Written By The Architect
Idaho did it. They scored a two point conversion with about four seconds left to edge out Bowling Green University. The two teams combined for the highest scoring contest in the bowls thirteen year history.Do you know what bowl it was?
Me either… but luckily, it was plastered all over the field, uniforms, and commercials; it was the ‘Roady’s Humanitarian’ Bowl. Can anyone name last year’s winner? I don’t care either. As I sat in my living room with my gorgeous wife (who knows more about football than half of you goons), I felt no excitement. In fact, I didn’t care at all. We were indifferent because there was no reason to cheer; Congratulations, you beat a mediocre (at best) team and won the “I Can’t Remember the Corporation that Paid for this Space” Bowl. Now what?
This holiday season, I have felt an extraordinarily large let down with the bowl games. I’m not trying to say there isn’t good football being played; I’m just noticing the lack of want, need, and direction. During the regular season, every game counts. Schools fight for conference championships and rivalry trophies. But at the end of the season, unless you’re in the National Championship or one of the big four (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta), what are you fighting for? Some might think that I’m just bitter that Michigan didn’t make a bowl (again). Not true at all. In 2005, the Wolverines let us all down and ended up at the Alamo Bowl. I personally didn’t care if they won or lost since we weren’t in the National Championship or the Rose Bowl…apparently neither did the players, and we lost to Nebraska 32 – 28. We beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl in 2008. I’ll be the first to admit that it was fun to watch the two powerhouses face off. But, when Capital One goes bankrupt in six years and can’t afford to be the sponsor of the Capital One Bowl, then what?
Mike Hart: “Hey kids, I beat thee Florida Gators back in 2008 in the Capital One Bowl.”
Hart Child #1: “Ummm, Dad? Who is Capital One?
Hart Child #2: (Snickering) “Yeah, must have been a real important bowl, dad!”
However, there’s something far more disappointing than the pointless games and schizophrenic sponsorships. There’s the fact that we still do not know who truly is the best in the nation at the end of the season, and that key match-ups never had a chance of occurring because conference/bowl relationships. For example: TCU (12 – 0) vs (Boise State (13 – 0) in the Fiesta Bowl. Now don’t get me wrong here…I respect both of these teams and would cheer for them if they were playing a traditional powerhouse (i.e. Oklahoma, Texas, USC, etc.); But quite honestly, I don’t give a crap who wins between the two. You know why? Because A) there is guaranteed to be a higher ranked undefeated team just down the road (winner of Texas vs Alabama), and B) they come from weaker conferences that the general public doesn’t respect at all. What does this game accomplish? Mountain West dominance over WAC (or vice versa)? I’m seriously chuckling out loud… Now, switch the games up (Texas vs TCU / Alabama vs Boise St) and have the winners play in the championship, and I guarantee you games that are four times as exciting and passionate than the ones prior.
In order for that sort of thing to happen, we need to have a playoff system. “How can we fairly pick who gets in and who is snubbed though?” you might ask… The following is my attempt to explain how everyone can get what they want.
Selection
First, we start filling the sixteen (16) team bracket by taking each NCAA D1A conference champion (yes, even you Sun Belt Conference). This ensures that every conference has a chance to prove its worth with its top representative. That adds up to eleven teams. So to get the last five, we go to the BCS Rankings (below). That’s right, the computers are still here and still important; but they will no longer decide the champion. We simply take the top five (5) teams that weren’t conference champions. This ensures that none of the top teams get snubbed because they got upset once during the regular season. This year, the top four teams also won their conference championship. It’s not until we get down to #5 ranked Florida that we have a selected team that did not win its conference championship. No team in the BCS’s top ten this year had more than two losses. So if you want your team to get into the playoffs, win.
Seeding
The order or seeding of the bracket is determined by the BCS rankings. So again, the computers and human polls have some influence, but they are not the alpha and omega. The number one ranked team and number two ranked get the one seeds on their respected side of the bracket. This year, that would put Alabama and Texas up on top. The fourth ranked (Cincinnati) and fifth ranked (TCU) get the two seeds. And the process continues until all the spots are filled up. You might notice that three conference champions were not ranked in the BCS’s last standings (Troy, East Carolina, and Central Michigan). Unranked conference champions will automatically receive the bottom seeds (this year, seeds 16, 15, and 14), to be determined by overall record (and possibly an AP vote if ties occur). “But how could you let unranked teams make it into the playoffs!?” you might yell… Look, the 13th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions made it into the playoffs. If you want your team in too, then win.
