The Players Favor Playoff System

Pretty much everyone other than the Powers That Be would prefer to see College Football decide the National Champion in a playoff format.  CBS's Brett Murphy reports a poll of players from the Top 4 teams of 2011: LSU, Alabama, Ok State, and Stanford.  From these teams, 43% favored a playoff system to just 19% supporting the current bowl system.  The remaining 38% were undecided.  Over half of Oklahoma State players (54%) wanted a playoff system for fairly obvious reasons.

Stanford's Johnson Bademosi provides the money quote:

The BCS [bowls] don't necessarily select the best teams," Bademosi said. "They select the teams that will provide the biggest draws, so a lot of teams like Boise State get left out. That's not fair. 

If I'm on top of a BCS committee, of course I don't want a playoff. Look how much money they're pulling in, how much money they're making for themselves and it's going well. If you create what Division I-AA has, that would be the fairest thing that can happen, but that creates a much longer season.

I would imagine extending that poll to Oregon, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Boise State, and Kansas State would have had an even higher opinion of a playoff system.

The Finals (2011)

After another round of voting, we arrive at the conclusion of this fake playoff system.  Sixteen teams with representatives from each of the FBS conferences met on the hypothetical field of battle leading a game that would establish a True National Champion for major college football.

The True National Championship Game falls on the exact same day as our current system for full primetime viewing.  It should also take place at the bowl that started this whole mess, the "Granddaddy of the All":

The Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)

(#3) Oklahoma St. vs. (#1) LSU

The undefeated LSU Tigers face the potent offense of the OSU Cowboys on January 9, 2012 to crown a True National Champion!

Thank you to all of you who voted in different weeks.  The voting wasn't my original idea for this site, but just a fun way to show how my system would work on a weekly basis.  This mythical national championship game is no better (and no worse) than the one we will be seeing next Monday.  

In both circumstances, the teams were chosen by voting - which anyone can tell you doesn't always work out.  Our internet voters are passionate college football fans who cared enough to click a link and then press submit on a polling app.  The actual voters (Press and Coaches) are equally flawed.

Regional biases  always influence the votes in college football either for the Top 25 or for the Heisman.  The Coaches don't have time to watch all of the teams in the country to form an adequate opinion (or in some cases their Grad Assistants), instead their votes skew towards their conferences or opponents who they have studied.  Likewise, the reporters favor the teams they cover showing more region bias or have personal grudges against a school, team or coach.

My system proposes a compromise between the bowlers and the tourneys.  Tradition does not get thrown away, but doesn't control the whole sport.  Teams don't get in because they can bring more fans to a city, and every college football team has a reasonable chance to play for a national championship.