Playoff system starting to gain support?

[JWE37]

I did want a playoff system, but now Ive come over to the darkside and actually prefer the BCS or even pre-BCS days. A playoff would kill the the regular season (see NCAA basketball) a 2-3 week long playoff would be more exciting than the current bowl system, but total interest/excitement would be less than the 4 month long drama that is the regular season. Even in the NFL, does anyone really care that the Cleveland Browns destroyed the NY Giants, one of the best teams, on MNF, no but everyone certainly cares that USC lost to Oregan State. And another item that I never see mentioned is that all the non-conference rivalries, especially those played at the end of the season like ours, would lose virtually all their luster, basically after the first time we lose to UGA but still make the playoffs , that generation of fans on will keep caring less and less about that game until after enough meaningless games the game may even get taken off the schedule all together.

I am PRO-8 Team Playoff System. The reason is how can you say a 1 loss Oklahoma team is better than a 1 loss Texas team. You cant! Why does Florida get to play for the MNC and not USC (they both only had 1 bad half). The only fair way is to play it out on the field. I understand your point about the regular season losing its luster, but the NFL is not a good example to compare to. The NFL has 16 games and there have been 7-9 teams make the playoffs. NCAA only has 10-12 games and no 6-6 team is going to make the NCAA playoff. Also, in the NFL a powerhouse team can lose their last 2 games and keep homefield advantage. If you lose your last game in college, you would almost definately lose your playoff spot unless you are in the top 3. In fact, I think the regular season would be more interesting because more teams actually have a realistic shot at making it to the playoff. The only thing that would suffer are the bowl traditionalists, but they are so outnumbered by people who want to see a true champion.

P.S. If GT had beat UNC and UVa and were 12-1 and #6 in the BCS you would sing a different tune. GT will never be able to play for a MNC with 1 loss, unless all Big12, SEC, Big10 teams have at least 2 losses. It sucks but thats the bottom line. WE NEED A PLAYOFF!

 

[Allen Koholic]

Maybe we can get someone to lobby for taking away Colorado's half of the 1990 title, since it's a sham anyways. I mean, if the government is sticking their nose into places it doesn't belong, why not. Maybe we can get a Senate sub-committee to investigate the tuck rule for the NFL, since that was a travesty as well. Give me a break.

 

[Yellow Fever]

There has only been a D-I national champ recognized by the NCAA since the 70's

App State has won the last three.

I hope this crowd knows enough about the league to know the diff between D-I and D-II, I swear it drives me nuts.

 

[G776T]

P.S. If GT had beat UNC and UVa and were 12-1 and #6 in the BCS you would sing a different tune. GT will never be able to play for a MNC with 1 loss, unless all Big12, SEC, Big10 teams have at least 2 losses. It sucks but thats the bottom line. WE NEED A PLAYOFF!

i completely agree with you that if you really wanted to crown someone a champion on the field that a playoff is the best, and I made a post earlier referring to your point, that if GT were ever in the same situation going to play in the MNC we would have to leave no doubt so basically go undefeated. I went to the final four in san antonio couple years ago and that OK ST game was the single greatest sporting spectacle Ive had the luxury to be a part of. But Im talking about the totality of excitement/interest not in just one playoff event, an entire drama-filled season is better to me than a playoff, but that may be because every other sport does the playoff thing and a regular season where every game means something is unique. And It would certainly be possible for say a 7-5 Big East team to make most playoff systems.

Also to your point about losing your last game and losing your playoff spot, that simply would not be true. In an 8 team playoff you would almost certainly take the 6 BCS conference chamionships, so if you were already in your conference's championship game then your final game against an out of conference rival would be rendered meaningless, and even in a rivalry as fierce as ours that game would almost become moot in a playoff system if we(or uga) had already clinched a spot in the conference title game, the coaching staff would undoubtably be looking ahead to that game.

 

[PJisthenewCJ]

Also to your point about losing your last game and losing your playoff spot, that simply would not be true. In an 8 team playoff you would almost certainly take the 6 BCS conference chamionships, so if you were already in your conference's championship game then your final game against an out of conference rival would be rendered meaningless, and even in a rivalry as fierce as ours that game would almost become moot in a playoff system if we(or uga) had already clinched a spot in the conference title game, the coaching staff would undoubtably be looking ahead to that game.

