's my personal solution to destroying the BCS BS, giving college football a playoff while keeping the Bowl games alive at the same time.

We have the 11 conference winners and 5 at-large teams. BCS standings are still used to determine seeding. Yes, all 11 conference champs get in, that way the lower seeds have an easier matchup in the 1st round, making regular season games still meaningful.

Teams in BOLD are matchups if there were this playoff. In the 2nd round on, I'm randomly choosing who advances based on nothing.

Teams in (italics) are the actual bowl matchups this season.



2008-2009 Bowl Playoff Championship

First Round (Dec. 11-13)

Liberty Bowl - Sat. Dec. 13 - 8:00 pm
(1)Oklahoma v. (16)Buffalo
(Kentucky v. East Carolina)

Champs Sports Bowl - Sat. Dec. 13 - 5:00 pm
(2)Florida v. (15)Troy
(Florida St. v. Wisconsin)

Texas Bowl - Fri. Dec. 12 - 8:00 pm
(3)Texas v. (14)East Carolina
(Rice v. Western Michigan)

Chick-fil-a Bowl - Sat. Dec. 13 - 2:00 pm
(4)Alabama v. (13)Virginia Tech
(Georgia Tech v. LSU)

Holiday Bowl - Fri. Dec. 12 - 5:00 pm
(5)USC v. (12)Cincinnati
(Oklahoma St. v. Oregon)

Motor City Bowl - Sat. Dec. 13 - 11:00 am
(6)Utah v. (11)TCU
(Florida Atlantic v. Central Michigan)

Music City Bowl - Thu. Dec. 11 - 8:00 pm
(7)Texas Tech v. (10)Ohio St.
(Boston College v. Vanderbilt)

Meineke Car Care Bowl - Thu. Dec. 11 - 5:00 pm
(8)Penn St. v. (9)Boise St.
(North Carolina v. West Virginia)


Second Round (Dec. 19-20)

Cotton Bowl - Sat. Dec. 20 - 7:00 pm
Okl/Buf v. PS/Boise
Oklahoma v. Penn St.
(Mississippi v. Texas Tech)

Gator Bowl - Sat. Dec. 20 - 3:00 pm
Flo/Troy v. TT/OSU
Florida v. Texas Tech
(Clemson v. Nebraska)

Sugar Bowl - Fri. Dec. 19 - 7:00 pm
Tex/ECU v. Uta/TCU
Texas v. TCU
(Utah v. Alabama)

Outback Bowl - Sat. Dec. 20 - 11:00 am
Ala/VT v. USC/Cin
Alabama v. USC
(Iowa v. South Carolina)


Semifinal Round (Dec. 27)

Rose Bowl - Sat. Dec. 27 - 3:00 pm
Flo/Troy/TTU/OSU v. Uta/TCU/Tex/ECU
Florida v. Texas
(USC v. Penn St.)

Fiesta Bowl - Sat. Dec. 27 - 7:00 pm
Okl/Buf/Pn St/Boise v. USC/Cin/Ala/VT
Oklahoma v. USC
(Ohio St. v. Texas)


National Championship (Jan. 8)

Orange Bowl - Thu. Jan. 8 - 7:00 pm
Oklahoma v. Florida
(*Orange Bowl game - Virginia Tech v. Cincinnati)
(*title game in Miami - Oklahoma/Florida)

[Speedy]

And in an effort to keep the rest of the bowls alive, here's the Bowl Invitational playoff, similar to the NIT Tournament in college basketball, where the 2 teams to make it to the championship in this bracket, get rewarded with a trip to Hawaii.

These teams are pretty much the next 16 in line in the BCS standings, or AP poll if not in the BCS standings, who are not in the championship tournament.


2008-2009 Bowl Invitational


First Round (Dec. 16-18)

Armed Forces Bowl - Thu. Dec. 18 - 8:00 pm
(1)Oklahoma St. v. (16)California
(Houston v. Air Force)

PapaJohns.com Bowl - Thu. Dec. 18 - 4:00 pm
(2)Georgia Tech v. (15)West Virginia
(Rutgers v. North Carolina St.)

