I didn’t do that, but maybe someone else in this thread did.
Weitzel has a follow-up column on his proposal for a 1-A playoff based on comments/questions from reader email.
He says 95% of the responses were positive, which seemed to shock him. Some of the other highlights:
On the complaint that a playoff would over-extend the season:
On the reasons you don’t hear about possible playoff scenarios in NCAA coverage:
On the current system making “every game matter”
On a playoff “watering down the regular season” as in the NFL:
You’re kidding, right?
You are aware that it is widely accepted throughout the country that the SEC has the toughest overall conference in the country year in and year out, right? That just getting through a typical season schedule as an SEC team makes it terribly difficult (if not damn near impossible at times) to make it to the National Championship, right?
The SEC has one team in the conference that is considered a scrub team, and I’d put them up against better than half of the top tier teams in other conferences throughout the country most any day. And they (Vandy) would actually have a decent shot at beating them.
Well this is just crap. First of all, I’m at a loss to see how LSU makes it back in. Everything I’ve read says that Georgia is the first two-loss team in the queue to go to the NC game is things just get royally fubared.
But more importantly, yeah, OSU could slide into the NC game, but it’s taken a lot of upsets and they, along with Georgia (barely), are the only two teams poised to take advantage of the missteps of others. In a playoff scenario, where a conference champ goes to the playoffs, you could have had Oklahoma forfeiting to OK State (I think… was anyone else in position to win the Big 12 South?), Michigan forfeiting to Wisconsin, LSU forfeiting to Arkansas, and I don’t even know what in the Big Easy and All Crap Conferences, and their chances of making the playoff would not be affected one bit. Oklahoma would still have to beat Missouri, Michigan beat OSU (yeah right), LSU would have to triumph against Tennessee, and whatever in the Big East and ACC, and that’s all that matters. The penultimate “regular season” game in each of these scenarios means shit.
That’s three (maybe two-and-a-half, if I’m wrong about OU) games that really don’t matter at all in the playoff scenario, but do in the BCS scenario. There may be more, and they’re going to happen every single year. It’s simple, unavoidable logic – if the grand prize is only open to two teams, it’s by definition harder to achieve than a grand prize open to sixteen teams.
Big Easy…what a crock of shit that is. It is probably the most competetive conference in all of football, except for possibly the SEC. Two cupcakes: Pitt and Syracuse, and even those two are great historically.
Last year, 5-0 in bowl games. I we were such a crap conference, then how did we beat all 5 of our bowl opponents last year?
What the hell? Are you offering Les Miles up as an example of someone who has gotten the most out of his team? He inherited a team that should be undefeated, but instead has 2 losses and is lucky that UK didn’t pull off a win against Tennessee; because Georgia would probably beat them in the SEC championship game. If LSU is lucky, Michigan will hire Les Miles, and they will be rid of him without buying him out (they’ll even get $1.25 mil.)
Ok, look. I like the Big East. I think it’s fascinating that programs like Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati, and UConn are really making themselves into tough football teams. But, c’mon. The most competitive conference in all of football except for the SEC? You really think they stack up top to bottom with the Pac-10? The Big XII? The Big 10?
I love to watch West Virginia play. I really wanted South Florida to run the table. I love that UConn’s starting to field a team (I’ve always wondered why they haven’t made the jump into a football power).
But don’t tell me that the Big East went 5-0 last year in bowl play. Sure, they did. But they played such powerhouses as East Carolina and Western Michigan. Louisville (which was a monster last year) played the luckiest team ever to win the ACC (Wake Forest). It was a disgrace that Louisville didn’t get to play a team that could challenge them.
Besides, you have to admit the following: The Big East is only 3 years removed from having two powerhouse programs leave your conference (Miami and VT). You’re only 3 years removed from sending 8-3 Pitt out to the Fiesta bowl to get killed by Utah.
That’s where the “Big Easy” comes from. Not to worry though, the conference is rapidly improving to the overall level of the other BCS conferences. I just wouldn’t argue that they’re second yet.
