Two years ago, I designed a detailed, exquisite, totally workable 32-team playoff system to replace the current abortion of a system employed by the NCAA. Back then, it seemed like a legitimate proposition. Today, with the muddled mess of the BCS standings, it seems like an even more legitimate proposition. For those who are a bit rusty, here are the parameters:
-It's a five-round, 32-team tournament. Teams are put in one of four regionals, and seeded 1 through 8. If this sounds eerily similar to the NCAA basketball tournament's format, it's pretty much based off of that. The formula works--why fuck with it? Also borrowed from the hoops world will be the selection/seeding process--only with BCS replacing RPI, and the 33-35th teams bitching instead of the 66-68th. Like March Madness, every conference champion is given an automatic bid--meaning that Northern Illinois and Arkansas State get theirs. Granted, they are not seeded highly, but they've got theirs.
-It's designed to easily replace the bowl system in schedule, and still be a manageable season. The NFL plays 16 games. The most games a team could play in this system is 18. The scheduling might need some tweaking to compensate for the conferences with a championship game. But that's a whole other discussion for another day.
-The opening round would be played during the second weekend of December, when bowl season usually kicks off. The high seed would host the opening-round game. The second round would be played the following weekend, at a neutral site for the region. The third round would be at the same regional site, a week laster. The national semifinals would be played on New Year's Day, and the National Championship would be a week later. As with March Madness, the Final Four will be held at a rotating location--though I'd like to see the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange Bowls survive as the permanent regional hosts. In fact, let's change that for this year's version: instead of the Midwest, West, South, and East regions; we will have the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange regions respectively. Done. Love it.
Before we start, a few quick notes on the matchups: like the NCAA Tournament selection committee, I tried my damn hardest to avoid inter-conference matchups, which led to wacky things like Georgia in the Rose/Midwest and Cincinatti in the Fiesta/West. I'm sure there are still a few potential ones. So be it. The number one seeds, in order of their seeding: LSU, Alabama/Oklahoma State, Oregon. The beauty of this system this year is that LSU gets the easiest path to the national title game, while Bama and OK State get to settle it on New Years for the right to play them--if neither gets tripped up along the way.
Sugar Region
1 LSU
2 Kansas State
3 South Carolina
4 Oklahoma
5 Houston
6 Southern Mississippi
7 Auburn
8 Arkansas State
Analysis: Poor Arkansas State. Or are they the big winners in this system? The small school who gets to tell their respective grandkids about the time they played postseason football against the Honey Badger. Other than that, this region mostly exists as a rubber stamp for the Bayou Bengals. K-State-Auburn could be a huge point of contention in the SEC/Big 12 rivalry. Oklahoma/Houston is a great "little conference gets a shot at the big dog" matchup, before the winner is unceremoniously shredded by LSU. And the Tigers may get a Regional Final shot at the best SEC team they never got to play.
Projections: LSU, K-State, SoCar, and Houston advance. LSU over South Carolina in the final.
Fiesta Region
1 Oregon
2 Stanford
3 Baylor
4 Michigan
5 TCU
6 West Virginia
7 Cincinatti
8 Missouri
Analysis: This region looks to have the most even middle of the field. 3-6 and 4-5 both look like great matchups, and you know Stanford is itching for a revenge shot at Oregon. We've got a potential second-round showdown between Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin. I see Griffin leading Baylor over Stanford in that matchup, then stunning Oregon to head to the Final Four.
Projections: Oregon, Stanford, Baylor, TCU advance. Baylor over Oregon in the final.
Orange Region
1 Alabama
2 Arkansas
3 Virginia Tech
4 Clemson
5 Nebraska
6 Penn State
7 Florida State
8 Georgia Tech
Analysis: We come to the first upset trap region! Nebraska has shown flashes of brilliance in their first Big Ten season, Penn State was favored to win the division until the Sandusky scandal and Paterno firing submarined their season, Arkansas hasn't beaten anyone this year, and Georgia Tech's quirky, anachronistic triple option attack has been known to work miracles against world-beater defense (like Bama's). I think Alabama is the only home team to survive the opening weekend, and they roll through the region.
Projections: Alabama, Florida State, Penn State, Nebraska advance. Alabama over Penn State in the final.
Rose Region
1 Oklahoma State
2 Boise State
3 Wisconsin
4 Georgia
5 Michigan State
6 Texas
7 Northern Illinois
8 Notre Dame
Analysis: Oklahoma State will be favored by at least ten points too few thanks to Notre Dame's name recognition, then proceed to run roughshod as Touchdown Jesus is unable to cover Justin Blackmon. Wisconsin came two Hail Marys away from an unbeaten season, and I really don't see how they wouldn't be favored over Boise--luckily, Texas is not their normal self this season. Every other region seemed cut and dry--this one could have any of five teams go all the way, and would undoubtedly see the most ESPN Classic matchups, with Oklahoma State-Wisconsin probably the best of all. Bet the over and enjoy the show.
Projections: OK State, Boise, Wisconsin, Michigan State advance. Oklahoma State over Wisconsin in the final.
Final Four Analysis: So by my count, we've got LSU vs. Baylor and Alabama vs. Oklahoma State on New Years, with the winners meeting a week later. For the record, I wanted to pick Wisconsin over Oklahoma State so bad, but figured that the team's M.O. was to lose in heartbreaking fashion with less than a minute left. It's still likely that we're crowning LSU the national champion--but now, either Bama or Oklahoma State can say that they earned the right to lose to them. Or maybe, like happens every year in college basketball, we will find out that we have absolutely no idea once we step outside the world of hypotheticals and on the field.
I'll take that over a national championship rematch any day.
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