College Football Playoff Overhaul

I'm not sure, because I don't know what college basketball looked like back then. We have tons of nostalgia and imagery about college football throughout its history, but not with college basketball.

 

Well, personally I don't see how a playoff would be a whole lot different from what we have now. And I'm not saying that what we have now is perfect. Of course, I don't think what we had yesteryear was perfect either. But I don't see how a playoff would have much negative impact over what we have now. It would be almost just as if the 4 teams who won BCS bowls got together for a 3-game playoff (two semis and a final).

Now, granted, my proposal at the beginning of this thread suggests huge conference changes as well. That's mostly just for fun. I'd be thrilled if we took the current conference structure and went with automatic bids for those 11 champs and then one extra bid. But I'd prefer it if the conferences were more equally yoked and if they all selected their champion the same way (i.e. - with two divisions and a title game). I'm not too keen on the idea of a Sun Belt champion being one of the 8 teams in the playoff, based just on the fact that they had the best record in the Sun Belt. I'm not fundamentally against it and I'd take it over what we have now, but I'd prefer to have the conferences be a little more similar.

 

Parody?

Nope. Absolutely not. Playing to the crowd is what causes one to "jump the shark."

If you try to institute what the fans want, you will end up with crap. The fans only care about one thing: Their own entertainment.

Besides, the fans have already spoken by attending the games, buying the junk, and turning on their tvs. College football is wildly popular right now, and always has been.

Archaic? Hardly. We don't have a playoff system because college football doesn't always just give the fans what they want.

We have the BCS today because of fan crying, "We need #1 vs #2!" Okay, so we got #1 vs #2 and the fans now find more things to bitch about.

 

When the BCS was implemented, did you see all the problems we are having now?

Playoff proponents never, ever see the problems. As they figure it, let's get the playoff system first, we'll fix the problems later. But the problems I presented are not fix-able.

You can never go back. If a playoff ends up hurting college football, it's permanent.

 

Good post.

 

you are right again letting computers decide the championship is a great way to settle the argument. you are a dinosaur my friend. fans are bitching because they want the real deal. this system is retarded, and if you don't recognize that, then you are just a sad little re re. keep the blinders on and enjoy the institution as it is

 

I say again the presidents and AD's will not vote to let the NCAA control college football playoff's, nor should they. Would you really think ball would be better than it is now?

 

yes

 

When college football is on, turn off the tv.

Seriously, turn it off.

After all, if the system is as bad as you say it is, vote with your feet. How can a fan possibly enjoy a game when the "system" is so unfair? So this coming year, I expect that fans will say "enough!" and simply not watch college football.

What's this? College football is enormously popular? That can't be! College football should be emulating hockey or golf. Clearly those sports have it all worked out, which is why people are clamoring for tickets.

Why are you watching now?

 

That some teams could still go undefeated and not play for the championship? Yes.

That we were leaving it up to intricate computer algorithms and ignorant voters to decide who should play and who shouldn't? Yes.

That it wouldn't be as good as a playoff? Yes.

You say there are going to be problems and throw your hands up in defeat. Sure there are going to be problems. But there are problems now. There were problems in the 50's. There are ALWAYS problems. If you operate with a fear of problems, there won't be any progress.

You're exactly right, though. There IS a chance that a playoff could be worse for college football. And if it IS worse, a change can be made to go back. What you're afraid of is that it won't be worse and, therefore, we won't go back. If things are better with a playoff, it'll stay. If things are worse with a playoff, it won't.

 

Let me see if I'm catching your drift.

Are you suggesting that if someone thinks that something they love could be better, they should avoid it until it gets better?

Are you suggesting that if something is more popular than something else, it's as good as it can be?

Are you suggesting that if something is more popular than something else, it can learn nothing from the thing that's less popular?

 

But college football is already popular. There is nothing we need to fix that is so urgent that we can risk introducing more problems into the system, especially if they are crippling.

Sure, if the sport was on the decline I could understand. Change needs to happen at that point. But why risk it now?

No! You can never go back. Once a playoff is instituted, it will be permanent. There will be simply too much money tied up to make the changes.

It's like trying to put the spirit back in Christmas. Once the media and advertising industry has their hooks in it, you can never go back. People all over clamor for the better days when Christmas really meant something, but those days are gone and they can never be recreated. That's the way it is in a consumer-driven market.

And the same applies to college football.

So here is the analogy I would use. Imagine college football as a quaint little fishing village off the coast of Oregon. Now, here comes Wal-Mart (the playoffs). The people of the village say, "We need lower prices!" Some, like me, say that Wal-Mart will make your lives cheaper, but the village will never be the same.

I am not a no-growth person by nature, but there is a time when you need to preserve the heritage of that which you love. Playoff proponents just cannot see the impact the playoffs will have on the charm and spirit of the game. They just can't see far ahead enough.

No, I am saying "Quit acting like college football is some horrible, horrible thing thrust on you that can only be enjoyed if we make drastic changes.

 

The BCS was Wal-Mart. The playoffs are Target. College football is not a quaint little fishing village off the coast of Oregon anymore. It already has Wal-Mart. Sure, bringing in Target will make it less like a quaint little fishing village off the coast of Oregon, but it will make it better than a formerly quaint, formerly little, small fishing town with only a Wal-Mart.

What impact will it have?

Quit acting like that's what I'm acting like. I'm not saying "College football is terrible and something needs to be done to rescue it from certain death." I'm saying "College football is great. You know a way to make it even greater? Give schools like TCU and Cincinnati and Boise State...or ANY undefeated school that is left out...a fair shot at the title."

You said yourself that you'd like to see a level playing field and a playoff is the best/only way to do that. The only difference that I see is that you fear the changes that a playoff would bring and I don't.

 

Cuz I love college football. If you believe that Texass and Bama are the only two teams that deserve a shot to play for the championship, then continue to live in your world of bliss where the system is perfect

 

I agree. And how did we end up with Wal-Mart? By not being happy with what we had and thinking that a little twist here and a little twist there would make things better.

So fans got their #1 vs #2. The village got its Wal-Mart.

Now, everyone is unhappy. The Wal-Mart opened, and urban blight has set in. "I don't understand. I thought things would be better when all those jobs became available."

But we will never learn our lesson. Never. We will constantly modify college football to suit our whims, and the game will deteriorate more and more. And in the end, we will have a miniature version of the NFL.

Maybe that is what everyone wants.

 

The whole concept of analogy escapes you, so I'm not going to bother responding. Figure it out on your own.

 

Let me put it to you like this. If you could wave a magic wand and instantly return college football to a bygone era, which would be the ideal one for you? Would you just go back to the time before the BCS? Would you go back to the time when the national champion was crowned before the bowl games? How many bowl games would we have? Etc...

 

I think the national title would best be crowned after the bowl games, although I could see it either way.

As for number of bowl games? I really don't care. As long as there is a city wanting to invite a couple of teams to play, let them play.

So I ask, do you see my point? You don't have to agree, of course, but do you see what I am trying to prevent?