The Semifinals (2011)

The Semifinals would take place on December 31st with the winners from the previous week.  The BCS Bowls would carry the remaining games.  Here are the match ups based on last week's polling:

The Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida)

(#5) Oregon vs. (#1) LSU

The Oregon Ducks face off against the LSU Tigers.  Expect speed versus strength in this epic showdown.

The Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, Louisiana)

(#3) Oklahoma St vs. (#2) Alabama
The Cowboys of Oklahoma State can now prove their worth against the Crimson Tide of Alabama.  The nation's best offense takes on the nation's best defense in the match-up the fans wanted to see.

The winners of these games will be determined by your votes and will face each other in the national championship game at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

What do you think would happen?

The Quarterfinals (2011)

Broncos take their shot at the Crimson Tide

Based on the votes from last week, the following teams have moved on to the quarterfinals.  The remaining rounds will be played at the sites of the several bowl games.

The sites have been chosen because these are traditionally more prestigious bowls (based on the usual rankings of the opponents).  I also wanted to prevent two bowl games from taking place in the same state on the same day to spread around the revenue.  The sites could rotate each season to get different match ups.  As a BCS bowl, the Fiesta Bowl would rotate with the semifinal sites.  Site selection of these rounds would be highly controversial.

The quarterfinals would take place on December 24th.

The Peach Bowl (Atlanta Georgia)
(9) Wisconsin vs (1) LSU
The Big 10 Champion, Wisconsin Badgers, pulled off the only upset of the opening round and look to take on the SEC Champion LSU Tiger in the Peach Bowl.

The Fiesta Bowl (Tempe, Arizona)
(5) Oregon vs (4) Stanford
The Stanford Cardinal get an opportunity for redemption in this rematch against Pac-12 Champion, Oregon Ducks.  Expect an explosion of points at the Fiesta Bowl.

The Capital One Bowl (Orlando Florida)
(6) Arkansas vs (3) Oklahoma State
Big 12 Champion, OSU Cowboys, face their first SEC opponent of the season, the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Capital One Bowl.

The Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas)
(7) Boise State vs (2) Alabama
The Boise State Broncos must bring their mid-major magic to the Cotton Bowl, where they will meet the Alabama Crimson Tide.

How do you think each game will turn out?  Vote in the Side Bar for each game!

Next week, the SEMIFINALS will be set based on this week's voting!

An Inclusive Tournament

In 2008, Utah finished 13-0 and #2 in the polls.

The most common criticism of my playoff system seems to be my inclusion of the lower-tier conferences. While on a few levels it seems like a valid criticism, the mid-majors are integral to changing college football.  Our current system focuses on the 6 power conferences and excludes everyone else.  To find a True National Champion, every team must have a theoretical chance to win it. 

In every level of football -- EVERY -- the conference champion receives an automatic bid to their playoffs.  Without that, there would be no reason to have conferences.  That isn't something we can just skip over because we don't think that they belong.  If your team passes the criteria for the FBS, then you should not be overlooked.  As a Rules Committee, you must do what is fair and just for all of the teams - not just the ones you think should win the title.

I understand that The Sun Belt and the MAC don't have much of a chance paired against the SEC or Big 12.  That is why they are the lower seeded team - they are supposed to lose.  But can you imagine the shock when the first 15-seed beats the #2?  Upsets fuel the excitement for the playoffs.

To completely dismiss a team because of their conference forgets the surge of Utah, Boise State, TCU and the teams that may follow them.  Utah had a legitimate argument for a national championship but were denied even the opportunity because of their conference.  Any playoff system would have allowed the undefeated Utah to play themselves into a championship by virtue of their on-field performance instead of political polling.  Utah's exclusion from the 2008 Championship game cemented my position against the BCS and in favor of a playoff system that includes everyone.

Opening Round Match-Ups for 2011

To place the National Championship game on the same night, the opening round of the FBS playoffs would begin on December 17th.  Each game would be played at the home field of the team with the higher seed.

Can R. Wilson take the Badgers to the Quarter finals?

We would see the following games:

(1)  LSU   vs   Louisiana Tech  (16)

(8)  Kansas St.   vs   Wisconsin  (9)

(5)  Oregon   vs   Southern Miss  (12)

(4)  Stanford   vs   West Virginia  (13)

(3)  Oklahoma St.   vs   Arkansas St.  (14)

(6)  Arkansas   vs   TCU  (11)

(7)  Boise St.  vs   Clemson  (10)

(2)  Alabama   vs   Northern Illinois  (15)

Even the first round could provide some exciting match ups.  Sure, the 1, 2, and 3 seeds would roll but so do the #1's in college basketball.  Each of the other games are open to debate.  Clemson playing on the blue turf in Boise would be a great game.  Oregon and Southern Miss could be surprising.  I wouldn't count TCU or West Virginia out of the second round just yet.

How do you think each game will turn out?  Vote in the Side Bar for each game!

Next week, the Quarterfinals will be set based on this week's voting!

Seeding a 2011 BCS Playoff

Based on the outcomes of Conference Championship Games, Tiebreakers and the final BCS rankings, my tournament would be seeded in the following manner:

OkSt should get a chance to prove themselves!

