🏈 The case for a college football playoff...

[ElephantStomp]

At most I could see a +1. To me if you don't have conference championship game then you can't play for the NC, so obviously independents would not qualify. Also, I think if your schedule isn't in the top 25 then you don't qualify.

 

[Crimson14Tide]

As a very wise & brilliant man once said:

"As for 'Bama fans not wanting a true 16-team playoff that includes all conference champions...that's just baffling. OTHER than the fact that this would be the "fair/right" way to do it....comparison...how many years would Alabama have been "in the running" for an ANC since 1990 with a real playoff:
1991
1992
1994
1996
1999
2005
2009

Compared to the old Bowl Alliance/Coalition & the current BCS system:
1992
2009

It's comparisons like this one that led someone at some point in history to coin the term/phrase, 'No brainer'."



Not to mention a +1 does NOT give us what the entire sport is about. An actual champion at the end of the season. +1 is a step in the right direction, but in the grand scheme of things it is almost as useless as the BCS. With 100+ teams you HAVE to have at least 16 teams if you want to do the playoff correctly. The whole, 'more than 8 teams ruins the regular season' is obviously incorrect & is one of those things that just gets repeated like, 'college students can't handle playing that many games despite the fact that college students handle playing that many games every single year without fail'. Ridiculous.

 

[BamaCore]

You can say a playoff system doesn't cheapen the regular season until you're blue in the face, but the cold hard truth is that it does. The reason I watch and care about Division I college football more than any other sport is because every game TRULY matters. The only only thing that will change with a 16 team playoff is that instead of that third team that everyone argues "deserves a chance" it'll be that 17th team that "should have been put in the playoffs!" Someone is ALWAYS going to be left out, don't cheapen the system because you think that will somehow magically change. A plus one is enough. Just my humble opinion.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

It is very simple to me. Let the players decide the championship on the field. How could anyone argue against this?

 

[cjaytch]

As a very wise & brilliant man once said:

"As for 'Bama fans not wanting a true 16-team playoff that includes all conference champions...that's just baffling. OTHER than the fact that this would be the "fair/right" way to do it....comparison...how many years would Alabama have been "in the running" for an ANC since 1990 with a real playoff:
1991
1992
1994
1996
2005
2009

Compared to the old Bowl Alliance/Coalition & the current BCS system:
1992
2009

It's comparisons like this one that led someone at some point in history to coin the term/phrase, 'No brainer'."



Not to mention a +1 does NOT give us what the entire sport is about. An actual champion at the end of the season. +1 is a step in the right direction, but in the grand scheme of things it is almost as useless as the BCS. With 100+ teams you HAVE to have at least 16 teams if you want to do the playoff correctly. The whole, 'more than 8 teams ruins the regular season' is obviously incorrect & is one of those things that just gets repeated like, 'college students can't handle playing that many games despite the fact that college students handle playing that many games every single year without fail'. Ridiculous.

You forgot 1999. The way that team was playing at the end of the season, they could have beaten anyone. Well, assuming the Left Tackle showed up for the post season games....

 

[foshman]

You can say a playoff system doesn't cheapen the regular season until you're blue in the face, but the cold hard truth is that it does. The reason I watch and care about Division I college football more than any other sport is because every game TRULY matters. The only only thing that will change with a 16 team playoff is that instead of that third team that everyone argues "deserves a chance" it'll be that 17th team that "should have been put in the playoffs!" Someone is ALWAYS going to be left out, don't cheapen the system because you think that will somehow magically change. A plus one is enough. Just my humble opinion.

I'm not sure how a + 1 changes the importance of any given game or even a 4 team playoff for that matter. Typically less than 3 teams go undefeated so there would still be an incentive to not lose. For instance this year a 1 loss Oklahoma State has no shot at a BCSNCG spot while an undefeated Oklahoma State does. Even with a 4 team playoff there are likely to be about 4 1 loss teams that would be vying for 2 spots.

The playoff will happen eventually. I would prefer it remain either a + 1 or possibly a 4 team playoff.

 

[TheChief]

The playoff will happen? That's what was said in 1936.

 

[Joe]

You can say a playoff system doesn't cheapen the regular season until you're blue in the face, but the cold hard truth is that it does. The reason I watch and care about Division I college football more than any other sport is because every game TRULY matters. The only only thing that will change with a 16 team playoff is that instead of that third team that everyone argues "deserves a chance" it'll be that 17th team that "should have been put in the playoffs!" Someone is ALWAYS going to be left out, don't cheapen the system because you think that will somehow magically change. A plus one is enough. Just my humble opinion.

I believe "every game matters" is just a slogan without meaning. What do you mean by every game matters? How does every game matter?

 

[Bo]

As a very wise & brilliant man once said:

"As for 'Bama fans not wanting a true 16-team playoff that includes all conference champions...that's just baffling. OTHER than the fact that this would be the "fair/right" way to do it....comparison...how many years would Alabama have been "in the running" for an ANC since 1990 with a real playoff:
1991
1992
1994
1996
2005
2009

Compared to the old Bowl Alliance/Coalition & the current BCS system:
1992
2009

It's comparisons like this one that led someone at some point in history to coin the term/phrase, 'No brainer'."



Not to mention a +1 does NOT give us what the entire sport is about. An actual champion at the end of the season. +1 is a step in the right direction, but in the grand scheme of things it is almost as useless as the BCS. With 100+ teams you HAVE to have at least 16 teams if you want to do the playoff correctly. The whole, 'more than 8 teams ruins the regular season' is obviously incorrect & is one of those things that just gets repeated like, 'college students can't handle playing that many games despite the fact that college students handle playing that many games every single year without fail'. Ridiculous.

