Ramblings from the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist

For the eleventh straight season, I have created a mock college football playoff bracket based my proposed college football playoff system.  I know we actually have a playoff coming in 2014, but I feel my 16 team proposal would be far superior in terms of both fairness and entertainment value.  This is also the most comprehensive playoff proposal you will see anywhere as I include almost every possible detail include things like game times and television schedules.  I’d really like Bill Hancock to take a look at this thing and try to find a flaw in it.  Anyone that would like to see this playoff in an excel bracket format then just let me know, and I’ll send you a copy.

The Field: Florida State (ACC  Champ), Louisville (Big East Champ), Wisconsin (Big 10 Champ), Kansas State (Big 12 Champ), Stanford (Pac-12 Champ), Alabama (SEC Champ), Boise State (MWC Champ), Utah State (WAC Champ), Tulsa (C-USA Champ), Northern Illinois (MAC Champ), Arkansas State (Sun Belt Champ), Notre Dame (at-large, # 1 in BTS standings), Florida (at-large, # 3 in BTS standings), Oregon (at-large, # 4 in BTS standings), Georgia (at-large, # 7 in BTS standings), LSU (at-large, # 8 in BTS standings).

Midwest Regional

(1) Notre Dame vs. (4) Wisconsin, Thursday December 13th- 8:00 (ESPN), San Antonio, TX

(2) LSU vs. (3) Florida State, Saturday December 15th- 8:00 (ABC), Houston, TX

Winners play Saturday December 22nd at 8:00 in Arlington, TX (ABC)

West Regional

(1) Oregon vs. (4) Utah State, Saturday December 15th- 8:00 (ESPN), Las Vegas, NV

(2) Georgia vs. (3) Louisville, Saturday December 15th – 3:30 (ESPN), Albuquerque, NM

Winners play Saturday December 22nd at 3:30 in Phoenix, AZ (ABC)

South Regional

(1) Alabama vs. (4) Arkansas State, Saturday December 15th- 12:00 (ABC), Memphis, TN

(2) Stanford vs. (3) Northern Illinois, Friday December 14th- 8:00 (ESPN), Tampa, FL

Winners play Saturday December 22nd at 3:30 in Atlanta, GA (ESPN)

East  Regional

(1) Florida vs. (4) Tulsa, Saturday December 15th- 12:00 (ESPN), Mobile, AL

(2) Kansas State vs. (3) Boise State, Saturday December 15th- 3:30 (ABC), Washington D.C.

Winners play Saturday December 22nd at 12:00 in Orlando, FL (ABC)

Final Four/Championship

Midwest Champ vs. West Champ, Saturday December 29th- 3:30 (ABC), Pasadena, CA

East Champ vs. South Champ, Saturday December 31st- 8:00 (ABC), New Orleans, LA

Championship Game, Saturday December 29th- 8:00 (ABC), Miami, FL

Basic Format:

• 16 teams (11 conference championships and 5 at-larges chosen by the top 5 in the BTS Standings, which is the functional equivalent to the BCS.  My rationale is for this is that it’s something computer/poll-related to keep the pro-BCS folks happy like “Adolph” Bill Hancock.)
• 4 regions (teams seeded 1-4 based on committee)
• Bowl sites will become tourney sites.  See further explanation below.
• Selection Sunday will be held the day after conference championship day and the first game will be played two weeks after that.  This gives teams time to rest after the regular season and for the players to complete their exams, which is always a gripe from the anti-playoff crowd.
• A couple of special stipulations are that two teams from the same conference can’t play in the same region, and each conference is limited to four total playoff teams.

Scheduling:

• I’ve even drafted a mock game schedule that takes into consideration both the interests of the viewers and  television providers.  I’m going to assume that ABC/ESPN buy the rights to playoff coverage, since they have already purchased future BCS coverage rights.  The ABC/ESPN splits will be conducted just like they are now with ABC providing everybody’s regional games, and ESPN showing the games outside the area.
• Week 1 (First Round):  Game 1: Thursday 8:00- second best game of the week (ESPN);  Game 2: Friday 8:00- worst game of the week (ESPN); Games 3 and 4: Saturday 12:00- two non-west region games (ABC/ESPN split); Games 5 and 6: Saturday 3:30- two games of any type (ABC/ESPN split); Games 7 and 8: Saturday 8:00- game of the week is on ABC; ESPN has other game.
• Week 2 (Elite 8): Game 1: Saturday 12:00- Third biggest game of the week but can’t be midwest/west regional final (ABC); Game 2: Saturday 3:30- Worst game of the week (ESPN); Game 3: Saturday 3:30- Second biggest game of the week (ABC); Game 4: Saturday 8:00- Featured game of the week (ABC).
• Week 3 (Final Four): Game 1: Saturday 3:30- Second biggest game of the week (ABC); Game 2: Saturday 8:00- Featured game of the week (ABC).
• Week 4 (Championship Game): Saturday 8:00 (ABC)

Bowl Sites:

• Lower-tier bowl sites will become first round sites on a rotational basis.   
•  2012: East Regional- Mobile, Washington D.C.; South Regional- Memphis, Tampa; Midwest Regional- San Antonio, Houston; West Regional: Albuquerque, Las Vegas. 2013: East- Birmingham, New York; South- Shreveport, Jacksonville; Midwest- Fort Worth, Boise; West- San Francisco, Boise.  2014: East- Charlotte, Detroit; South- Nashville, St. Petersburg; Midwest- El Paso, Dallas; West: Tempe, San Diego.
•  The current semi-major bowl sites of Arlington (Cotton), San Diego (Holiday), Phoenix (Fiesta), and Atlanta (Chick-Fil-A) will be annual elite 8 sites.
• The Final Four/Championship games will be held in Pasadena, New Orleans, and Miami.  The championship game will rotate between the 3 sites, and the two final four games will be played in the non-championship cities.
• Other notes: (1) New bowl sites coming into existence must replace old ones.  (2) The first-round sites that are off of the playoff rotation will still hold bowl games.  More explanation on that to follow.  (3) I do realize that the Fiesta Bowl and the city of Phoenix are going to feel they got screwed here, as they are being demoted from a current BCS site to an elite 8 playoff site.  They’ll just have to get over it because the Fiesta has without a doubt less tradition and prestige associated with it than the rest of the BCS bowls.

Remaining Bowl Games:

• This is time where things get tricky, as I try to accommodate the rest of the bowl eligible teams who do not make the 16-team playoff.
• There will be 16 bowl games held at all the first-round sites who are off of the playoff rotation.
• The names of the bowls can either change depending on which bowl is being played each year, or a bowl game can be played every year at different sites.  It doesn’t really make a difference to me.
• The tie-ins for the bowls will try to replicate those for the current bowl games with the obvious omission of all tie-ins of conference champions.  Also, the number of bowl teams from each conference may fluctuate depending on how many teams it sends to the playoff in a particular season.
• Overall, in this system there will be 48 1-A postseason teams (16 in playoff, 32 in bowls), which is much more reasonable than the current number of 70.  Honestly, by taking out some of the garbage teams who currently squeak into bowl games, I think this system will actually make the bowl games more meaningful and watchable.