Nice to know the bowls are full of BS

[Izulde]

Wyoming got robbed. They finish ahead of New Mexico in the MWC and the freaking Lobos are the ones who get the last MWC bowl bid.

Man, this has been one sucky weekend.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wyoming got robbed. They finish ahead of New Mexico in the MWC and the freaking Lobos are the ones who get the last MWC bowl bid.


Hmm ... think the name of the bowl game might provide a clue as to the reason for this?

New Mexico Bowl

[Izulde]

Hmm ... think the name of the bowl game might provide a clue as to the reason for this?

New Mexico Bowl

Oh, I know that's why it happened, but it's still BS.

[Butter]

You mean there are teams that finished .500 or better that didn't get invited to a bowl? Well, I'm sure they'll fix that for next season.

[Izulde]

You mean there are teams that finished .500 or better that didn't get invited to a bowl? Well, I'm sure they'll fix that for next season.

New Mexico was .500 across the board.. 6-6 (4-4). Wyoming was 6-6 (5-3). :p

[Butter]

Remember, you can't spell "bowls" without BS.

[Izulde]

Remember, you can't spell "bowls" without BS.

Point taken.

[Neuqua]

You should take a look at the screw job NIU got last year when they had to sit at home while Toledo (a team NIU had beaten in Toledo) got the bowl invite over them.

[Oilers9911]

Remember, you can't spell "bowls" without BS.

You can, but then its owl.

[rkmsuf]

Wyoming got robbed. They finish ahead of New Mexico in the MWC and the freaking Lobos are the ones who get the last MWC bowl bid.

Man, this has been one sucky weekend.

Take solice in the fact that very few people will view or attend this bowl game.

[Samdari]

You should take a look at the screw job NIU got last year when they had to sit at home while Toledo (a team NIU had beaten in Toledo) got the bowl invite over them.

That's interesting. Was it the massive national marketing appeal that inviting Toledo would provide that made Toldeo so desireable to the bowl?

[Arles]

I'm aggitated that 8th placed Iowa (6-6, 2-6 conf) in the Big 10 got to go to the Alamo Bowl, but 7th place Arizona (6-6, 4-5 conf) in the Pac 10 doesn't get to go to a bowl game (or Wyoming for that manner). I know that there was an extra slot open because both Michigan and Ohio State made the BCS. But, sheesh, allowing a team with a 2-6 conference record to go to a bowl is silly.

I guess the morale of the story is to play 4 cupcakes like Iowa did instead of facing teams like LSU and BYU (AZ was 1-1) as Arizona did.

[Neuqua]

That's interesting. Was it the massive national marketing appeal that inviting Toledo would provide that made Toldeo so desireable to the bowl?

You do realize that there are football teams outside the big BC$ conferences and those teams have their own fans too right?

[Arles]

As a follow up, I also think it's rediculous that a conference with 11 teams have only 8 conference games in a 12 game schedule with no conference championship. This basically allowed nearly every Big 10 team to pad their record with 4 cupcake wins. Add in the fact that some didn't even have to play Ohio State or Michigan and you have a red carpet to 7-8 bowl teams (regardless of how good anyone is). Heck, you just need to go 2-6 in the conference to make a bowl game with this formula.

[ctmason]

Imagine a world that lives together in peace and harmony. Now, imagine that in that world you wake up on December 4, 2006 and see the following in the Sports Pages:

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Memphis, TN
Dec. 19, 2006
4:00 p.m.
#3 Michigan vs. #14 Wake Forest

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Nashville, TN
Dec. 19, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#2 Florida vs. #15 Virginia Tech

Champs Sports Bowl
Orlando, FL
Dec. 20, 2006
4:00 p.m.
#6 Louisville vs. #11 Notre Dame

Insight Bowl
Tempe, AZ
Dec. 20, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#4 LSU vs. #13 Virginia

Brut Sun Bowl
El Paso, TX
Dec. 21, 2006
4:00 p.m
#7 Wisconsin vs. #10 Oklahoma

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
San Diego, CA
Dec. 21, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#5 USC vs. #12 Arkansas

Emerald Bowl
San Francisco, CA
Dec. 23, 2006
4:00 p.m.
#8 Boise State vs. #9 Auburn

Outback Bowl
Tampa, FL
Dec. 23, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#1 Ohio State vs. #16 Rutgers

