If the FBS had a playoff, I like two different formats for the tournament (1 being a lot more likely to happen than 2). Here's the first now, I'll discuss the second one later tonight:
1. The six BCS conference champs would get automatic bids, just as they do now to the BCS bowls. After that, the next two highest teams in the BCS standings who didn't win their conference would get a bid, creating an eight-team playoff. Teams would be seeded based on BCS rankings. Here's how a tourney set up that way would look this year:
No. 1 Auburn (SEC champ) vs. No. 8 Connecticut (BE champ)
No. 4 Stanford (at-large) vs. No. 5 Wisconsin (Big 10 champ)
No. 3 TCU (at-large) vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (Big 12 champ)
No. 2 Oregon (PAC-10 champ) vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech (ACC champ)
These would be interesting matchups. I'd especially want to see Stanford vs. Wisconsin--a PAC-10-Big 10 Rose Bowl-ish matchup people wanted to see anyway--and Oregon vs. Virginia Tech. The Ducks dominated teams early in the year but struggled at times during their last few games. The Hokies are one of the hottest teams in the nation, bouncing back from two crushing losses at the beginning of the year. They are playing like a top-10 caliber team now and I think a game against Oregon would create some fireworks. Oklahoma-TCU would also be fun to watch given OU's penchant for blowing big games and also because of the Sooners' loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl a few seasons ago.
Location: To ease the financial burden on teams, all of the first round games and maybe the semifinals could all be played at the home of the higher seed. In the semifinals, or maybe just the championship, a neutral BCS site would host like normal--this year, the Fiesta Bowl. Each semifinal game, even if played at home sites, could be sponsored by a BCS bowl. For instance, the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl could sponsor the two semifinals and the other bowl, the Rose Bowl in this case, could sponsor the quarterfinal game of their choice (no doubt they'd choose Wisconsin-Stanford). Each year under this format, the traditional BCS bowls would rotate which one sponsors the championship, which two sponsors the semifinal games and which one sponsors the quarterfinal game of its choice.
Time: This tourney could get underway a lot sooner than the BCS bowls do currently. Team could get byes following final games/conference championships on Dec. 4 and then play on Sat., Dec. 18 or Mon., Dec 20 (or maybe have two games each day). No games would be played on Christmas Day and I think the semifinals could take place on Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th. Teams would get the weekend off and then the championship could still be the next Monday, Jan. 10 like it would be now.
Other bowls: While these eight teams are playing, the other .500 and above teams could still play in the traditional bowl games, spread out from mid-December to early January. The bowls could take place on any day when the tournament is not holding games. That way, the lesser bowls can get maximum exposure and not compete for TV slots with the tournament. Additionally, bowls can still be played on Jan. 1, as it would not interfere with the tournament.
1. The six BCS conference champs would get automatic bids, just as they do now to the BCS bowls. After that, the next two highest teams in the BCS standings who didn't win their conference would get a bid, creating an eight-team playoff. Teams would be seeded based on BCS rankings. Here's how a tourney set up that way would look this year:
No. 1 Auburn (SEC champ) vs. No. 8 Connecticut (BE champ)
No. 4 Stanford (at-large) vs. No. 5 Wisconsin (Big 10 champ)
No. 3 TCU (at-large) vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (Big 12 champ)
No. 2 Oregon (PAC-10 champ) vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech (ACC champ)
These would be interesting matchups. I'd especially want to see Stanford vs. Wisconsin--a PAC-10-Big 10 Rose Bowl-ish matchup people wanted to see anyway--and Oregon vs. Virginia Tech. The Ducks dominated teams early in the year but struggled at times during their last few games. The Hokies are one of the hottest teams in the nation, bouncing back from two crushing losses at the beginning of the year. They are playing like a top-10 caliber team now and I think a game against Oregon would create some fireworks. Oklahoma-TCU would also be fun to watch given OU's penchant for blowing big games and also because of the Sooners' loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl a few seasons ago.
Location: To ease the financial burden on teams, all of the first round games and maybe the semifinals could all be played at the home of the higher seed. In the semifinals, or maybe just the championship, a neutral BCS site would host like normal--this year, the Fiesta Bowl. Each semifinal game, even if played at home sites, could be sponsored by a BCS bowl. For instance, the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl could sponsor the two semifinals and the other bowl, the Rose Bowl in this case, could sponsor the quarterfinal game of their choice (no doubt they'd choose Wisconsin-Stanford). Each year under this format, the traditional BCS bowls would rotate which one sponsors the championship, which two sponsors the semifinal games and which one sponsors the quarterfinal game of its choice.
Time: This tourney could get underway a lot sooner than the BCS bowls do currently. Team could get byes following final games/conference championships on Dec. 4 and then play on Sat., Dec. 18 or Mon., Dec 20 (or maybe have two games each day). No games would be played on Christmas Day and I think the semifinals could take place on Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th. Teams would get the weekend off and then the championship could still be the next Monday, Jan. 10 like it would be now.
Other bowls: While these eight teams are playing, the other .500 and above teams could still play in the traditional bowl games, spread out from mid-December to early January. The bowls could take place on any day when the tournament is not holding games. That way, the lesser bowls can get maximum exposure and not compete for TV slots with the tournament. Additionally, bowls can still be played on Jan. 1, as it would not interfere with the tournament.
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