I prefer a four team playoff to the BCS, but I've posted in the past the true 16 team model that I would LOVE to see.

 

I would like to see an 8 team playoff in the future. If the inevitable "Big Four" conferences with 16 teams each come to pass, I think it'd be fun to see each team play to win their division. The winner of each division goes into the bracket of the final 8. No conference can meet until the finals.

Actually the BCS awards the teams that had the most success at the end of the season.

Everytime a team loses near the end of the season it kills any chance of them getting a bid to the championsip game. If you lose early on the season then you stand a much better chance.

 

 

If alabama lost early in the season and that was their only loss they would be playing for the championsip. Just the way the BCS works and why it never was a good way of handing out the Championship title.

 

 

But, if neither team is losing, it's also hard to pass schools who were rated ahead of you in meaningless preseason polls when no had played a down yet (like Ohio State this year).

 

 

Completely agree on your final point about Alabama. I think they are the better team than Auburn and would give FSU the better game.

I like a 32 team tournament. Even though the "best " team may not win it all, they would have a chance. I know that no matter how deep you go there is going to be someone crying they got left out. No different than college basketball. But, lets be real the 69th and 70th team have NO CHANCE of winning that. Just like the #33 team would have no chance to win a football playoff. This system would also let most bowl games have a playoff game. Rotate the championship game just like they do now. The round of eight would also be hosted by the four bowls rotating the title game. Just like it works now.

I am not in favor of expanding the playoffs by much. 8 would be the absolute max for me, but I am fine with 4. The response is, "well, 1-AA has 16 (now 24) and it works." Well, anything will work, but that does not make it the best and most dramatic. The regular season is mega-important in college football and I want to maintain that. Going beyond 8 you are getting teams to a grouping of teams that approach mediocre. Heck, even this season FSU and Bama were the two best teams. The next 8-10 you could flip coins to determine order and have been fine.

I am not in favor of expanding the playoffs by much. 8 would be the absolute max for me, but I am fine with 4. The response is, "well, 1-AA has 16 (now 24) and it works." Well, anything will work, but that does not make it the best and most dramatic. The regular season is mega-important in college football and I want to maintain that. Going beyond 8 you are getting teams to a grouping of teams that approach mediocre. Heck, even this season FSU and Bama were the two best teams. The next 8-10 you could flip coins to determine order and have been fine.

 

 

I think 16 teams would be awesome, however I don't think it's really feasible to add that much more to the season.

 

Take the BCS standings and project it out to a 16 team playoff this year and you'd have:

 

1) Florida State

16) LSU

 

8) Missouri

9) South Carolina

 

4) Michigan State

13) Oklahoma State

 

5) Stanford

12) Clemson

 

3) Alabama

14) Arizona State

 

6) Baylor

11) Oklahoma

 

7) Ohio State

10) Oregon

 

2) Auburn

15) Central Florida

 

I mean, how awesome would that 4 week stretch be?

I am not in favor of expanding the playoffs by much. 8 would be the absolute max for me, but I am fine with 4. The response is, "well, 1-AA has 16 (now 24) and it works." Well, anything will work, but that does not make it the best and most dramatic. The regular season is mega-important in college football and I want to maintain that. Going beyond 8 you are getting teams to a grouping of teams that approach mediocre. Heck, even this season FSU and Bama were the two best teams. The next 8-10 you could flip coins to determine order and have been fine.

4 teams will change nothing. Next year the crying will go from who should have been in the title game to who should have been in the top 4. It has to be 8 at min but I really like 16 if you are going to do it.

I think 16 teams would be awesome, however I don't think it's really feasible to add that much more to the season.

 

Take the BCS standings and project it out to a 16 team playoff this year and you'd have:

 

1) Florida State

16) LSU

 

8) Missouri

9) South Carolina

 

4) Michigan State

13) Oklahoma State

 

5) Stanford

12) Clemson

 

3) Alabama

14) Arizona State

 

6) Baylor

11) Oklahoma

 

7) Ohio State

10) Oregon

 

2) Auburn

15) Central Florida

 

I mean, how awesome would that 4 week stretch be?

 

 

To answer, AWESOME

I think I would rather have the BCS Championship game instead of the 4 team Playoff this year.

 

(1)Florida State vs (2)Auburn appeals to me more than:

 

1. Florida State vs I don't know Baylor, Michigan State, Alabama, Stanford???

2. Auburn vs I don't know Baylor, Michigan State, Alabama, Stanford???

 

 

And if Florida State and Auburn were to lose in semis......or one of them wins and then loses in the Final....I'm not sure if I fully believe the winner of the Final was the best team in the land.

 

Getting back to the original question.

 

I would much rather see the BCS formula used to pick the 4 playoff teams. I hate the idea of a committee. I just can't help but feel that one of the priorities will be to put 4 teams from 4 different conferences to share the money these games will generate.

I think 16 teams would be awesome, however I don't think it's really feasible to add that much more to the season.

 

Take the BCS standings and project it out to a 16 team playoff this year and you'd have:

 

1) Florida State

16) LSU

 

8) Missouri

9) South Carolina

 

4) Michigan State

13) Oklahoma State

 

5) Stanford

12) Clemson

 

3) Alabama

14) Arizona State

 

6) Baylor

11) Oklahoma

 

7) Ohio State

10) Oregon

 

2) Auburn

15) Central Florida

 

I mean, how awesome would that 4 week stretch be?

 

I think this looks pretty great. Even the 1-16 and 2-15 matchups are compelling to me. Gives FSU an early test of a team that's always good and gives UCF another crack at a really good team from the SEC after falling just three points short against South Carolina earlier this year.

 

I could even be convinced that an FCS-style 24-team playoff is worthwhile. I know that there are a lot of big football fans out there that watch tons of bowl games, but for more middling fans like me, I pick and choose pretty stingily prior to January 1. Let's just put a bunch of teams in a playoff and be done with it.

Bill Connelly at SB Nation did a post about the various playoff scenarios. This was the one he came up with for a 24-team, FCS-style playoff where all conference champions get a crack at it:

 

 

The first-round matchups certainly decrease in quality, but that's always going to happen when you add more teams. That said, more than half those games are certainly watchable: Louisville/LSU, OK State/Wisconsin, Clemson/A&M, UCF/UCLA, Arizona St/Fresno St.

To answer the question, I'd take the four team playoff every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.