Why we need a 8 team playoff

[HuskerOC]

Basics of a workable 16 team playoff
Start season 2nd to last Saturday in August, regular season ends 2 Saturdays before Thanksgiving. This gives teams 13 weeks to play 12 games. CCG's played Saturday before T'giving.
Bracket announced Sunday before T'giving. First round, 4 games on "Black Friday" and 4 on Saturday at home site of higher seed. This is only 2 consecutive days where vast majority of people are off work but there is no conflict with NFL. 2nd round would be played the following Saturday again at home sites.

4 teams still standing take a few weeks off, while the smaller bowls play out. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day they would play the Semi-Finals at neutral sites, preferably rotating through the major bowls. The major bowls not involved in the playoff would play out over the next week up to the afternoon of January 1st. The National Championship Game would be played New Year's Night, the last game of the year. Is anybody else here old enough to remember when the CFB season ended on New Years instead of stretching the games until mid-January hoping 10 more people will watch the "Coke Zero with Splenda Bowl" (but I digress).

This is what this year would have looked like:
Saturday August 20th CFB opening day.
Saturday Nov. 19th CCG's
Sunday Nov. 20th Selection Show

First round:
Friday Nov. 25
#16 West Virginia @ #1 Alabama
#9 USC @ #8 Wisconsin

#12 Oklahoma St. @ #5 Penn St.
#13 Louisville @ #4 Washington

Saturday Nov. 26
#14 Auburn @ #3 Ohio State
#11 Florida State @ #6 Oklahoma

#10 Colorado @ #7 Michigan
#15 Western Michigan @ #2 Clemson

I don't know about all of you but I would love to spend "Black Friday" watching WVU go into Tuscaloosa, L'ville travel to UW, what about USC having to go to Wisconsin in late November. You'd finally close your eyes about 2 a.m. after watching the College GameDay Final Playoff edition. But they would pop open early because Saturday looks even better. Auburn going to The Horseshoe, FSU travelling to Oklahoma, Colorado taking on UM in Ann Arbor and of course can Western Michigan really match-up with the big time teams.

Second Round
Saturday Dec. 3rd
#8 Wisconsin @ #1 Alabama
#5 Penn St. @ #4 Washington

#6 Oklahoma @ #3 TOSU
#7 UM @ #2 Clemson

This of course is based on seeds holding which they surely wouldn't but for discussion it's easier. The home sites removes a lot of arguments. For example some argued that with an extended playoff TOSU and/or UM might not have played their starters or given 100%. When the difference between winning and losing is that you either host OU or travel to Clemson, does anyone really think that is a problem?

Gayer than Fuck.

 

[WizardHawk]

Adding more is the same thing as giving participation trophies. We already have WAY too many bowls. Used to be a hell of a privilege to get into any bowl game and going above .500 wasn't enough. Now you can surf through 3-4 crap teams, win a couple of games in your conference, and go to a bowl. That's horse shit.

We don't need 2, 3, and 4 loss teams now also going into a playoff system. It's just stupid.

All of this because Penn State got left out? A two loss team with one of them being by 39 points and people have come unhinged.

Win.

Just win your games. Beat the teams on your schedule. And if you are really a good team you will win all or maybe have one slip up that's less problematic than others who have a slip up and you get to go to the playoffs.

It's not broken in any way. Winning is hard and should be rewarded. Losing doesn't deserve chances at hoisting the trophy.

Auto bids is literally the worst idea ever put forward. Lose every OOC game now. Doesn't matter. They are exhibition games from now on because they won't matter in your division races. In a bad/down division? GREAT you have a massively easy road to the playoffs where solid/stacked divisions will eat each other up and be much tougher. Reward mediocrity and promote apathy about losses as long as your division foes lose more.

It's insanity to think this makes for a better game.

 

[LSUperDave#1]

Gayer than Fuck.

Gayer than Fuck.

I can't imagine how I could possibly change the mind of someone with such a well thought and in-depth analysis. I guess my only question is what everyone is probably wondering....Does your Mommy know you're up so late on a school night?

 

[HuskerOC]

I can't imagine how I could possibly change the mind of someone with such a well thought and in-depth analysis. I guess my only question is what everyone is probably wondering....Does your Mommy know you're up so late on a school night?

You are gayer than fuck.

Change my mind Caitlyn.