[WVUFAN]

Imagine a world that lives together in peace and harmony. Now, imagine that in that world you wake up on December 4, 2006 and see the following in the Sports Pages:

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Memphis, TN
Dec. 19, 2006
4:00 p.m.
#3 Michigan vs. #14 Wake Forest

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Nashville, TN
Dec. 19, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#2 Florida vs. #15 Virginia Tech

Champs Sports Bowl
Orlando, FL
Dec. 20, 2006
4:00 p.m.
#6 Louisville vs. #11 Notre Dame

Insight Bowl
Tempe, AZ
Dec. 20, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#4 LSU vs. #13 Virginia

Brut Sun Bowl
El Paso, TX
Dec. 21, 2006
4:00 p.m
#7 Wisconsin vs. #10 Oklahoma

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
San Diego, CA
Dec. 21, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#5 USC vs. #12 Arkansas

Emerald Bowl
San Francisco, CA
Dec. 23, 2006
4:00 p.m.
#8 Boise State vs. #9 Auburn

Outback Bowl
Tampa, FL
Dec. 23, 2006
8:00 p.m.
#1 Ohio State vs. #16 Rutgers

I get what you're saying, but if I read that, I'd be pissed that Rutgers in in the playoffs but West Virginia isn't.

Just sayin' ... :)

[Samdari]

You do realize that there are football teams outside the big BC$ conferences and those teams have their own fans too right?

Sure. I am a fan of Syracuse, so I am acutely aware of the appeal of minor league college football.

Just didn't realize that Toledo had such huge national appeal.

[Young Drachma]

UW fans aren't going to travel anywhere other than Las Vegas and so, they're not going to be somewhere on the top of the list for many bowls. And the Pokes hardly helped their own cause by losing to SYRACUSE and to UVa. in overtime because of a missed extra point.

So, whatever. Those two games or at least the Syracuse game should've been won and they'd have no gripe at all now.

The good news is, Sween is the real deal at QB and with a year of experience under their belts, this year's starters will come back next season poised to do good things. Because all things being equal, this season had no business being as good as it was for us.

[digamma]

Imagine a world that lives together in peace and harmony. Now, imagine that in that world you wake up on December 4, 2006 and see the following in the Sports Pages:

(playoff snipped)

I imagine a lot of empty seats.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I imagine a lot of empty seats.

Yep. Depending upon where the heavy favorites are likely to play their next round game, if it's closer to home than some of these venues then it could really be sparse.

You might even be able to get some buy-1-get-2-free deals in a couple of places.

[st.cronin]

I still can't believe that Wyoming beat UCLA.

[cthomer5000]

the bowls and playoffs cannot coexist. Those who maintain they can are fucking numbskulls in my opinion. you can quote me on that it, print it, whatever. it wouldnt work.

[ctmason]

the bowls and playoffs cannot coexist. Those who maintain they can are fucking numbskulls in my opinion. you can quote me on that it, print it, whatever. it wouldnt work.

Uh...I'm sorry?

Really I was just having a little fun there. I uh...have you...have you maybe thought about cardiovascular exercise for your blood pressure?

[MJ4H]

#5 USC vs. #12 Arkansas


Jesus Christ what the hell are you people trying to do to us?

[cthomer5000]

Uh...I'm sorry?

Really I was just having a little fun there. I uh...have you...have you maybe thought about cardiovascular exercise for your blood pressure?

It's not just you and it's not personal. I'm fine with the playoff proponents, i'm fine with the bowl loyalists, i'm just tired of the "marry the two system" types who are too stupid (sorry) to think it through.

If that opinion makes me an asshole, so be it.

[Tigercat]

Bowls and a four team playoff is the last place they could possibly co-exist. Any larger playoff system and we would just get lots of empty stadiums.

[ctmason]

I understand. Personally I'm all for a 32 team playoff to be held over 18 days with every team playing their games in Independence Stadium in Shreveport, but color me old-fashioned.

Personally I think that anytime a bowl discussion gets started on TV or the radio we should turn the media device off and go for a quick jog. You want to talk about immediate reduction in American obesity, there's your answer.

[Vegas Vic]

The money and lobbying power of the bowls isn't going anywhere. As cthomer5000 pointed out, there's just no way to marry a full playoff system with the bowls. I think the best case scenario for the future is going to be a 4 team playoff with some kind of a +2 system (instead of the current +1 system). As to the particulars, I'm not sure how it would work, but I think 4 teams are about the maximum that would be feasible.