1. LSU (13-0 - SEC Champion)
2. Alabama (11-1 - At-Large Bid)
3. Oklahoma State (11-1 - Big 12 Champion)
4. Stanford (11-1 - At-Large Bid)
5. Oregon (11-2 - Pac 12 Champion)
6. Arkansas (10-2 - At-Large Bid)
7. Boise State (11-1 - At-Large Bid)
8. Kansas State (10-2 - At-Large Bid)
9. Wisconsin (11-2 - Big 10 Champion)
10. Clemson (10-3 - ACC Champion)
11. TCU (10-2 - MWC Champion)
12. Southern Miss (11-2 - CUSA Champion)
13. West Virginia (9-3 - Big East Champion)
14. Arkansas State (10-2 - Sun Belt Champion)
15. Northern Illinois (10-3 - MAC Champion)
16. Louisiana Tech (8-4 - WAC Champion)

Each of these teams have earned the right to play for a National Championship to be decided on turf and dirt instead of paper.  This system will not completely end the controversy but will produce a fairer field of teams.

Final BCS Rankings of 2011

Alabama will have another shot at LSU for the National Championship!

These are the final BCS Rankings for the 2011 College Football Season.  The Playoff Seedings will be based on these rankings.

BCS	School	Record
1	LSU	13–0	**
2	Alabama	11–1	+
3	Oklahoma State	11–1	**
4	Stanford	11–1	+
5	Oregon	11–2	**
6	Arkansas	10–2	+
7	Boise State	11–1	+
8	Kansas State	10–2	+
9	South Carolina	10–2
10	Wisconsin	11–2	**
11	Virginia Tech	11–2
12	Baylor	9–3
13	Michigan	10–2
14	Oklahoma	9–3
15	Clemson	10–3	**
16	Georgia	10–3
17	Michigan State	10–3
18	TCU	10–2	**
19	Houston	12–1
20	Nebraska	9–3
21	Southern Miss	11–2	**
22	Penn State	9–3
23	West Virginia	9–3	**
24	Texas	7–5
25	Auburn	7–5

**Teams that receive an AUTOMATIC BID as Conference Champions**
+ Teams that receive an AT-LARGE BID +
NOTE:  Three Conference Champions are unranked, but will receive an AUTOMATIC BID (Northern Illinois, Arkansas State, and Louisiana Tech)

Conference Champions 2011

This list contains the 11 Conference Champions for the 2011 Season.

Clemson stuns Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game

1. ACC - Clemson (10-3)
2. Big East - West Virginia (9-3)*
3. Big 10 - Wisconsin (11-2)
4. Big 12 - Oklahoma St (11-1)
5. CUSA - Southern Miss (11-2)
6. MAC - Northern Illinois (10-3)
7. MWC - TCU (10-2)
8. Pac12 - Oregon (11-2)
9. SEC - LSU (13-0)
10. SunBelt - Arkansas St (10-2)
11. WAC - Louisiana Tech (8-4)

*West Virginia finished the Big East season in a 3-way tie with Cincinnati and Louisville.  Based on their conference rules, the Mountaineers receive the BCS automatic bid because of the final rankings.

The BCS Playoffs

Here is my system which I come up with during Grad School and have been tweaking each year.

Who Gets In:

Each of the 11 conferences receive one automatic bid given to their conference champion.  If the have a championship game, then the winner of that game goes to the playoffs.  If they do not have a playoff, the conference will decide who gets in and how ties are broken.

In addition, the Top 5 non-conference champs will receive a bid to the playoffs.  As so often happens, the same conference will have several teams at the top of the poles.

What are the Seeds:

The teams will be seeded based on the final BCS rankings after the conference championship games.  The BCS ranking is determined through a combination of human and computer polling.

When will they Play:

The Opening Round games will be played the Saturday after the championship games.  The Quarterfinals and Semifinals will follow on the subsequent Saturdays.  The True National Championship game will be played on the second Monday night of January.

Where will they Play:

Opening Round games will be played at the home stadium of the higher ranked team.

Quarterfinals will be played at the sites of the Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA), Fiesta Bowl (Tempe, AZ), Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas, TX).

Semifinals will be played at the sites of the Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) and the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA).

The True National Championship Game will be played at the site of the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA).

Why?

More to follow later...

Major College Football Needs a True National Champion

The BCS began as an attempt to crown a true national champion while continuing the proud tradition of Bowl Games.  While each year the #1 and #2 play each other in the title game, the teams have not been selected without controversy.  Sometimes more than two teams could be undefeated and other times no teams are undefeated.  How can you truly select between three one-loss teams?

We can all agree that LSU deserves their #1 ranking this year.  But how can you make the decision between Alabama and Oklahoma State?  Alabama has already had their change with LSU and failed.  Do they earn a rematch because they beat the same teams LSU did?  Oklahoma State stumbled once, as did the other teams besides LSU, which shouldn't prevent them from playing for the championship.  A True National Championship should not be determined by voting or computer generated polls.

Decide it on the Field!

Put the best teams in the country on the field to play for the championship.  Every other level of football - NFL, FCS, Division II, Division III, High School, Canadian, Arena, and more -- selects their champion through a playoff system.  The FBS needs to adopt a similar strategy.  The NCAA already runs three successful football tournaments and every other sports; they should be able to initiate another.

The calls for a college football playoff grow louder each season.  The NCAA will have to succumb to the pressure sooner or later.  In this blog, I will provide my simple solution which I think provides a compromise between the two sides of the debate.  But most importantly, my plan will crown a true National Champion for major college football.