 

[LSUperDave#1]

Adding more is the same thing as giving participation trophies. We already have WAY too many bowls. Used to be a hell of a privilege to get into any bowl game and going above .500 wasn't enough. Now you can surf through 3-4 crap teams, win a couple of games in your conference, and go to a bowl. That's horse shit.

We don't need 2, 3, and 4 loss teams now also going into a playoff system. It's just stupid.

All of this because Penn State got left out? A two loss team with one of them being by 39 points and people have come unhinged.

Win.

Just win your games. Beat the teams on your schedule. And if you are really a good team you will win all or maybe have one slip up that's less problematic than others who have a slip up and you get to go to the playoffs.

It's not broken in any way. Winning is hard and should be rewarded. Losing doesn't deserve chances at hoisting the trophy.

Auto bids is literally the worst idea ever put forward. Lose every OOC game now. Doesn't matter. They are exhibition games from now on because they won't matter in your division races. In a bad/down division? GREAT you have a massively easy road to the playoffs where solid/stacked divisions will eat each other up and be much tougher. Reward mediocrity and promote apathy about losses as long as your division foes lose more.

It's insanity to think this makes for a better game.

1. Adding more is not the same as giving participation trophies, giving participation trophies is the same as giving participation trophies. Adding more teams if it's appropriate is the common sense action that is done in virtually every sport from the high school level to the professional ranks with the exception of FBS CFB.

2. There are too many bowl games and it's too easy to qualify...absolutely. Jimmy John's makes decent sandwich for a reasonable price and the new 3 wheel motorcycles with 2 wheels in front look fun to ride. All topics equally as relevant to the need for an expanded playoff.

3. I find it truly bizarre that someone who claims to be a true CFB fan would judge teams solely by their record with no regard for things like SOS, key injuries, location, etc...and simply arbitrarily make the cut-off at one loss. Then again your team has one loss doesn't it.

----- I'm curious what would you do with College basketball and baseball, pro basketball and baseball, football at all other levels. What would be the cut-off to make the playoffs for NFL teams and what would you do if you couldn't fill a playoff bracket with the teams that meet your criteria? For that matter what would you do with the 4-team playoff if there were only 3 or 2 one loss teams?

4. I agree auto-bids are a bad idea, if a reasonably impartial Selection Committee doesn't consider you one of the top 16 teams in the country you shouldn't get in. But it's ridiculous that you talk about teams playing weak schedules and having easy roads to CCG's and the playoffs when your team played one ranked opponent in the regular season and they hand you your butt. The sum of your games against quality opposition is you lost to #9 and beat #10. PSU beat #2 and #8 and lost to #6

5. No, all this is not because PSU got left out, I came up with this system in 03 back with the OU/USC/LSU fiasco. And no it's not "stupid" it's simply a different opinion than yours.

A playoff is not a coronation ceremony for the team that had the best regular season, it's an opportunity for the teams that earned it to play for a championship, not the "regular season" championship but the National Championship. Was Villanova the best CBB team in the country before the tournament, no but they are the National Champions. This is the way it works in virtually every sport, if you don't like that then you should argue to go back to using the polls and we could just name Alabama champs now because even with only 4 teams the team you think should is not always going to win.

 

[LSUperDave#1]

You are gayer than fuck.

Change my mind Caitlyn.

Even if I were interested I don't think it's legal to have those kind of discussions with minors, even in Nebraska.

 

[HuskerOC]

Is that the best you got?

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

I agree with 8 teams. It would actually make college football more exciting. You would give all the major conferences and a great Group of Five conference champion the opportunity to win a National Championship, and give 2 or 3 wildcards the opportunity as well.

The common complaints about this are non-sense.

They argue it will bring back "participation trophies" or "water down the regular season", but in reality, 8/128 only 6% of the college football population. Somehow 6% equals 100%. If you look at the college football rankings history, you will rarely see a team with more than 2 losses making it into the top 8. The last time it happened was 2003's Kansas State team. In fact, college football has already "watered down" the regular season by allowing in 5-7 and 6-6 teams to go bowling and puts into teams into their final four which failed to win their conference championship or even qualify.

The second argument I here is "2 loss teams don't deserve it." Being that much loss-sensitive is a major problem. It disconnects quality of competition, particularly when it comes to OOC. Every conference and every team doesn't play the same opponents, and no team ahead of time knows how good or bad their schedule will be. I think it makes sense to give some wiggle room. I think 0-3 losses in the 10-13 win range makes the best sense. In other words, the 75% to 100% land.