Bowls
I understand that there is plenty of tradition behind (some) bowls. I also understand (more importantly) that there is a lot of money behind the bowls. This playoff system does not ignore the big bowls. In fact, it adds to the hype and longevity of the particular bowls. The semi-finals will forever be known as the Rose Bowl (grand-daddy of them all) and the Sugar Bowl (or the Orange Bowl if there’s enough argument for it). That way, when a player tells his grandchildren someday that he won the Rose or Sugar Bowl, they’ll know exactly how monumental it was. It adds place and understanding, which in turn adds value to the event. The quarter-finals will be known as the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and Gator Bowl. The Cotton Bowl and Gator Bowl were selected because they offer the highest non-bcs championship per team pay out (approximately $3 million), and also weren’t named after their sponsor (i.e. Capital One Bowl and Outback Bowl). Again, people will understand the importance and excitement of these bowls because of their constant placement in the elite eight. Cities will still get their tourists because the locations of the bowls will still be the same. If wanted, the first eight games (round one) could also be sponsored by bowls, although I did not illustrate that in my playoff image(s).
Schedule
The games will all occur during the holiday season: December 19 – January 7. One round per week. This lines up exactly with the current games (New Mexico Bowl: December 19 / National Championship: January 7). So to all those administrators who say playoffs will impede on the ‘student-athletes’ finals: The schedule isn’t changing. They have practice regardless throughout the holidays even without playoffs. And, most importantly, you’ll still make your money.
(The playoff bracket’s winners were obviously decided by me, The Architect, and do not reflect the reality of the NCAA. Also, the numbers in parenthesis: i.e. (4) …represent the seed’s current BCS ranking (NR stands for Not Ranked). ‘Per Team Pay-Outs’ are accurate averages of current bowl payouts researched and calculated by yours truly.)First, we start filling the sixteen (16) team bracket by taking each NCAA D1A conference champion (yes, even you Sun Belt Conference). This ensures that every conference has a chance to prove its worth with its top representative. That adds up to eleven teams. So to get the last five, we go to the BCS Rankings (below). That’s right, the computers are still here and still important; but they will no longer decide the champion. We simply take the top five (5) teams that weren’t conference champions. This ensures that none of the top teams get snubbed because they got upset once during the regular season. This year, the top four teams also won their conference championship. It’s not until we get down to #5 ranked Florida that we have a selected team that did not win its conference championship. No team in the BCS’s top ten this year had more than two losses. So if you want your team to get into the playoffs, win.
Seeding
The order or seeding of the bracket is determined by the BCS rankings. So again, the computers and human polls have some influence, but they are not the alpha and omega. The number one ranked team and number two ranked get the one seeds on their respected side of the bracket. This year, that would put Alabama and Texas up on top. The fourth ranked (Cincinnati) and fifth ranked (TCU) get the two seeds. And the process continues until all the spots are filled up. You might notice that three conference champions were not ranked in the BCS’s last standings (Troy, East Carolina, and Central Michigan). Unranked conference champions will automatically receive the bottom seeds (this year, seeds 16, 15, and 14), to be determined by overall record (and possibly an AP vote if ties occur). “But how could you let unranked teams make it into the playoffs!?” you might yell… Look, the 13th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions made it into the playoffs. If you want your team in too, then win.Bowls
I understand that there is plenty of tradition behind (some) bowls. I also understand (more importantly) that there is a lot of money behind the bowls. This playoff system does not ignore the big bowls. In fact, it adds to the hype and longevity of the particular bowls. The semi-finals will forever be known as the Rose Bowl (grand-daddy of them all) and the Sugar Bowl (or the Orange Bowl if there’s enough argument for it). That way, when a player tells his grandchildren someday that he won the Rose or Sugar Bowl, they’ll know exactly how monumental it was. It adds place and understanding, which in turn adds value to the event. The quarter-finals will be known as the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and Gator Bowl. The Cotton Bowl and Gator Bowl were selected because they offer the highest non-bcs championship per team pay out (approximately $3 million), and also weren’t named after their sponsor (i.e. Capital One Bowl and Outback Bowl). Again, people will understand the importance and excitement of these bowls because of their constant placement in the elite eight. Cities will still get their tourists because the locations of the bowls will still be the same. If wanted, the first eight games (round one) could also be sponsored by bowls, although I did not illustrate that in my playoff image(s).
Schedule
The games will all occur during the holiday season: December 19 – January 7. One round per week. This lines up exactly with the current games (New Mexico Bowl: December 19 / National Championship: January 7). So to all those administrators who say playoffs will impede on the ‘student-athletes’ finals: The schedule isn’t changing. They have practice regardless throughout the holidays even without playoffs. And, most importantly, you’ll still make your money.
*Note that all conference and bowl images belong to their respective conference and/or sponsor
Sounding Off: The Bus Driver
GREAT Post Architect and I couldn’t agree more. I really like your structure. It makes perfect sense to have all respected the conference champions to get a chance at winning. It’s very March Madness. I agree with your reasoning and like the bracket.
If I may, let me expand a bit..I know you explained the early rounds can be the crappy bowls which would be the ideal business situation for the current sponsors because it would almost always result in the bowls landing teams that they would NEVER hope to see. For instance, the Alamo bowl might get the BCS at large (in your example FL) to play in their bowl, which they would never get otherwise. It would bring some excitement to the bowl and city which would not normally be there when it’s the traditional big 12 # 4 and Big 10 # 5 matchup. If FL was there maybe people would care a bit more. But you are right. Nobody cares about the bowl now except maybe the players and possibly a quarter of their fans. No one outside the schools cares about who wins. For example: I am from San Antonio and had a chance to go to the Alamo bowl you described above for $10. And you know what? I passed to go eat tex-mex with some friends. Sure I watched the game from the restaurant/bar and the “teams are on the field” ending was awesome. And I distinctly remember having everyone in the restaurant stop and look at me when I was screaming, “GIVE IT TO BRESTON!” on the final play. But when it was over, I didn’t care. I wouldn’t say I was any less of a fan because I didn’t go. I understood that game had no meaning. So instead I took that time to spend it with some old friends. But had that game been in the round of playoffs. You would not have been able to keep me away from the game. Don’t believe me or the Architect? Think about this. At the beginning of his post game sugar bowl interview after thumping Cincinnati 51-24 Urban Myer had this to say:
“I mentioned earlier that one of the negatives of the current BCS system, which I’m not trying to say what right or wrong is, but when you separate the national championship game from the other ones, that it’s like a let-down. It shouldn’t be. This is one of the great bowls of all time. A Great tradition and our players really bought into. I’m so proud of the fact that we actually took time to explain the history of the sugar bowl to our players and they obviously bought in and practiced real hard and they wanted to win this game.”
Hell, apparently, Urban Myer thinks no one cares about the sugar bowl and you know what, he is right. I didn’t watch. Be honest, did you? And if you did, did you truly care who won? I didn’t think so. I tried to find the entire postgame interview with video where he said this, but was unable to find this clip after watching it live. You can read the transcript here on page 3 if you don’t believe me. But think about that statement. I’ll give you few minutes to let that sink in…(twiddling thumbs)…(humming the victors)…ok. Let’s go. A 2-time National champion coach Urban Myer thinks his BCS bowl was a letdown? He and his coaches had to explain the history to his players? When you have to explain the history, then the history is being forgotten. And when the game doesn’t matter towards deciding a champion, people tend to forget. This only strengthens the need for a championship, and the Architect’s structure would restore some prosperity to the once great bowls.
Now we understand that the early bowl rounds would probably be in the crappy bowls, but in the real world, I’m not sure if this situation would work. It creates a monetary problem for the Fans who would have to travel each week to the sight their team is playing. And most people would rather wait till a later round where to attend when the game was more meaningful. I know you are thinking that they already do this with the early rounds in basketball, but in basketball, the venues are smaller to fill. And even with the smaller arenas, they have trouble selling out the building till the later rounds. I’ve been to a few regional march madness events and there are plenty of empty seats. The appeal for me wasn’t so much the teams that were playing as it was the multiple game line-ups for one cheap price. Since this wouldn’t work in football, the opening rounds of the playoffs would have to be home games for the higher seeds, which to be honest, would be “freakin’ sweet.” Could you imagine a Dec. 19 game at the BIG HOUSE with a possible chance of snow? I would have NEVER missed this game as a student.
