Thursday poll: Four team playoff for college football championship

[badger]

Like or no like.

Four days of votin' anonymously. You cannot change your vote and since there's only two options, vote for ONE.

[cccasooner2]

I like the old-old ways. Have AP, McDonalds, Our Lady of Devotion, Hustler, LA Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, and SoonerFans.com National Championship awards to name just a few.

[badger]

I like the old-old ways.

Before the dark times. Before the Empire. [/obiwan]

[rock on sooner]

Four teams now, more to come down the road....

[BoulderSooner79]

4 chances to get in will make the end of the season more exciting for more fans. And more depressing when their team is the first team left out. I'll just see how it goes and will admit massive bias that I'll like it if it helps OU and hate it if it doesn't.

I note that the new format actually hurts teams that would have finished 1-2 under the old formula since they now have to win 2 games instead of 1 to get the trophy.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

All I know is I hope Stoops has a monster ready to roll in 2014. Sure I want us to win it every year. But to have the feather in your cap of winning the first real playoff? That would be teh allsome.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Likey. But would rather have had an 8 team. I think that would be perfect. 16 just too many games and really is overkill for this level of football. But make it 6 "major conference" champs and two highest ranked wild cards? That would be the real deal. And then your quarterfinals are 4 original... Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange. Sites bid for remaining 3 games.

[BoulderSooner79]

My "like" vote is for the new format vs. the old. Not for the new format vs. some other proposal that didn't get accepted. My major misgiving is "the committee" and transparency.

[SoonerorLater]

I'm old school on this. I mean really old school. Ten game season, 6-8 team conference, out of conference games that mean something. National Championship decided before bowl games. This is the recipe that made college football. People just have this unexplainable desire to constantly tinker with winning formulas. Anybody remember " New Coke". That's what this playoff is.

[TheUnnamedSooner]

Enjoy the next 12 years before the playoff gets expanded. The way they are going about it will be really exciting I think. Top 4 teams playing for National title. The remaining 4 "big bowls" will also get teams selected by committee. Top 12 teams all playing each other will be fun. And the big plus is that it doesn't take away from the regular season.

[budbarrybob]

I'm old school on this. I mean really old school. Ten game season, 6-8 team conference, out of conference games that mean something. National Championship decided before bowl games. This is the recipe that made college football. People just have this unexplainable desire to constantly tinker with winning formulas. Anybody remember " New Coke". That's what this playoff is.

While I can appreciate your nostalgia of yore. College football is more popular than ever. The old school you refer to is the 3 networks that dictated what was on TV and you had no choice but to watch their brand of FB. Thanks to the BCS/tinkering we will now have as much of a de facto Champion that people have been clamoring for. Having the National Championship decided before bowl games would make them about as meaningful as the Pro Bowl in the NFL. The new system will all but eliminate the possibility of a split MNC. And to use a tinkering analogy. I kinda like the Ipod/Iphone over the 8-track and dial/pulse telephone.

[badger]

No offense to old schoolers, BUT...

- NCAA limiting how many times a football program can be televised per year.

- Football programs not being eligible to participate in bowls in back-to-back seasons

- Players not being able to play their freshmen year

- No black players

- Champion decided before bowl games

- Notre Dame being good enough to give OU the losses to start and finish the 47-game winning streak

- Having less than 5 Heismans and 7 National Championships

The ol' days are gone and they weren't all good.

[SoonerMarkVA]

Had to vote no. We need at least 8, and I'd ideally like to see 16. First two rounds at the higher-seed's home field, the "Final Four" at the mix of bowls we're talking about for the 4-team.

[8timechamps]

Voted "yes", although I'd prefer eight. But, it's better than what we had, and something I never thought I would see.


I was thinking about this today, how many fan-bases can realistically say "we have a legitimate shot at being in the playoffs this year" on a consistent basis? Maybe 10? I love being a Sooner!

[SoonerorLater]

Not to confuse technological advancement and NCAA regulations with the scope and focus of college football. The NCAA has been making and changing rules since they were formed. The problem is these institutions are taking college football and squeezing the life out of it with their greed. College football was not originated as a money making proposition. The powers that be now have nothing but dollar signs in their eyes. The NFL is about money. College football shouldn't be. It should be about rivalries and the experience of college students not monied box seat ticket holders and television revenue. A playoff just lends itself to college football going further down the road as nothing more then an NFL developmental league.

[WA. Sooner]

The problem with the playoff is that it will end up being like college basketball. They will keep expanding the playoffs until the regular season doesn't mean much.

[Curly Bill]

The problem with the playoff is that it will end up being like college basketball. They will keep expanding the playoffs until the regular season doesn't mean much.

You can absolutely bank on this!

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Had to vote no. We need at least 8, and I'd ideally like to see 16. First two rounds at the higher-seed's home field, the "Final Four" at the mix of bowls we're talking about for the 4-team.

I agree with 8. 16 IMO is pointless. Generally there has been a pretty sharp dropoff after teams #4-6. Last year might have been an exception with a real solid top 8 or so. But take a look at #'s 11-16 going into the bowls (IOW prior to the bowls being played):

KSU 10-2
Michigan State 10-3
Michigan 10-2
Clemson 10-3
Baylor 9-3
TCU 10-2

I just don't think you can make much of an argument that those teams did enough to demonstrate they should be playing for a national championship in a 16 team playoff. Really, I can't remember any year where you would have said number 10 ranked XYZ University passed the eyeball test from their body of work that you could say they deserved to be playing for an NC.