College Football: Tournaments and Playoffs in Division 1-A

[JohnBM01]

This isn't a news thread on it, but imagine if NCAA Basketball's playoffs were infused with the magic of college football. Kind of think about it like this- imagine competing in an exhibition tournament like college basketball's Maui Invitational, or even the Great Alaskan Shootout. I would think that this would provide a big bonus to us college football fans. We can see a season start early and see teams invited or voted to compete. For example, imagine that eight teams competed at Indianapolis' RCA Dome. Let's say the eight teams were Virginia Tech, Miami (FL), California, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Florida, Syracuse, and Michigan. The teams would be seeded based on their performance and win/loss record from the past season. The winner would receive a nice little trophy and maybe some extra money for the colleges and universities they represent. I will not discuss POST-season activities here, instead, expect a future post when some replies get going.

People say a playoff system wouldn't be quite fitting for Division 1-A football (even considering its brotheren of Div. 1-AA down to Div. 3 have them). Some say that in addition to a BCS system, there should be a playoff system to determine which seed will be highest in a playoff-type system. Then too, how do you determine who plays for the National Title? Do you take the best performers in the Bowl Games and have them all match up one last time for all the glory? How many teams should be allowed in? How would you determine wild cards? Would it overtake the NCAA Basketball tournament in popularity and excitement? How do you determine regions?

GTPlanet, offer your ideas as to whether or not you'd want such a playoff system. If you would approve of it, how would you map out who gets to play for the national title? Keep the Bowl Games and BCS intact, and map out what would be the best course of action to make it happen. No more, now reply!

 

[FoolKiller]

The problem with a playoff system in football is that the season would have to start in June or not end until March. As much as I love watching football in the snow I am sure the NCAA would prefer to avoid that as much as possible.

To top that off the increase of injuries by the championship game would make the finals almost laughable due to the lack of talent. This is why there isn't a playoff tournament in college football. With 100+ teams how many start the tournament? It works in basketball because beating each other up isn't part of the game. Perhaps all bowl teams start the tournament and the NCAA seeds them after the bowls? It is a logistical nightmare and many players would risk injuries that could prevent a pro career. The NFL would also complain about the NCAA tournament going beyond their own and stealing the spotlight. America watches the Super Bowl to see the best (supposedly) and last game of the year. A college tournament would go beyond the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl would be a tiny afterthought.

I would love to see it but I don'tknow how it would work. Too many teams and too many risks for players.

By the way, a note on regional differences: You are in Texas and I am in Kentucky. Here in The Bluegrass the magic is in basketball. I love football, but if the Wildcats are playing at Rupp Arena the rest of the world could blow up and I wouldn't notice.

 

[JohnBM01]

You know, I've been doing a little thinking. I still like the idea of Bowl Games, but I've been thinking of the possibilities of maybe a 32-team tournament system. Dig this:

My tournament ideas:
* 33 teams will enter (why 33 and not 32? I will explain later.)
* Top 25 teams get automatic entry
* Polls and/or NCAA chooses the remaining 8 teams
* Regions set up by placement of Bowl Games. North, East, West, and South alignments.

UNCERTAINTIES:
* conference champions - the only problem with this system as I think conference champions should be able to play in the post season for a much bigger prize- the National Championship)

Assuming that no one plays after December 3rd (to use this year as an example), next week will be the Heisman selections, some All-Americans can be chosen the week after, and in the course of 3-5 weeks after, we may see a National Champion during the week of Jan. 8 - Jan. 14. It's obvious the Top 25 will make the show automatically. The problem would be determining the best eight schools. The simplest approach would be to see who are ranked from places 26-31. But I want to change that bad boy up. To me, picking the seven best unranked teams will be easy, but I would reserve spots #32 and #33 to give two Middle of the Road teams one last chance to play for something big even if their seasons were less than stellar.

How do you like my idea for an NCAA Tournament in Division 1-A college football? What would you correct or suggest? Let me see the replies, GTP.