The Bobcat Nation

Every year when the bowl games come along, everyone (myself included) gets in a tiffy about the BCS and how 1-A needs a playoff system. However, money and the Bowls associated make it damn near impossible to change.

Meat's idea:
Get rid of of the BCS system completely. I've said it before and I'll say it again...any athletic season is a joke if it has it's championship game is decided by a computer. All they have to do is follow these steps:

1. Keep the bowls and bring them back to the way they were. This way the money keeps rolling in and the school budgets stay where they are. Presidents and sponsors are happy. The cities that count on the economic boom are happy. Tradition is kept intact.
2. Move the bowls up a week or two so there isn't such a big gap between the end of the season and the big games. This takes off the pressure of losing school days in January.
3. Take the 4 winners of the big bowls (the ones that are used in the current BCS) and put them in a 4 game playoff.

The winner would be the National Champion. You could even add sponsor's to these final 3 games further creating financial bonuses for the schools and/or the NCAA. Obviously, this creates somewhat of an 8 team playoff field, yet the bowls keep their prestige and makes it possible for the Lousiville's, Utah's, and Boise State's of the world to get to the big show.

This schedule would only add one more week for 4 teams, two of those going an extra two weeks. The bowls would stay intact....Schools would keep their big pay days....and fans would get a playoff system where it's decided on the field.

I know this isn't an original idea but I haven't heard anyone talk about it and I want your thoughts?

Why not just make the Bowl Games separate rounds of the playoffs. The smaller bowls can be the first round games with the big ones being the semi's and the championship...just an idea.

I like the first; don't like the second because it's my belief that an extra three weeks of practice right after the completion of an eleven or twelve game season produces as much growth, development and maturity in a kid as we get to see between the first and second game of every football season; therefore, I would have to say the third also would have to go. I guess after watching all the 1-AA and DII playoffs the last few years and all the controversay within this system, I think the large schools probably already have a better "playoff" system in place than the small schools do--the A-10 getting four teams in the playoffs? The Fizzlies hosting three playoff games? Cal Poly not making the field this year? Every year we hear how badly the selection committee screwed up. Yeah, we'd get to see somebody like Louisville or Boise State in the playoffs some years and yes, some years they might beat a team like Oklahoma, Auburn or USC in the first round. I mean, Tennessee State, McNeese and Southern Illinois were the only number one seeds in the 1-AA tournament that ever lost in the first round. Anyway, let's see what changes the major conferences make this year and then gripe next year. Besides, what else do we have to talk about until the recruiting classes are announced, the spring practice starts, the spring games are played, we plan for our weekends to Bozo when the browns are running...

I think eventually we will migrate toward a system like you describe. I don't see the bowl games ever going away so whatever "playoff" type system we end up with, it will in some fashion have to incorporate the bowls.

Here is my solution to D1 football. Start with 32 teams and the first round would be during Thanksgiving weekend. Can you picture having 16 playoff games during a 4 day weekend. The TV ratings would be huge. Five weeks later on News’s Year Day you play for the Champion. College football would be rise and richer if they did this. If basketball can sign a billion dollar TV deal, football would be worth 3 billion.

The bowl games can pickoff the loser out teams or teams that did not make to the playoffs.

BobCatFan wrote:Here is my solution to D1 football. Start with 32 teams and the first round would be during Thanksgiving weekend. Can you picture having 16 playoff games during a 4 day weekend. The TV ratings would be huge. Five weeks later on News’s Year Day you play for the Champion. College football would be rise and richer if they did this. If basketball can sign a billion dollar TV deal, football would be worth 3 billion.

The bowl games can pickoff the loser out teams or teams that did not make to the playoffs.

Couple of problems with that. First, teams are still playing their regular season during Thanksgiving weekend. Second, the bowls would never go for picking up the losers in that scenario. Could you imagine the Rose bowl officials saying "I hope Michigan or Notre Dame loses so that we can get them"? The bowls are not going anywhere and they pretty much run things with the financial benefit they provide. I agree that the TV deal for a playoff system would be huge, but how much of that would actually go to the schools that are now participating and reaping in the dough from all the .com bowls?

meat,

That was the dumbest idea I've ever heard...wow

The BCS is perfect! Just kidding.

The questions that arise are the "automatic bids"

Look at this year. I think Utah would've been left out of the BCS bowl system with the "old way" and would'nt have had a chance to prove itself.

I say play the BCS bowls 1 or week after the regular season is up. After those 4 bowl games are over take the 4 winners and then have the AP/Coaches or whoever vote in the other 4 for an "at large" bid. 3 weeks later we'd have an undisputed national champion. The at large bids could be teams who either lost in the BSC games or some other "dark horse" type teams. Take this year for example;

1. USC
2. Auburn
3. Utah
4. Texas
---- at large bids ----
5. Cal
6. Oklahoma
7. Georgia
8. Louisville

I'm basing the "at large" bids from their finish in the regular season, since Cal had a poor showing in the post season, but I would expect them to show up and play good football in a playoff system.