If you’ve been following the BCS developments over the past few weeks, you probably, like the conference commissioners and Jack Swarbrick, have no idea what is going on (though you probably haven’t enjoyed a free vacation to Florida). While the details are still being ironed out, it has become apparent that the current BCS model is no longer in consideration (hooray!).
The leading option, as reported by Mark Schlabach of ESPN, is to hold a four team playoff using the sites of the current BCS bowls as the sites of the national semifinals while putting the National Championship game up for auction (maybe ND can use some of that endowment cash to bring it to South Bend). Rather than choosing between the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange bowl sites before the season, the location for the semifinal games would be attached to the current conference affiliation of the bowls for the top two teams. For example, if an SEC team enters the postseason ranked #1 and a Pac-12 team entered the postseason at #2, the SEC team would host the #4 seed in New Orleans while the Pac-12 team would host the #3 seed at the Rose Bowl.
Let us all take another moment to rejoice that we will finally have some sort of playoff to decide the National Champion, and that all the ridiculous arguments about “missing extra days of class” are no longer being feigned in order to protect the BCS treasure chest. However, there are some concerns about the proposal that is currently leading:
1) The #1 and #2 teams should host the semifinal games at their home stadiums. Could you imagine how electric the atmosphere would be? 1993 ND vs. FSU on steroids, anyone? Also, it is asking quite a lot of a fan base to travel across country twice in two weeks for the semifinals and championship, particularly without being able to plan the championship trip more than a week in advance. Non-title BCS game attendance has been declining as it is, and asking fans to travel even more could prove costly (and embarrassing) for the semifinals.
2) How do you pick the top 4 teams? There is no perfect way to rank teams at the end of the season, but there will still undoubtedly be complaints about why #4 was ranked ahead of #5.
3) Will the playoffs only be open to conference champs? If they are, how does this affect Notre Dame?
4) A playoff setup makes other bowl games like the Beef ‘O Brady’s Bowl, the Tums Extra Strength Bowl and R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl inconsequential!! (Just kidding…and only one of those games was made up)
You can follow Twibby on Twitter: @HLS_Twibby
Proof that, sooner or later, everyone comes around to love the Irish.
After growing up as a Notre Dame hating, misguided youth, it only took one visit to campus during high school for Twibby to realize the error of his ways. From that point on Twibby and the Irish have had what can only be described as a true Hollywood love story. When he's not reminiscing about his time in South Bend and pondering ways to get a 5th year of eligibility as a student, Twibby writes about Notre Dame and the rest of the college football world for HLS. Along with the Irish, he is a diehard fan of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs with a strange affection for Northwestern Wildcats football.
Read all posts by Twibby
Follow @HLS_Twibby
- Chicks Dig the Long Ball: Irish Receivers ’13 - October 23, 2013
- Breaking Down the Run/Pass Balance - September 26, 2013
- 3 Questions for MSU - September 19, 2013
After a couple times when #4 wins it “all” they will expand it to the top 8 teams like it should be.
You can’t have the semi-finals at the bowl sites. What if a Big Ten school is ranked #1 and UCLA or USC or California is ranked #4? The Big Ten school would essentially by playing an away game even though they are ranked higher.
Completely agree, makes no sense for Big 10 teams to be playing “home” games in the Rose Bowl.
Makes total sense. Delany has an obsession w/ the rose bowl. Let him continue this obsession and screw the B1G at the same time.
January weather in many parts of the country makes the home stadium idea ridiculous. Not only would weather make the game virtually unplayable, think about the visitors trying to get to the stadium in a blizzard. They will have to pick disbursed locations and them make sure that no one gets to play near home.
Choosing the four and selecting the seeding is much more interesting. If we use the same kind of system that is currently used the 5th team will naturally have a valid complaint. If there were 8 there would be a similar complaint by #9. Given that the differences get smaller and smaller as we move down the list, four sounds like a good number.
Regarding the impact on the other bowls: There shouldn’t be much. As long as the semifinal and final are not on the same day as another bowl, the world of the other bowls shouldn’t change much.
Note that none of the above change the situation for ND much. Being in a conference is a benefit only if the conference provides a higher strength of schedule in the big scoring system in the sky. Otherwise it is irrelevant. If a conference winner turns out to be a fluke, the rating system should keep it out of a semifinal.
No system is perfect. The big benefit, if there is such a thing, is that the bowl game money will not go to the bowl management but to the NCAA and the teams. Gee, the rich get richer. Big surprise.
1) Are you kidding, fans not show up for the semifinals. They will be hyped and huge ticket demand as well as making millions on TV. When schools send out ticket request for semi-finals it will also include option of prepurchasing tickets for the national championship game if team wins (to be refunded if they don’t). Can also make 2 weeks in between semifinals and finals to allow additional travel planning and time for times to get ready/heal.
2) ranking/selection from current BCS system does not have to change, unless a better system is conceived.
3) Playoffs will not be limited to conference champs – they will not want to keep out ND or second powerhouse SEC team. If not, playoffs would loose legitimacy.
4) Other bowls will be no less consequential than they already are.
Absolutely! How in the world do u play football, outside, in the snow??