[Danny]

If your team goes 6-6, that's too bad. Win more games next time and stop complaining.

[Craptacular]

I imagine a lot of empty seats.

Yep. Depending upon where the heavy favorites are likely to play their next round game, if it's closer to home than some of these venues then it could really be sparse.

You might even be able to get some buy-1-get-2-free deals in a couple of places.

the bowls and playoffs cannot coexist. Those who maintain they can are fucking numbskulls in my opinion. you can quote me on that it, print it, whatever. it wouldnt work.

Bowls and a four team playoff is the last place they could possibly co-exist. Any larger playoff system and we would just get lots of empty stadiums.

The money and lobbying power of the bowls isn't going anywhere. As cthomer5000 pointed out, there's just no way to marry a full playoff system with the bowls. I think the best case scenario for the future is going to be a 4 team playoff with some kind of a +2 system (instead of the current +1 system). As to the particulars, I'm not sure how it would work, but I think 4 teams are about the maximum that would be feasible.

Sorry for the long multi-quote, but I don't buy this. The NCAA basketball tourney manages to do a good job getting people to attend games with mostly or all non-local teams. I can think of two eight-team proposals off the top of my head, and I'd guess they'd do as good or better than the normal bowl game attendance-wise.

1) Pick a series of bowls and have four games at sites closest to the higher-ranked teams. You think the Motor City Bowl would rather have Central Michigan vs Middle Tennessee St or a quarterfinal game between Michigan and Louisville? Use three of the BCS bowls for the semis and championship.

2) Double-up on the quarters and semis using three BCS bowls, and the rotate the National Championship like they do now. This year you could have a doubleheader of OSU-Boise and LSU-USC at one site (say, the Rose Bowl), Michigan-Louisville and Florida-Wisconsin at another (Orange Bowl), then a doubleheader for the semis at the Sugar Bowl, with the title at the Fiesta Bowl. The rest of the bowls can take all of the other teams. I'd have a hard time believing they wouldn't sell out the stadiums for all four playoff events.

[cthomer5000]

Sorry for the long multi-quote, but I don't buy this. The NCAA basketball tourney manages to do a good job getting people to attend games with mostly or all non-local teams.

Jam the football games in a 15,000 seat arena and i agree we'll have no problems.

[RedKingGold]

I think you can satisfy just about everyone with a 6-team playoff involving the "BCS Bowls". I would imagine something like this:

December 24th: Fiesta Bowl
#3 in BCS vs. #6 in BCS

December 25th: Orange Bowl
#4 BCS vs. #5 BCS

December 31st: Sugar Bowl
#2 vs. #3 or winner #4/5

January 1st: Rose Bowl
#1 vs. #6 or winner #4/5

January 8th: National Championship game
Winner of Sugar v. winner of Rose.

Obviously, we could rotate the bowls so that every year a different team gets to host the game the opening rounds or semi-finals. We keep the regular season (and positioning) important as teams #1 and #2 have the benefit of home field advantage and incentive to play starters and hard for the entire regular season (avoiding the "Colts" concept). The whole argument about "academics" (which is BS anyway) is avoided as all games would take place after the conclusion of each academic semester.

We also avoid watering down competition too much by inviting six instead of eight teams. While there will still be bellyaching ("Our team should have been 6th, instead of 8th, etc); at least you get some semblance of a playoff that settles everything on the field and gives some allowances for when it is hard to differentiate between the top five teams in the nation.

Also, everyone gets to keep their precious exhibitions (i.e. other bowl games) that don't involve the top six teams in the nation.

Thoughts?

[digamma]

Jam the football games in a 15,000 seat arena and i agree we'll have no problems.

With eight teams (and eight fan bases) playing in the pod.

[Vegas Vic]

What do you guys think of this?

One week after the conference championship games, the #4 ranked BCS team plays at the #1 ranked team, and the #3 ranked team plays at the #2 ranked team. After these games, the bowls do their normal selections (and the two losers can be selected). The two winners play in the national championship game, one week after the four other BCS bowls (just like it is now).

[Young Drachma]

I still can't believe that Wyoming beat UCLA.