The beauty of an 8-team playoff is that it gives the higher seeds homefield advantage. Teams not only jock for those 8 spots, but fight to play at their own campus sites.

 

[WNY_FOOTBALL_DUDE]

1. Adding more is not the same as giving participation trophies, giving participation trophies is the same as giving participation trophies. Adding more teams if it's appropriate is the common sense action that is done in virtually every sport from the high school level to the professional ranks with the exception of FBS CFB.

4. I agree auto-bids are a bad idea, if a reasonably impartial Selection Committee doesn't consider you one of the top 16 teams in the country you shouldn't get in. But it's ridiculous that you talk about teams playing weak schedules and having easy roads to CCG's and the playoffs when your team played one ranked opponent in the regular season and they hand you your butt. The sum of your games against quality opposition is you lost to #9 and beat #10. PSU beat #2 and #8 and lost to #6

Great post Dave.

I would add that 6% of the college football population is not the same as 100%. The notion that we're "watering down" the season by adding more teams is bogus. You still need to win at least 75% of your games to get into post season. You still need to play a strong schedule. All what we're talking about here is adding a little more wiggle room and giving more conferences the opportunity to win. That's not a bad thing at all.

I have never been a supporter of giving all the power conference winners an automatic bid. Wisconsin won its conference at 8-5. UConn won the Big East at 8-4 in 2010.

 

[WizardHawk]

1. Adding more is not the same as giving participation trophies, giving participation trophies is the same as giving participation trophies. Adding more teams if it's appropriate is the common sense action that is done in virtually every sport from the high school level to the professional ranks with the exception of FBS CFB.

2. There are too many bowl games and it's too easy to qualify...absolutely. Jimmy John's makes decent sandwich for a reasonable price and the new 3 wheel motorcycles with 2 wheels in front look fun to ride. All topics equally as relevant to the need for an expanded playoff.

3. I find it truly bizarre that someone who claims to be a true CFB fan would judge teams solely by their record with no regard for things like SOS, key injuries, location, etc...and simply arbitrarily make the cut-off at one loss. Then again your team has one loss doesn't it.

----- I'm curious what would you do with College basketball and baseball, pro basketball and baseball, football at all other levels. What would be the cut-off to make the playoffs for NFL teams and what would you do if you couldn't fill a playoff bracket with the teams that meet your criteria? For that matter what would you do with the 4-team playoff if there were only 3 or 2 one loss teams?

4. I agree auto-bids are a bad idea, if a reasonably impartial Selection Committee doesn't consider you one of the top 16 teams in the country you shouldn't get in. But it's ridiculous that you talk about teams playing weak schedules and having easy roads to CCG's and the playoffs when your team played one ranked opponent in the regular season and they hand you your butt. The sum of your games against quality opposition is you lost to #9 and beat #10. PSU beat #2 and #8 and lost to #6

5. No, all this is not because PSU got left out, I came up with this system in 03 back with the OU/USC/LSU fiasco. And no it's not "stupid" it's simply a different opinion than yours.

A playoff is not a coronation ceremony for the team that had the best regular season, it's an opportunity for the teams that earned it to play for a championship, not the "regular season" championship but the National Championship. Was Villanova the best CBB team in the country before the tournament, no but they are the National Champions. This is the way it works in virtually every sport, if you don't like that then you should argue to go back to using the polls and we could just name Alabama champs now because even with only 4 teams the team you think should is not always going to win.

1. The fact that FBS football doesn't do it the same as everyone else adds to what is special about this level of football. So I couldn't disagree with you more. The regular season at this level IS the playoffs. Why some of you don't get that is beyond me, but EVERY GAME COUNTS as it stands now. Adding more teams to the 'playoffs' reduces that. That is pure fact.
2. We need a reduction of the bowls AND no more playoffs. One does not fix the other.
3. Where did anyone say judge teams based JUST on win/loss? I said losing should have dire consequences. That's not the same thing in any way. Nice strawman argument. An expanded playoff with autobid (as most seem to be in favor of) would entirely ignore quality of win AND not care about losses. Our current system looks at BOTH. Losses should be damning. Even close ones to great teams.
There is ZERO in my philosophies that have anything to do with any results this year, so another really bad argument trying to claim my views have anything to do with how my team finished this year. I said all the way up to that selection that they have no one but themselves to blame if they are left out because they lost a game. Period. Firmly said that 100 times on this very site. I stand by principle regardless of impact to my own team.
Why would I change any other sport because of the uniqueness of this one? That would be really stupid to even suggest. None of the other sports you mention have only 12 games, and as few as 8 of them that really count. How to deal with crowning a champ in such a short season is entirely unique to this level of football. Nothing else compares in any way.
4. How is it rediculous to point out that an auto bid system would in fact reduce parity by a large amount based off anything that happened this year in an entirely different system? You seem to love to offer up a lot of strawman arguments. Curious why you feel that need. Is it that your real arguments don't have much merit? Why not debate the actual facts, not made up ones.
Again, I've said over and over I wouldn't blame anyone but UW for not getting into the playoffs for losing that game. I have NEVER made any claims they belonged and never covered up for their weak OOC schedule. So keep on bringing that up as though it's a zinger or somehow nullifies the blatant FACT that expanding the playoffs would kill football as I know it. It won't work.
5. YOU might not be banging this drum over PSU, but look at how many threads and how much noise there currently is over the 4 team playoff. It very much is 100% because PSU got left out. Nice that you think everything is about you, but I was clearly speaking in broader terms.
And once again, the regular season in college football is part of the playoff process. I get that many don't understand that, but every game is so critical that it feels like a playoff to both the teams and fans. Losing nearly always eliminates you so that is clearly as close to a playoff situation as you can get without calling it that.


The current system gives us plenty of great football games with everything on the line week in and week out for 14 weeks. There are tweaks that need to happen like finding ways to reduce the number of FCS teams everyone plays, but it isn't broken. We had great playoff football last weekend with all those CCG's. And yet all some of you can talk about is the post season playoffs as though they are all the game is about. I want football in August to be as critical as football in January. The more you add to the playoffs the less that holds true and that's 100% pure fact. Every loss you allow teams to have reduces the importance of every single game. Fact. And no matter how many you add people will STILL cry over who got left out. It doesn't eliminate that, it just shifts it farther and farther down.

A playoff doesn't fix a single problem and kills regular season football. It's poison IMO.

 

[osubuckeye89]

4 becomes 8 which becomes 12 which becomes 16 which becomes 20 which becomes 24......thats what happened with the FCS

on MOST given years there are not 8 teams worthy of the national title, let alone 12 16 or 24.

Going to 8 or 16 waters down the regular season.

Why schedule good OOC games when you can just play 3 bad teams since you dont have to have a resume if you only have 1 or 2 losses you are probably in.

 

[WizardHawk]

4 becomes 8 which becomes 12 which becomes 16 which becomes 20 which becomes 24......thats what happened with the FCS

on MOST given years there are not 8 teams worthy of the national title, let alone 12 16 or 24.

Going to 8 or 16 waters down the regular season.

Why schedule good OOC games when you can just play 3 bad teams since you dont have to have a resume if you only have 1 or 2 losses you are probably in.

Yep, 4 just feels perfect. Two had a few problems that I didn't have that major of an issue with, but there really is no gripe about crowning a champ with two full playoff games to prove they were worthy.

 

[osubuckeye89]

Yep, 4 just feels perfect. Two had a few problems that I didn't have that major of an issue with, but there really is no gripe about crowning a champ with two full playoff games to prove they were worthy.

There's always going to be at least one team that is crying that they "should be in" no matter how many teams it is.

 

[PIBuckeye]

because we want real champs not paper titles based on popularity of a team.

popularity has nothing to do with it now as it is.......

 

[uncfan103]

The reason we need a 8 team playoff is so that teams can earn their spot on the field. This way we don't have to go through any "resume" bs. I don't know any other sport where a committee determines who makes the playoff. CBB doesn't count cause they let in 68 teams and champions get an automatic berth.

P5 conference champions
Highest ranked G5 conference champion
2 wildcards

If anyone complains about not being a wildcard, tough shit, you didn't win your conference. The best team doesn't always win the championship but they win the championship on field.

Don't get me started on the bold. Over half of CBB play OOC games that have no bearing on their season. Wins, losses and ties are all the same and they're all better than an injury. Then, they play in conference games that only matter in reference to in conference seeding for a tournament. For half of college teams they have to win every game of their conference tournament and every game of the NCAA tournament. Their seasons don't start til march.

Also, we would need a better way of determining conference champions in football.