IIRC, the BCS was on the verge of removing the incentive to schedule crappy teams. Then a few years ago Southern Cal got shut out of the championship game because of their weak schedule, and the rules were changed to accommodate them and their ilk. This is why I now hate Southern Cal. And why I respect the computer polls. The computer polls don’t care WHEN you lost your game, or WHAT your preseason ranking was. And those are the 2 biggest flaws in the human polls.
The bowl system wasn’t designed to determine a champion; it was designed to generate money. Welcome to capitalism. I hope you learn to enjoy it.
Preach it, brother. Fuck Notre Dame.
No, I was offering Miles as a guy who’s in high demand compared to Nutt. That’s all, on the whole I agree with you, and as a Michigan-hater I’m not exactly quaking over his potential hire.
Yes, all time, the SEC has a 58% winning percentage against the Big 10.
However, in the last 5 years, Big 10 and SEC teams have played each other 14 times in bowl games. The results? 8-6 in favor of the Big 10.
I’m sick of the stupid ‘SEC is God’ stuff. The SEC is certainly a good football conference, and it is probably the strongest conference in the NCAA right now, but it isn’t light years ahead of anyone. I’m sick of the slant. Arkansas beats LSU, and it’s “See, the SEC is so good, even the bottom tier teams are good enough to knock off the best team in the country!” Ohio State loses to Illinois, and it’s not because Illinois is so good, it’s “see, OSU is a weak team.” It couldn’t possibly be because Illinois is actually a very, very good football team. The Big 10 had 7 teams ranked in the top 25 at some point in the year. That’s not a weak conference.
If there’s anything that’s been shown by the crazy results this year, it’s that there is real parity in college football right now. That’s a good thing! I too am a proponent for a playoff, and I really want a 16 team playoff. One auto-bid for EVERY Division I-A conference, plus 5 at-large bids. That way, every single team has a shot to win the national title, not just the handful who are in large conferences, or who happen to be ranked highly prior to the season. Heck, even if you ARE in a BCS conference, there have been years where going undefeated isn’t enough.
Oh…and Go Sooners!
Conference tournaments probably do more damage to the regular season than March Madness. But the expansion of the playoffs do hurt. The more wildcards you allow, the less important regular season games are.
Conference tournaments probably do more damage to the regular season than March Madness. But the expansion of the playoffs do hurt. The more wildcards you allow, the less important regular season games are.
IMHO, the best number of teams to have in a playoff to maintain the importance of the regular season, and insure that all deserving teams get a chance at the title, is 4. When’s the last time that a 5th ranked team could legitimately say “We are the best team in the nation, and we deserve a chance to prove it.”? And yet the 3rd ranked team can say this about every other year. So I’m in favor of a +1 system.
As far as conference championship games go, I think that every conference should have them, or none. With a “+1” system, I’m going to lean towards “every”. For an 8- or 16- team playoff, I’m going to lean towards “none” (mainly because there wouldn’t be enough time).
The dominoes are beginning to fall for Georgia. If they do end up in the championship game it will be the biggest travesty ever. They didn’t win their conference. Hell, they didn’t even with their division in their conference.
Boom. Down goes West Virginia.
You know, this season is almost tailor made for those arguing against the current post-season. What a world.
Seems like things are shaping up for a OSU-LSU title game. Very interesting.
And it’s time to start rooting for a Illini Rose Bowl berth. Not thrilled about facing USC though.
Much as I’d love to see Georgia in the championhip, I fully expect LSU to leapfrog them (and Kansas) and get into the title game. And the Tigers probably deserve their shot. They won the toughest conference, and their two losses were in overtime.
On the other hand, Georgia is the hottest team in the country right now. I sure would love to see them get a crack at the Buckeyes.
I’m sure OSU fans will be lobbying to play Kansas. 
I dunno, Va Tech beat a higher ranked BCS team (I don’t really understand the system)? Does it factor in that LSU spanked them early on in the season?
This national championship will be meaningless no matter who ends up there.
Yeah according to this week’s rankings VT is better than LSU, and they beat a, again according to the rankings, better team, and they did it more impressively. VT did lose to LSU, but that was the 2nd game of the season and Tech had a freshman QB. The Hoakies are a completely different team now then there were then.