New Orleans Bowl - Wed. Dec. 17 - 8:00 pm
(3)Georgia v. (14)Florida St.
(Southern Miss v. Troy)

Las Vegas Bowl - Tue. Dec. 16 - 8:00 pm
(4)BYU v. (13)Iowa
(BYU v. Arizona)

Emerald Bowl - Wed. Dec. 17 - 4:00 pm
(5)Oregon v. (12)Mississippi
(Miami(Fl) v. California)

Independence Bowl - Tue. Dec. 16 - 4:00 pm
(6)Michigan St. v. (11)Boston College
(Northern Illnois v. Louisiana Tech)

Poinsettia Bowl - Thu. Dec. 18 - Noon
(7)Pittsburgh v. (10)Northwestern
(TCU v. Boise St.)

New Mexico Bowl - Wed. Dec. 12 - Noon
(8)Missouri v. (9)Ball St.
(Fresno St. v. Colorado St.)


Second Round (Dec. 24 & 26)

Alamo Bowl - Fri. Dec. 26 - 8:00 pm
OSU/Cal v. Mizz/Ball
Oklahoma St. v. Missouri
(Northwestern v. Missouri)

GMAC Bowl - Wed. Dec. 24 - 4:00 pm
GT/WV v. Pitt/NW
Georgia Tech v. Pittsburgh
(Tulsa v. Ball St.)

Insight.com Bowl - Fri. Dec. 26 - 4:00 pm
MS/BC v. Geo/FSU
Boston College v. Georgia
(Kansas v. Minnesota)

Humanitarian Bowl - Wed. Dec. 24 - noon
Ore/Miss v. BYU/Iowa
Mississippi v. BYU
(Maryland v. Nevada)


Semifinal Round (Jan. 3)

Sun Bowl - Sat. Jan. 3 - 7:00 pm
OSU/Cal/Mizz/Ball v. Ore/Miss/BYU/Iowa
Oklahoma St. v. Mississippi
(Pittsburgh v. Oregon St.)

Capital One Bowl - Sat. Jan. 3 - 3:00 pm
GT/WV/Pitt/NW v. MS/BC/Geo/FSU
Pittsburgh v. Georgia
(Michigan St. v. Georgia)


Championship Game (Jan. 10)

Hawaii Bowl - Sat. Jan. 10 - 7:00 pm
Oklahoma St. v. Georgia
(Notre Dame v. Hawaii)

[threetoedpete]

No Mas.


Say hello to the Marsh hare when you seem him there Alice.

[kastofsna]

biggest issue here is using the BCS bowl games as stepping stones to other games. they'll never go for that, especially the Rose Bowl. they want to be THE final destination. the best way to solve that problem is to leave the Rose Bowl out of the equation. just give them their Big 10/Pac 10 game, and the winner of that game doesn't factor into the playoffs at all. the other bowls MIGHT go for it, but there's zero chance with the Rose Bowl.

so the best bet for the playoffs is to not factor bowls in at all. there can still be bowl games, but the winners of those games won't move on

[Ole Miss Texan]

Originally Posted by kastofsna

biggest issue here is using the BCS bowl games as stepping stones to other games. they'll never go for that, especially the Rose Bowl. they want to be THE final destination. the best way to solve that problem is to leave the Rose Bowl out of the equation. just give them their Big 10/Pac 10 game, and the winner of that game doesn't factor into the playoffs at all. the other bowls MIGHT go for it, but there's zero chance with the Rose Bowl.

so the best bet for the playoffs is to not factor bowls in at all. there can still be bowl games, but the winners of those games won't move on

That's really true. But USC would most likely be in the "playoff" bracket so couldn't play in the Rose Bowl. I think the committee would sh*t a brick.

[kastofsna]

yeah, it'd have to be a matchup like Oregon State vs. Michigan State. sucks for them

[Speedy]

Yeah, I know the Rose Bowl is a pain in the ass and you know, they really need to freaking get over themselves.

But they'd be in the championship game rotation just like it is now.

And really, you don't have to do this in the bowls. Especially the 1st round. I'd be fine if the first round was at the home of the lower seed school, but people are always crying "well what about the precious bowls" so this settles that. I don't care either way, just do the damn playoff.

