The way the BCS should be

[slapshot]

You don't need to have a consolation bowl. The top 4 teams or so would be already playing in a prestigious bowl. Money aside, I don't think an obviously 3rd-place game is going to generate much ratings. Those teams already played their bowl game. Adding another one for them is unnecessary. Save the extra game for the national championship only.

It's similar logic to other sports. Would anyone care the see the 2 best teams not going to the Super Bowl play each other? Second best AFC to second best NFC? I doubt it. Same logic applies to a consolation game for the NCAA.

[jrh31584]

My often-posted 16 team playoff idea:

First, the season would be moved back such that all regular season and conference championship games would be finished by Thanksgiving weekend.

The field would consist of 8 conference champions and 8 at-large teams, chosen by a selection commitee.

The teams would be seeded in the manner of the basketball tournaments, with 4 #1 seeds, 4 #2s, etc.

The brackets would be set up so as to delay as long as possible matchups between teams in the same conference or teams that played each other.

First-round games would be held at bowl sites on the Thursday and Saturday following the championship games.

The quarterfinals would be held at those same bowl sites the following Saturday.

Semifinals would be held at a bowl site December 23 and 25 (22-24 if Christmas is a Sunday)

The Championship would be New Year's Day at the site of the semifinals.

The lesser bowl games would still exist and be able to bid to host playoff games. The sites would get to host games for 5 years, with 1 year as the home of the final four.

Here's what it would look like this year, using the BCS bowls and the Cotton as the sites, with the championship in Miami:

Rose Bowl regional:

December 2

Boise State vs. Georgia

December 4

Southern California vs. Miami

December 11

BSU-UGA winner vs. USC-UM winner

Fiesta Bowl regional:

December 2

Utah vs. Iowa

December 4

Texas vs. Tennessee

December 11

UU-UI winner vs. Tex-Tenn winner

Cotton Bowl regional:

December 2

Virginia Tech vs. Louisiana State

December 4

Oklahoma vs. Michigan

December 11

VT-LSU winner vs. OU-UM winner

Sugar Bowl regional:

December 2

California vs. Louisville

December 4

Auburn vs. Florida State

December 11

UC-UL winner vs. AU-FSU winner

Final Four from Miami:

December 23

Cotton Bowl winner vs. Sugar Bowl winner

December 25

Rose Bowl winner vs. Fiesta Bowl winner

January 1

Semifinal winners