Last week during the BCS title game, there were reports that the NCAA President and the heads of all the major conferences were meeting to discuss changes to the BCS system. This is a large change from even 2-3 years when some conference presidents did not even want to discuss the matter.
The best methodology would be a simple "plus one" scenario. The BCS standings would still be used. I still don't understand all of the secrecy behind the formulas used to determine the final numbers, but for the most part the system has been accurate.
Imagine this past year seeing LSU face Stanford in one semi-final (preferably the first Saturday in January) and Alabama playing Oklahoma State on the same day. Nine days later, the two winners would play for the BCS National Title Game on Monday night.
There are four BCS games now (Fiesta, Orange, Rose, and Sugar). The sponsors would alternate taking one of the semi-final games and a non-playoff bowl game. Some of the traditional bowl match-ups would be affected (i.e. Rose pitting Big 10 vs Pac 12, but in years where one of the teams is in the National Title that match-up doesn't happen)
The BCS could decide to add a fifth BCS sponsor so that 10 teams would be include in BCS bowl games, as in years past. Additionally, the teams ranked 5th and 6th would be guaranteed a slot in the BCS Bowl games, regardless of their conference (so Arkansas this year would not be penalized for playing in a conference that featured the #1 and #2 teams in the country)
There would be no automatic bowl qualifiers from BCS Conferences. No one wanted to see Clemson in a BCS game this season. Arkansas or K-State would have been a better choice.
The regular season would not be damaged because only the top 4 teams would be slotted into the playoffs. And it may be just my opinion, but if I were the BCS, I'd much prefer to have controversy over the #4 and #5 seeds than the #2 and #3 in the BCS (i.e. I'd rather there be controversy over the #4 seed than determining the #2 seed)
It makes too much sense not to have a playoff system in college football. Now more than ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment