Okay, okay. I know that this was supposed to come on Sunday, but I got lazy. It’s not like anyone is reading this anyway. So, to all of my fans out there…I apologize.
Really though, it’s a good thing I waited until today. Things have really cleared up regarding conference expansion. It turns out that only Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12. So now we have ten teams in the Big 12 and twelve teams in the Big 10. The most recent big news in the college football world (because really, this is all about football and every other collegiate sport is just left in the wake. This includes basketball which almost left Kansas with no choice but to join the Mountain West Conference). Utah’s move to the Pac-10 now makes twelve. I don’t think there is any better indication of the absurdity of college football then this. It is not what it purports to be. I think the Utah move to the Pac-10 is very interesting. I have been a huge supporter of the so-called “mid-majors” for as long as I can remember. I’m just like everyone else in that I HATE the BCS. I do understand that it is better than the old strictly conference tie-in format, but if you are going to make the effort to drastically change the bowl tradition and postseason format, why not find a way to come up with a real champion…especially after butchering the championship matchup year after year? This is where Utah comes in. They have played in two BCS bowls since rules were changed to allow for non AQ teams to have a chance to get in. They have also won twice, including beating an Alabama team that was ranked #1 for much of the season and was one game away from playing for the national championship. And I don’t want to hear the “they didn’t want to be there, so they didn’t prepare” argument. Utah will have a chance starting in 2011 to really obliterate the arguments that the little guys can’t hang with the big boys. College football is a lot more even than most people think and Utah can really put what should be the last nail in BCS coffin. (Well not really, because it’s all about the power, but we can still argue about what should happen because that’s what fans do.)
With that said, let’s move on to what the fans want…a playoff. I’ve seen lots of different formats for a playoff. There is one that stands out above the rest. I really think they nailed it. I’m not sure who the initial inventor was, but it was published by the ESPN college football writers. Basically the idea breaks down like this. Get rid of all conferences. Forget about them. There will be four new conferences/divisions. We can call them conferences just for tradition’s sake. Each of these four conferences will have ten teams and will play a true round robin conference schedule a la the old Pac-10. The four winners of these conferences will play in a four team playoff for the national championship. This does not dilute any of the regular season that playoff opponents love to talk about.
Now, I know what you are thinking. “You’re just cutting the pie into fewer pieces and making the rich richer.” I know, just wait. There will still be 80 teams left and will be organized into eight additional ten-team conferences. These can easily be organized into an eight-team playoff of conference champions. The next part is the best and most fascinating part of the whole idea. The last placed team in each of the top four conferences will be relegated premier league soccer style to the bottom eight conferences, and the final four teams of the lower conference playoff will get bumped up to the one of the four higher conferences. Every team has a shot. Year-to-year consistence will be rewarded. I can’t think of a better idea. We can keep the current bowls and bowl locations. You know, for tradition’s sake. But maybe put them in control of the NCAA and open up a bidding war for new sponsors. Listen, if you have any influence at all send pitch this idea. We can make this happen.
Here is a link that should give a good idea of what they proposed. Check the side links to see the different conferences.
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