With Jovon Bouknight, Akron might have won a bowl game. He was amazing and it was a damn shame he had to waste all of that talent playing here catching misdirected passes from Corey Bramlet (who somehow has a job in the NFL..practice squad to be sure. But still.)

He was far too good for this place. If he'd gone elsewhere and been a possession receiver, he would've got drafted and got a shot.

[Izulde]

With Jovon Bouknight, Akron might have won a bowl game. He was amazing and it was a damn shame he had to waste all of that talent playing here catching misdirected passes from Corey Bramlet (who somehow has a job in the NFL..practice squad to be sure. But still.)

He was far too good for this place. If he'd gone elsewhere and been a possession receiver, he would've got drafted and got a shot.

QFT

[Craptacular]

Jam the football games in a 15,000 seat arena and i agree we'll have no problems.

With eight teams (and eight fan bases) playing in the pod.

So you think a college football playoff with the eight best teams would be that much less interesting than a basketball regional final that they'd only get 15,000 people at the games? The Georgia Dome is already sold out for the 2007 Final Four. Heck, the upper-end seats for the West Regional are already sold out at the EJ Dome. A football playoff could generate enormous interest. Heck, the Division I-AA football championship has averaged over 15,000 a year in Chattanooga. A USC-LSU playoff game in Anchorage would probably get higher attendance.

[BYU 14]

Remember, you can't spell "bowls" without BS.

You can, but then its owl.

There is your real culprit Izulde, Rice stole your Bowl Bid ;)

[bbgunn]

You guys are making me look like a fool, laughing out loud at work.

Anyway, this debate shows one thing... there is a major post-season problem in college football.

[digamma]

So you think a college football playoff with the eight best teams would be that much less interesting than a basketball regional final that they'd only get 15,000 people at the games? The Georgia Dome is already sold out for the 2007 Final Four. Heck, the upper-end seats for the West Regional are already sold out at the EJ Dome. A football playoff could generate enormous interest. Heck, the Division I-AA football championship has averaged over 15,000 a year in Chattanooga. A USC-LSU playoff game in Anchorage would probably get higher attendance.

The NCAA has trouble filling arenas in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament at neutral sites. That's why they went to the pod system two years ago--to build in as many close to home situations as possible. Sweet 16s and Regional finals rarely sell out in dome settings. The final four is an event and is an easy sell.

The championship game would be the same way (as the final four). The semi-finals would have some interest, but if they were neutral site games, they wouldn't be guaranteed sell outs. Quarterfinal games at neutral sites would have a lot of trouble selling tickets and would have to rely on local sales to drive them--people just can't travel three weekends in a row in significant numbers. It's not about driving interest. It's about driving sales. The stadiums and hosting committees don't get as big a piece of the television pie, so that's how they have to make their revenue. There would be interest in the first couple of years, but after that, I really think it would lag. As cthomer said, incorporating the bowls into a play-off system just doesn't work. It's fine to argue for a play-off--I personally don't want one, but that's another issue--but it's not going to be with the bowls involved.

[digamma]

dola...

These were the stadium capacities of the eight NCAA tournament hosts for the first and second round in 2005:

<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="180"><tbody><tr><td class="notch_white">Boise</td> <td class="notch_white"> 12,009</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_light">Charlotte</td> <td class="notch_light"> 22,636</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_white">Cleveland</td> <td class="notch_white"> 13,311 </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_light">Indianapolis</td> <td class="notch_light"> 37,565 </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_white">Nashville</td> <td class="notch_white"> 17,376 </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_light">Oklahoma City</td> <td class="notch_light"> 18,544 </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_white">Tucson</td> <td class="notch_white"> 13,751 </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="notch_light">Worcester</td> <td class="notch_light"> 13,008</td></tr></tbody></table>
The 2006 attendance figures:
Opening Round Dayton 7,764
1st Round Auburn Hills 18,456 Dayton 12,945 Jacksonville 13,772 Salt Lake City 15,122
Auburn Hills 19,400 Dayton 12,945 Jacksonville 13,772 Salt Lake City 15,122
Dallas 19,028 Greensboro 22,073 Philadelphia 19,990 San Diego 10,068
Dallas 19,263 Greensboro 22,642 Philadelphia 19,990 San Diego 9,891
2nd Round Auburn Hills 19,689 Dayton 12,945 Jacksonville 13,777 Salt Lake City 15,122
Dallas 19,251 Greensboro 22,809 Philadelphia 20,050 San Diego 10,068
Regional Semifinal Atlanta 27,633 Minneapolis 22,293 Oakland 19,596 Washington 19,638
Regional Final Atlanta 27,130 Minneapolis 21,613 Oakland 19,689 Washington 19,718

Formatting is screwy, but you get the point that these are much smaller arenas. Even for the regional finals, the dome sites go with smaller set ups. (Final four set up is about 40k these days). Total average attendance was 19k (and that's with a 40k plus final four).

