Not everybody agrees with with my plan, but it has a few things going for it. First, here's the plan:
- All conference champions qualify for the tournament. Those are the top ten seeds.
- The six best teams that didn't win a conference title qualify. That rounds out the field of 16.
- Higher seeds host the first-round games. Four bowls host the second-round games.
- First round losers still qualify for bowls.
Some say that there are teams that didn't win their conference that are better than many conference champs. That's a valid concern, and this plan covers it.
Some say this calls for teams to play too many games. It doesn't seem to be a problem for Division 1-AA/FCS teams, which has a 24-team field. It doesn't seem to be a problem for Division II, which has a 28-team field. It doesn't seem to be a problem for Division III, which has a 32-team field. If those schools can handle extra playoff games, then the bigger schools can.
Here's how the playoffs would line up this year:
1 Louisiana State (Southeastern Conference) #1 (CFP)
2 Ohio State (Big Ten Conference) #2 (CFP)
3 Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference) #3 (CFP)
4 Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference) #4 (CFP)
5 Oregon (Pac-12 Conference) #6 (CFP)
6 Memphis (American Athletic Conference) #17 (CFP)
7 Boise State (Mountain West Conference) #19 (CFP)
8 Appalachian State (Sun Belt Conference) #20 (CFP)
9 Florida Atlantic (Conference USA) #32 (Coaches)
10 Miami (Ohio) (Mid-American Conference) Unranked
11 Georgia (At-large) #5 (CFP)
12 Baylor (At-large) #7 (CFP)
13 Wisconsin (At-large) #8 (CFP)
14 Florida (At-large) #9 (CFP)
15 Penn State (At-large) #10 (CFP)
16 Utah (At-large) #11 (CFP)
This would make some pretty good match-ups, equal to or better than some of the bowl games involving the teams in the field of 16.
Utah (11-2) at Louisiana State (13-0)
Penn State (10-2) at Ohio State (13-0)
Florida (10-2) at Clemson (13-0)
Wisconsin (10-3) at Oklahoma (12-1)
Baylor (11-2) at Oregon (11-2)
Georgia (11-2) at Memphis (12-1)
Miami (Ohio) (8-5) at Boise State (12-1)
Florida Atlantic (10-3) at Appalachian State (12-1)
The weakest matchup is the Miami (Ohio) vs. Boise State. However, it's no weaker than Boise State's bowl game (vs 7-5 Washington) or Miami (Ohio) bowl (vs 10-3 Louisiana-Lafayette).
You might not be on board with this, but that's okay. You have the right to be wrong.
BASIL, YOU ARE A GENIUS. BUT DON'T LET IT GO TO YOUR HEAD...
ReplyDeleteMY YOUNGEST SON, PAUL AND I ARE GOING TO THE INDEPENDENCE BOWL IN SHREVEPORT THE DAY AFTER CRIMMUS TO WATCH LOUISIANA TECH V MIAMA. HE IS 23 AND AUTISTIC, AND WE HAVE FINALLY DISCOVERED SOMETHING HE LIKES MORE THAN JEOPARDY...COLLEGE FOOTBALL.
I MET UP WITH AN OLD FRIEND OF OURS...PAUL MITCHELL AT A HOTEL IN MY TOWN OF BOSSIER CITY, LA. WE ATE BREAKFAST, VISITED, AND I MET HIS LOVELY WIFE.
BEFORE HE AND I PARTED, HE TALKED FONDLY ABOUT HIM GOING TO A CRACKERS BASEBALL GAME WITH YOU (OR SOMETHING) WHEN HE WAS WITH BEAN IN THE WAY WAY BACK.
PAUL IS DOING WELL. HIS LOVELY WIFE IS AS SWEET AS SUGAR...MISSISSIPPI GIRL.
SO...BACK TO THE POST. I WOULD LOVE FOR LSU TO MATCH UP WITH WITH UTAH IN YOUR DREAM PLAYOFF DEALIE. I WATCHED UTAH PLAY THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HIGH SCHOOL A FEW WEEKS AGO. I SWEAR, EVANGEL HIGH SCHOOL IN SHREVEPORT COULD BEAT THEM BOTH AT THE SAME TIME...WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT.
YOU'RE GOOD FOLKS, BASIL. I HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL.
ANDY