Playoff system that might work and a plus one idea

The great topic in college football is BCS v. playoff. The BCS is flawed but a minority of college football fans appreciate the drama it creates during the regular season. The type of drama and impact that simply does not exist in any other sport's regular season. One game can mean everything with respect to a title contender in college football. Ask Pete Carroll. If USC beats Oregon State in late September, they are currently at least one of the top two teams in the country. Instead, because of that loss, they are on the outside looking in. Their title hopes essentially rest with Missouri knocking off the Big 12 South representative in Kansas City. Because of the system, USC fans will be glued to a TV or at least their mobile phone for scoring updates. Does that happen with a playoff system in place? Nope.

I have seen a lot of playoff ideas. Most are incredibly naive because they do not account for the dynamics of college football. College football is not the NFL - even though plenty of so-called fans seem to think it could be - thank God its not. I like football but the NFL regular season is a yawner. Individual games don't matter that much. The games matter only in aggregate and only to reach a certain benchmark to qualify for the "second season" - the post season. Fans complain about .500 teams making pre-Christmas bowl games. What about when .500 teams make the NFL playoffs and can compete with a 14 win team? If you like the "reset" of the season, fine, just don't tell me the regular season matters that much.

What defines the best team? Over what time period? The Giants were Super Bowl champs because they were the best in January - a fraction of the overall season. They couldn't beat the Cowboys in the regular season (home or away) or New England at home. They didn't win their division and yet they are the Super Bowl champs. Were the Giants truly the best team in the NFL? Not for me.

Let's say you vote with President Elect Obama and want a playoff. Here is one that might actually have a chance to work when you consider the dynamics of college football in that it is a collection of self-governing entities.

First, the system would be run by the BCS. The power conferences and their schools want no part of turning over the keys to the post-season money to the NCAA.

8 team playoff that begins with the BCS bowls:
Rose - Big Ten vs. Pac-10
Fiesta - Big 12 vs. TBD
Sugar - SEC vs. TBD
Orange - ACC vs. Big East

8 spots - 6 BCS conference champions, 1 spot for the highest ranked non-BCS conference champ and a wildcard (Notre Dame factor should they get smart and let go of Weis and become competitive again). However, the teams must be ranked in the final 14 of the BCS rankings or a spot opens up.

Why does the Rose get their matchup even if it might be No. 1 USC vs. No. 2 Ohio State in a given year? Because, the Rose Bowl has been a thorn in the side of a playoff or plus one because they want to keep tradition. If you give them their traditional matchup every year (given they rank in the top 14), then the Rose would champion such a playoff system. If not, they won't play ball and as long as the Pac-10 and Big Ten are willing to side with them and boycott a new format, no system is truly legitimate without consensus of the major conferences. Like it or not, do the homework of previous articles/discussions on the subject and you will find the Rose has a tremendous amount of leverage.

Why not just top 8 in the BCS? Because of what happened last year where the top 8 consisted of 3 Big 12 teams and no Big East champ (West Virginia) and no Hawaii. If the money comes from the BCS appearances, the conferences won't sign off on a system that could see two dominant conferences (SEC and Big 12) take almost all of the post-season money in a given year.

Play the BCS games January 1st/2nd and then the highest ranked winners host a semi-final round? Why? Logistics. It is economically unrealistic for even a large fan base to take the time and money to travel to three straight neutral site games in a row, particularly on the heels of the holiday season. The home semis helps keep the initial fan focus on the BCS games and creates major incentive for teams to stay as high in the rankings as possible. The title game is played at a neutral site on a Sat night in mid January.