[WVUFAN]

I think you can satisfy just about everyone with a 6-team playoff involving the "BCS Bowls". I would imagine something like this:

December 24th: Fiesta Bowl
#3 in BCS vs. #6 in BCS

December 25th: Orange Bowl
#4 BCS vs. #5 BCS

December 31st: Sugar Bowl
#2 vs. #3 or winner #4/5

January 1st: Rose Bowl
#1 vs. #6 or winner #4/5

January 8th: National Championship game
Winner of Sugar v. winner of Rose.



It's be the exact same issues that we're having now, only instead of the question being "Who is #1 and #2", it becomes "who is #3,#4,#5 and #6". The same questions on non-BCS teams getting screwed out of a spot; the same questions of too many teams coming from the same conference or this team or that one getting in because of bias in the voting pools.

As much as I'd like to see some sort of legitimate national championship, utilizing the BCS or even polls to determine who gets in the playoff invites the same issues as before, just now on a grander scale.

As an example, I don't think LSU deserves to be in the Top 5 with 2 losses while undefeated Boise State would be out of your playoffs because they're 8th in the BCS.

Same problems as before.

[WVUFAN]

Anyway, this debate shows one thing... there is a major post-season problem in college football.

dola ...

No, not really. That fact that the debate exists every year creates interests in the bowls and college football. Each game right now is a must-win, hense each game is of great importance. You put a playoff system in Division I, you lose the interest in the regular season, the debate after the regular season. If anything, it would HURT college football in the long run with a playoff system.

Yeah, as I just said, I'd love to see a "legitimate" national champion, but I like the debate that's going on just as much.

[RedKingGold]

It's be the exact same issues that we're having now, only instead of the question being "Who is #1 and #2", it becomes "who is #3,#4,#5 and #6". The same questions on non-BCS teams getting screwed out of a spot; the same questions of too many teams coming from the same conference or this team or that one getting in because of bias in the voting pools.

As much as I'd like to see some sort of legitimate national championship, utilizing the BCS or even polls to determine who gets in the playoff invites the same issues as before, just now on a grander scale.

As an example, I don't think LSU deserves to be in the Top 5 with 2 losses while undefeated Boise State would be out of your playoffs because they're 8th in the BCS.

Same problems as before.

As I said in my original post, it does not matter how many teams you extend the playoff to, there will be people who bitch about their team not getting in. Even in the glorified NCAA tournament, people were wondering openly why Hofstra was let out of the tournament when George Mason (who lost to Hofstra) was let in.

That's what people don't understand about college. There are 32 teams in professional football. Counting division opponents (faced twice), a team would face 13 different teams in a season or roughly over 1/3 of all teams in professional football. In contrast, there are roughly over 100 (not sure of actual number) D-IA football programs and a team would only face twelve different teams. Therefore, you have a situation where a team would only face less than 10% of all possible teams in the nation.

Because of this, its much harder to compare teams in college football/basketball than professonal football. So, you will always have teams in both sports that claim they were jobbed. No system will ever eliminate it.

However, my system does at least give teams a fair chance to at least attempt to settle it on the field. If Boise State really wants to contend for a title, they should schedule stronger non-conference opponents or join a better conference. This is a fact of life as not everyone is going to get invited to the party.

I think if you extend the tournament to 12-16 teams, you get into a dangerous area with making the regular season less meaningless. Why should being the 15th best team in the country give you a shot at a national championship

[Axxon]

I just wanted to add that I read the title as

Nice to know the bowels are full of BS

Which made me wonder what else they might be full of.

Ahh, if only I was a parody thread kind of guy. :D

[Samdari]

instead of the current +1 system

This is not a +1 system. The +1 system would have all the teams playing in bowls and then the arbitrarily chosen two best teams playing another game a week later. This was simply adding another poorly named bowl game a week after the rest.

[KWhit]

dola ...

