FanPost

If I ruled College Football... (The 8-team playoff)

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So, I do this every year when the finalized college football rankings come out. Here's another installment... just for fun. If I ruled college football, there would be an 8-team playoff with automatic bids for Power Five conference winners. Everyone has their own take on this -- here's mine.

First of all, I should talk about why I want to move away from the current model:

  • It's my opinion that you need more than 4 teams if you want to use post-season games to define a champion. Yes, there are a lot of different models that are capable of defining a champion. Just simply voting at the end could still do it. So could a larger tournament. If you really want to use games with the sole purpose of defining a champion -- you need more than 4 teams. If I'm being honest, 6 is probably the perfect number. But, I have other things I want to fix too.
  • I hate the idea of having a slightly different model every year. Yeah, it all pretty much works the same, but there are still differences in where and when the semi-finals are played. That's somewhere between non-ideal and just plain silly.
  • I also hate the idea of moving conferences away from their traditional homes. Teams should identify "going to the Rose Bowl" (or Orange or Cotton or whatever) as one of their organizational goals for improvement along with competing for a national title. It should be a step along that road.

Who's In?

The committee ranks the top 25 teams, just like now. Perhaps there's less pressure to elevate conference winners in the rankings since they are already in, but I see no reason to make wholesale changes to that. (The weekly releases are a little overkill and could be only biweekly early on, but that's for another day.) Here's the end-of-season rankings:

  1. Alabama (SEC Champ)
  2. Clemson (ACC Champ)
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Oklahoma (Big 12 Champ)
  5. Georgia
  6. Ohio State (Big Ten Champ)
  7. Michigan
  8. UCF
  9. Washington (Pac-12 Champ)
  10. Penn State
  11. (21) Fresno State
  12. (25) Boise State

The Access Bowl

When I first put this together, I just assumed the best Group of Five champion would not get an automatic bid. My thinking is that the GoF champ is competing for one spot among teams who failed to win a league. That's a lot easier than competing for one of four spots against five Power Five champions and other good teams -- to include this year's Notre Dame and Georgia. It certainly wouldn't be the end of the world to automatically include the best champion as an at-large. I tend to think we shouldn't always assume that team is in the top 15 or so, but that's not a hill I'm looking to die on.

Having said all that, there would be a lot of debate about whether or not a team like UCF would belong in the CFP ahead of competition. I'm going to go ahead and guess that this committee would have swapped UCF and Michigan elevating them to the playoff.

Regardless, there is a fixed access bowl where the best remaining team from the Group of Five plays the best remaining team overall. If a Group of Five champ gets into the playoff, the best remaining team gets the bid. (There's a similar debate to have about whether or not it needs to be a champion. Perhaps we should allow a league runner-up if the league winner is in the playoff.) This year, I'm picking #21 Fresno State. They take on #8 Michigan. More on this in a moment.

Placing the Teams

Instead of using bowl alignment as an afterthought, they play a critical role in the playoff itself. The Pac-12 and Big Ten champs still play in the Rose Bowl, the ACC champ plays in the Orange Bowl, the SEC champ in the Sugar Bowl, and the Big 12 champ in the Cotton Bowl. Well, that works, for the most part. This would leave the Rose Bowl with a bad matchup, #6 vs #9. That doesn't work. So, instead of removing the good teams from those bowls to play in a playoff, we remove the worst conference champ (#9 Washington) from their contract bowl and realign the match-ups from there.
  • Sugar Bowl: #1 Alabama vs #9 Washington
  • Orange Bowl: #2 Clemson vs #7 UCF
  • Cotton Bowl: #4 Oklahoma vs # 5 Georgia
  • Rose Bowl: #6 Ohio State vs #3 Notre Dame

Everyone knows that Alabama and Clemson will be in their bowls from the final buzzer of their championship game. Fans start buying plane tickets and Clemson players are carrying around oranges to celebrate. Ohio State and Oklahoma probably know where they are going but we might just wait on the committee to be sure. Washington fans know they're likely getting bumped from the Rose Bowl unless OSU gets upset.