I know it will never happen, but it's the way it should happen.

[Speedy]

OK, we go with the 16 team Playoff for the national title, just like I have it above, but we'll scrap the Invitational bracket and just let those bowls operate as they do now. That way, instead of only 32 teams playing a bowl game in the double bracket setup above, you'll have at least 50 teams playing in a bowl game. Down from the 64 or 66 we have now which is too many.

And if the Rose Bowl doesn't want to cooperate, they can go on their own too.

So we have a 16 team-15 bowl playoff for the national title, and then the other 17 or so bowls can just do their thing like they do it now with another 34 or so teams. That second bracket is meaningless anyway, just like these lesser bowl games are, so no sense in doing all the travel for that.

I think that fixes it mo better.

[Spled]

Even a plus 1 would solve most of the problems. Oklahoma vs Florida and UT vs USC. That would set up a pretty big game.

[bah007]

Originally Posted by Spled

Even a plus 1 would solve most of the problems. Oklahoma vs Florida and UT vs USC. That would set up a pretty big game.

Isn't Alabama ranked higher than USC? What if they beat Utah?

And what if Utah beats Alabama? They would still be undefeated.

I think a plus one format is the next baby step we take on our way to a playoff. But all it is really gonna do is open the door for more teams to complain about getting left out.

[kastofsna]

yeah, a plus one involves 4 teams playing for the title, while the current system allows 2. you'd think it'd be better, but in reality, there are always going to be more teams each year that can make a case for being the 3rd or 4th best team in the country than the 1st and 2nd. conference bias will come into play, the polls will still be screwy, and plenty of people will be pissed

[GlassHalfFull]

Originally Posted by kastofsna

yeah, a plus one involves 4 teams playing for the title, while the current system allows 2. you'd think it'd be better, but in reality, there are always going to be more teams each year that can make a case for being the 3rd or 4th best team in the country than the 1st and 2nd. conference bias will come into play, the polls will still be screwy, and plenty of people will be pissed

Well, since plenty of people are pissed every year as it is now, they might as well go to the playoff system.

It boggles my mind that the bowl system will continue to march along it's dysfunctional path.

[TD]

Originally Posted by bah007

I think a plus one format is the next baby step we take on our way to a playoff. But all it is really gonna do is open the door for more teams to complain about getting left out.

Which is why I want a 16 team playoff system. The eleven conference champions plus the next five ranked teams not already in. Rankings (and playoff seeding) would be done by computer formula agreed to by a committee of all the conference representatives. That leaves no room for complaining or politicking.

The playoffs would only take four weeks and if the also rans want to play in the meaningless bowl games, I don't know why they couldn't. They're meaningless now and that wouldn't change.

[bah007]

Originally Posted by TD

Which is why I want a 16 team playoff system...

At this point, I think everybody does.

[kastofsna]

as horrific as this may sound, the best bet for a playoff is just letting the old dogs die and let the younger generation move in and hopefully at least have some sort of revolutionary ideas

[kastofsna]

here's what you do:

completely leave the bowls out of the playoffs. the NCAA selects the top 8 teams in the country, either via some sort of computer rankings or a committee gets together and figures it out. leave the polls out of it, there is way too much inherent bias involved with pollsters for various reasons.

the BCS bowls still exist, but they can only select teams that aren't in the playoffs. also this would allow us the chance to cut several bowls, and allow for better matchups across the board in the bowls.

so here's how it would look, just based on the computer rankings:

1 - Oklahoma
8 - Boise State

2 - Texas
7 - USC

3 - Florida
6 - Alabama

4 - Texas Tech
5 - Utah

and the BCS bowls would be something like this:

Rose Bowl - Penn State vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl - Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar Bowl - TCU - Cincinnati
Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma State - BYU

just sorta threw the bowls together; the bowls will still be selecting who they want to play in the games, as long as they're not a playoff team

the bowl folks would hate this, but their consent isn't necessary at all; as long as the schools and conferences agree to this, it's on. that's another hurdle to jump, but it'd be easier to jump that one than to deal with the stingy Rose Bowl people, or any other bowl committee