Here's the thing, there shouldn't be 100+ teams in D1A/FBS/ or whatever they want to call it.

 

[gasouthern]

The NCAA Division I has a mythical national champion. There has never been a true national champion. 13? No. No one has any.

Actually, the reigning D-I champion is Eastern Washington right now.

 

[TheChief]

Okay, Auburn did not win the national championship last year. No one did. Not really. Call the division what you will, I guess I named it wrong. I did say Alabama did not have 13, so that should have given it away. At any rate, there is not a true champion.

 

[ElephantStomp]

Let's have a playoff like basketball where every year ESPN is on the tv whining about so and so getting snubbed for so and so, it's the BCS, but people don't mind it because it's coined playoff. I'm not for a playoff and as for every game counts, every game does count because if you lose you lose any control over what you deserve as for a shot at the NC just look at Bama now.

 

[Bo]

Okay, Auburn did not win the national championship last year. No one did. Not really. Call the division what you will, I guess I named it wrong. I did say Alabama did not have 13, so that should have given it away. At any rate, there is not a true champion.

Yes they did, they won the same one Alabama won in 09, Florida in 08, and so on. It is the BCS National Champion. Just because it is not decided how you or others want to see it decided does not mean it's any less of an accomplishment or that it's not a national championship.

 

[Joe]

Let's have a playoff like basketball where every year ESPN is on the tv whining about so and so getting snubbed for so and so, it's the BCS, but people don't mind it because it's coined playoff. I'm not for a playoff and as for every game counts, every game does count because if you lose you lose any control over what you deserve as for a shot at the NC just look at Bama now.

Your point is not unique to the BCS. A team can control their destiny in a playoff system if they win every game. What is unique about what you are saying? In the BCS a team can win every game and not make it into the BCS NC such as happened to Auburn in 2002. So a team can win every game and their conference and not control their own destiny in the BCS. Plus, a team can get into the BCS game by not controlling their destiny which has happened in the past and what could happen this season. What does "every game matters" mean?

 

[LBS]

No NCAA National Championship. A Bowl Championship Series Championship.
QUESTION: Should we think of this as a championship for the season, or something akin to winning a tounament like basketball's NIT? (National Invitational Tournament Champion sounds a lot like Bowl Championship Series National Champion)
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http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4819597
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Updated: July 21, 2011, 1:30 PM ET
BCS selection procedures

Automatic Qualification, At-Large Eligibility and Team Selection
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<!-- end mod-article-title --><!-- begin story body -->Automatic qualification

1. The top two teams in the final BCS Standings shall play in the National Championship Game.

 

[BamaCore]

I believe "every game matters" is just a slogan without meaning. What do you mean by every game matters? How does every game matter?

When you start playing for a 16 team tournament berth then the games lose importance. Would the Bama-LSU really have mattered as much as it did if they were both going to make the tournament anyways? Simple: No.

 

[Joe]

When you start playing for a 16 team tournament berth then the games lose importance. Would the Bama-LSU really have mattered as much as it did if they were both going to make the tournament anyways? Simple: No.

First ,you mention one game not "every" game so you still have not answered my original question. How does every game matter? Even though the game was hyped it could end up being a meaningless game, as far as the BCS goes, if LSU and Alabama play in the NC game. In other words, if there is a rematch the hype was for nothing.

There are many ways one can look at a playoff but I can think of one way in which the LSU-Bama game would be as important and as hyped as it was this season. The hype and importance of the Alabama-LSU game could be as much if only conference champions make the playoffs. Also ,in a playoff system every playoff game will have the kind of atmosphere the LSU-Bama game had and more.

 

[Crimson14Tide]

Here's the thing, there shouldn't be 100+ teams in D1A/FBS/ or whatever they want to call it.

I agree 100%. However, there are & you therefore must take that into account.

 

[TheChief]

Any group with a few letters in front of their name can annoint a national champion. Whoop-dee-doo. Playoff! Playoff! Playoff!

 

[Crimson14Tide]

When you start playing for a 16 team tournament berth then the games lose importance. Would the Bama-LSU really have mattered as much as it did if they were both going to make the tournament anyways? Simple: No.

You have this absolutely 100% backwards. With a 16-team playoff, then EVERY single regular season game is CRUCIAL. Whereas now...not so much.





I believe the problem most people have when they come to the incorrect conclusion that a 16-team playoff somehow makes the regular season meaningless results from the NFL's playoff format which uses pure mathematics to determine seeding. That & the fact that there are a lot of idiots out there who want a 16-team playoff (which is great given the number of conferences & teams in Div. 1) but only want to include only the Top 16 teams in a poll (incredibly backward & "unfair", this isn't the Soviet Union....well, in CFB it kind of IS the Soviet Union....that's what we're trying to fix). The polls will be going nowhere & therefore no coach in America is going to do anymore "resting" of players than what is currently going on.

***Is there anyone who REALLY thinks that CNS ISN'T going to be getting a lot of players some rest this Saturday? Anyone? Put your hands up so we can know who the dumb ones are! And this is going to be happening without a playoff of any kind much less a proper 16-team playoff!***


If CNS EVER decides to rest players for a playoff at the risk of losing seeding & home-field advantage then he should be fired on the spot for severely gross incompetence. CNS would never make such a terrible decision, BTW. Just an example.

The last thing ANY coaching staff is going to do in a proper playoff scenario is rest their players against Auburn or some other asinine anti-playoff psuedo-argument. I can't believe people actually still say this. What coaching staff does things to make winning a MNC, much less a ANC, harder??
But, people are still using the old 'College kids can't play that many games 'cause the kids at 'Bama aren't as tough as those kids at App. St.! Durrrrr...' "argument" so I guess I can't be too surprised.