No, not really. That fact that the debate exists every year creates interests in the bowls and college football.

No. That's like saying that Watergate was good for Nixon because of all the added publicity he got.

[Butter]

I fail to see how the +1 system would solve anything, though. For example, let's say we revert to the old bowl/conference allegiances and have a +1... you'd have:

Rose: OSU v. USC
Sugar: Florida v. ND
Orange: Wake Forest v. Oklahoma
Fiesta: LSU v. Louisville

Then, you have USC, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and LSU win their games. Who the frick do you pick for the +1 game? That's a bigger mess than what you started with.

I think it has to be either a straight single elimination 4, 6, or 8 team tourney. Otherwise, you're creating more problems than you're solving.

[Young Drachma]

Boise State should join the Mountain West. We only have 9 teams now and well, there isn't anywhere else for them to go. But I think they like being able to win every year basically unfettered.

Heck, if you put Montana and Montana State in D-1A, we'd have 12 teams. And the way they play each year, it's not a stretch to consider them for moving up.

The current system of "oh, if you want to be considered good..schedule better teams," when teams have their schedules set years in advance, isn't exactly a good argument.

For example, USC's schedule this year was set 8 years ago. It's all luck of the draw, for the most part.

[KWhit]

the bowls and playoffs cannot coexist. Those who maintain they can are fucking numbskulls in my opinion. you can quote me on that it, print it, whatever. it wouldnt work.

Bullshit.

8 team playoff - games played at the home stadium of the higher seed (think there would be any empty seats in those games?). The winners move on. These games are played in one of the BCS bowls (which are rotated every year) and the 2 winners play in the championship game.

All of the non-playoff teams (and possibly the losers of the 1st round of playoff games) are eligible for selection into the other currently-existing bowl games.

So most teams get one bowl game at a neutral site. Except for the 2 teams that get to play in the championship game, and I don't think we'd have any trouble selling tickets to that one.

And it's not like the lesser bowl games are sellouts anyway. You consistently see tons of empty seats at the early bowls.

[KWhit]

I fail to see how the +1 system would solve anything, though. For example, let's say we revert to the old bowl/conference allegiances and have a +1... you'd have:

Rose: OSU v. USC
Sugar: Florida v. ND
Orange: Wake Forest v. Oklahoma
Fiesta: LSU v. Louisville

Then, you have USC, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and LSU win their games. Who the frick do you pick for the +1 game? That's a bigger mess than what you started with.



USC and LSU. That one was easy.

But I get what you're saying.

:)

[Pumpy Tudors]

the bowls and playoffs cannot coexist. Those who maintain they can are fucking numbskulls in my opinion. you can quote me on that it, print it, whatever. it wouldnt work.
We have taken cthomer5000 and secretly replaced him with IMetTrentGreen. Let's see if FOFC notices.

[Vegas Vic]

What do you guys think of this?

One week after the conference championship games, the #4 ranked BCS team plays at the #1 ranked team, and the #3 ranked team plays at the #2 ranked team. After these games, the bowls do their normal selections (and the two losers can be selected). The two winners play in the national championship game, one week after the four other BCS bowls (just like it is now).

OK, after reading all of the posts, I still think that my idea is the most practical, and it would keep the current bowl system in the exact same format.

This Saturday, #4 LSU would play at #1 Ohio State, and #3 Michigan would play at #2 Florida. The two winners would play in the National Championship game on 1/8/07 in Glendale. The two losers would go back into the BCS pool, with the bowl selections being made on Sunday.

It's not perfect, but we have a true playoff with four teams, and we keep the current bowl system in place.

[Young Drachma]

A four-team playoff would give us more bitching to do, because it increases the likelihood that more bad teams will enter. The whole damn thing is a cartel right now and so, I'm either in favor of the status quo or imploding the whole thing into a traditional playoff like the other divisions or sports do.

[Vegas Vic]

A four-team playoff would give us more bitching to do, because it increases the likelihood that more bad teams will enter.

I disagree. Using my suggestion, look how things would have gone in 2003 and 2004.

2003:

12/13/03 Michigan at Oklahoma
12/13/03 USC at LSU

Followed by all of the regular bowls.

1/8/04 National Championship Game

2004:

12/11/04 Texas at USC
12/11/04 Auburn at Oklahoma

Followed by all of the regular bowls.

1/8/05 National Championship Game