This is the post that is incorrect. As it stands right now, this game doesn't affect whether we get into our conference championship game. It affects which bowl we go to, but not as much as it would affect our playoff seeding. The UGA game would do exactly the opposite of what you are saying. Let's look at two scenarios:

1) We have the ACC Championship locked up. We are 11-0 coming into the UGA game with a #1 seed guaranteed. In this case, the UGA game is the difference between a relatively easy path to the semifinals or a tough first round matchup in the playoffs. I don't think people will let that rivalry game go. I know I wouldn't.

2) We barely miss the ACCCG and are sitting at 8-3 and #9 in the BCS. A win over UGA sends us into the top 8 and into the playoffs, but a loss ends our season. What would make you think that this game is any less important?

I just don't see there being any situation where the UGA game is not huge for us, playoff or not.

 

[LongforDodd]

Until those of us that want a playoff successfully boycott the bowl games, nothing will change. You all know the saying - Money Talks. Let's not spend the money on the bowls. Not your money to buy tickets. Don't watch on TV and let the advertisers know it. We here at GT love to make things happen. Let's get a 2009 Bowl Boycott underway. Let's take the lead!!

What do ya' say???

 

[JWE37]

Until those of us that want a playoff successfully boycott the bowl games, nothing will change. You all know the saying - Money Talks. Let's not spend the money on the bowls. Not your money to buy tickets. Don't watch on TV and let the advertisers know it. We here at GT love to make things happen. Let's get a 2009 Bowl Boycott underway. Let's take the lead!!

What do ya' say???

HMMMNNN.....Boycott the single sport I love most to make it better. That's a tough one? There's gotta be another way.

 

[77GTFan]

I still believe there is a way to get to a playoff and keep the bowls. Here is what I would do:
1. Start season one week earlier - almost everyone is on semester system now and classes start mid-August.
2. Have a twelve team playoff. The six "automatic" BCS conference champions retain their automatic status. The top four, based on BCS rankings, get byes. The next two join six at large teams, the six with the highest BCS rankings. Those eight are seeded and seeds 5-8 get home games. This would mean conference championship games would have been Thanksgiving Saturday (off day on Friday good for travel). The first round of the playoffs would be first weekend in December. Losers in Round 1 would be eligible for bowl invitations.
3. Bowls would take place as usual over holidays. They would be irrelevant to the playoff, but they are already, except for the championship game? This plan makes more games relevant.
4. National quarterfinals would be New Year's Day, or at least three games that day and maybe one a night later. Rose, Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar remain the sites. Send the top four ranked seeds to a logical site. Ex. - this year, Oklahoma to Phoenix, USC to Pasadena, Florida to Miami or New Orleans, Penn State to Miami or New Orleans.
5. One week later play two national semi-final games at domed stadiums. This will be the same time as NFL playoffs. But, NFL could play its four games in the late afternoon and prime time spots Saturday and Sunday. College could play Saturday early, Monday night, even Tuesday night.
6. Two weeks later, in the week the NFL takes off, play national championship at a rotation between Rose, Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar.

This really extends the season into second semester only for 4 teams. Only two teams spend most of January practicing and getting ready. (They would be in pre-season conditioning anyway).

This makes $$$$. No one loses a regular season game. Conference championship games remain. 12 teams have a shot at the title. The top four are rewarded with their bye. Bowls as rewards remain.

The longest potential season would be for a team like Va Tech - 12 games, conference championship, and four games in playoff, for a total of 17. But, no one seems concerned that Appalachian State played 16 games three seasons in a row from '05 through '07.

Why won't this work?

 

[G776T]

1) We have the ACC Championship locked up. We are 11-0 coming into the UGA game with a #1 seed guaranteed. In this case, the UGA game is the difference between a relatively easy path to the semifinals or a tough first round matchup in the playoffs. I don't think people will let that rivalry game go. I know I wouldn't.

2) We barely miss the ACCCG and are sitting at 8-3 and #9 in the BCS. A win over UGA sends us into the top 8 and into the playoffs, but a loss ends our season. What would make you think that this game is any less important?