You'd be surprised how clean the bracket can get when just the lowest seeded conference champion is moved. In this case, it's perfect. The bowl games know they are getting their chosen conference fairly often -- and they only lose that conference tie in when that team isn't as good as the other champs.

Scheduling the Playoff

  • The Orange Bowl is played the day before New Years Day at the highest profile time. Most years, that's on New Years Eve at, say, 4pm or so. Other games pile in ahead of it as organizers see fit. It is a playoff game every year. More often than not, it includes the ACC champion.
  • The Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl are played on New Years Day at 5pm and 8pm every year. They are playoff games every year. They include teams from the SEC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 every... well... most years. They commonly include teams from the Big 12 and ACC as well. High profile non-playoff games fill in the noon time slot as organizers see fit.
  • The Cotton Bowl is played on Jan 2 in prime time. Every year. And it is a playoff game every year. With a Big 12 team every year (well, unless that team is ranked low).
You may have noticed a pattern. This is the same every year. No rotation, no teams getting bumped out of their contract bowl every third year. None of that. If you understand the schedule and bowl placement this year, you'll understand it next year. That may not mean much to people who watch year-round, but it makes the bowl season more accessible to casual fans. Think about playoffs in other sports that have been successful. There aren't big changes in scheduling or placement very often. Once fans are introduced to it, the explanation doesn't change for the next year.

Scheduling the Access Bowl

The original College Football Playoff intended to make college football a part of New Years Eve the same way it's a big part of New Years Day. The problem was you needed a half hour of explanation to understand what the game on New Years Eve was all about. And it's different every year. Sometimes it's a playoff game, sometimes it's just a New Years Six game. That's a lot to ask of people who aren't watching football all year to get into.

The Access Bowl could be a better answer. It would be the best "little guy" against the best "big guy" who isn't in the playoff. That's not too bad. It's a David and Goliath thing (well, kinda). Instead of using a huge stadium, choose an iconic location that fits into more standard New Years Eve with a smaller stadium. Yankee Stadium works with its proximity to Times Square. But, if we take it out west, it makes it easier for fans to see the game and then go elsewhere before midnight. How about San Diego?

Or... Let's go farther west. Let's take it to Hawaii.

  • Honolulu Bowl, New Years Eve, 8pm ET / 3pm local time: #21 Fresno State vs #8 Michigan

The game airs on ESPN, but the pregame and halftime shows become a part of ABC's New Years Eve countdown. ABC sends Jenny McCarthy or Ciara (whoever she is) or that goofy British guy (maybe he's CNN) or someone else out to Hawaii to do check ins throughout the night. The scenery in Hawaii provides a nice addition to what they are already showing. It is of value for countdowns in all four time zones. That's enough to draw a big name performer like Mariah Carey (no tea needed in Hawaii) or Nick Jonas or Sugarland or Britney Spears or whoever.

Wherever it goes, it's the same location and the same idea every year. It might take a year or two for casual or non-fans to catch on, but it's much more accessible and makes itself a part of the night. Think about how non-football fans are all dragged into the Super Bowl. It's the year-to-year consistency, the halftime performers, and the ads. Having scenery from the game, the performers, and the goofy on-site guy can provide a similar draw. They might not know who's playing, but they are certainly attuned to it more than they are now.

The Semi-Finals and Championship Games

The two semifinals are played the following weekend on Sunday night and Monday night in the same venue. This year, they are played on Sun, Jan 6 and Mon, Jan 7. This site is awarded to cities just like the championship game is. Cities can make one bid and then be awarded one of the two. ESPN has a stage right there on the field and talks about college and NFL football all morning and throughout the day Sunday and Monday. The playoff trophy keeps watch just off the side of the stage.

The championship game is played the following weekend on either Sunday evening after NFL or Monday evening. Once again, ESPN covers both NFL and college from a stage on the field with the trophy nearby.

So, there you have it. That's a little glimpse of the world that I rule. I hope you aren't looking to revolt.

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