Your first scenario has some merit however even in that scenario if we beat uga but lost the ACCCG at 12-1 we still might not make the playoffs(assuming 8 team then only 2 at large bids and 1 of those may be given to some non-bcs school, this year we would obviously be left out for UA and UT) trust me in that scenario the coaches and the players would be looking ahead, hell Chan was looking ahead and he had no shot at any national title(PJ is different I know and thats what I love about him he knows what that game means). In the NFL and MLB It doesnt matter what teams they are playing at the end of the season they sit their stars to rest them for the playoffs which is essentially what the ACCCG would become the first round of the playoffs

Your second scenario would be few and far between we would have to be 10-1 and that one loss be to another coastal team who also only had one loss, ofcourse in this scenario the game would mean something. It would be important for us every year we are not in the ACCCG, but then lets say uga is in the SECCG and we arent in ours, and uga sits a couple guys to prepare for the SECCG what would that game mean then?.

All you have to do is look at the other sports that need to keep increasing their playoffs to give more teams more/longer interest in the regular season. The NCAA tourney had to keep increasing their teams up to 64 and now .500 teams get in. The NBA and NHL have half their teams make the playoffs and .500 teams get in, and the wild card in the NFL has regularly been a 8-8 or 9-7 teams(although not recently).

 

[G776T]

I would like to see the NCAA turn D1-a into a 72 team division round off all conferences to 12 teams (organize conferences to keep long-standing rivalries) 11 game round robin reg season top 2 teams from each conference gets in....can let some sort of BCS formula determine seeds and no home field advantage.

I would also institute a form of promotion/relegation like they do in the English soccer league, so that teams like Duke, Vandy, Northwestern who arent competitive will go to 1-aa. I know this scenario is impossible just throwing it out there

 

[gtfan088]

Well, let's be honest. The way government works now is to withhold federal funds from any state or entity that doesn't comply with federal wishes. We are very close to socialism, NOT because the masses want that, but because political correctness advocates have figured out how to manipulate federal funds however they want.

Although the federal government has zero ability to force a playoff, they do have plenty of ability to withhold federal research/funding at the University of Texas, for example. UT's president will certainly vote for a playoff one day due to the real federal governments' way of doing business.

The fact that in this difficult period that we are living in, that the president elect (or this congressman) is wasting his time even giving his opinion on the matter, suggests that he will be a very active "federal funding" president. That is, after he gets his guy in for his Senate seat in Illinois first.

I'm pretty sure that both presidential candidates were asked on ESPN what specific thing they would change in sports if they could and that's when Obama gave his opinion that there should be a playoff. It's not like that was his primary focus...it was on ESPN though so of course it's going to be about sports.

 

[gtfan088]

I did want a playoff system, but now Ive come over to the darkside and actually prefer the BCS or even pre-BCS days. A playoff would kill the the regular season (see NCAA basketball) a 2-3 week long playoff would be more exciting than the current bowl system, but total interest/excitement would be less than the 4 month long drama that is the regular season. Even in the NFL, does anyone really care that the Cleveland Browns destroyed the NY Giants, one of the best teams, on MNF, no but everyone certainly cares that USC lost to Oregan State. And another item that I never see mentioned is that all the non-conference rivalries, especially those played at the end of the season like ours, would lose virtually all their luster, basically after the first time we lose to UGA but still make the playoffs , that generation of fans on will keep caring less and less about that game until after enough meaningless games the game may even get taken off the schedule all together.

You may not like the NCAA tournament, but alot of people do. To many of us, it makes the entire postseason meaningful on a national level rather than just the one game. Of course it's important to us to absolutely throttle LSU on New Year's Eve, but nationally it's not going to have any bearing on who plays for the championship. Every game we had during our Final Four run in 2004 did though.

Every regular season game would still be just as important with a playoff, because every game could have an impact on whether or not you win your conference and can qualify for the playoff. Hell, last year a two-loss LSU team that lost their last regular season game made the title game. Oklahoma and Nebraska have gotten thrashed in their final games and still made it. F$U loses to Miami and both teams end the year with the same record and F$U goes, Oklahoma gets beat by 10 on a neutral field and goes over Texas this year...so obviously a loss or two doesn't really mean all that much if you have the right name.

As for NFL, probably not a good argument there given the audiences that the NFL draws even during the regular season. College football is bigger in the south but it doesn't seem to be that way in most areas.

 

[BEEFENSE]

After reading all these posts and hearing all the pros and cons (media, etc.)--I for one really HOPE some short of playoff will be instituted--the sooner the better!