2010 NCAA Football Thread

[infrared41]

Outside of being "fair", (and let's not pretend any money making sport is fair) there's really no point in giving the Sun Belt, MAC, C-USA etc. automatic playoff spots. It's a waste of time and we all know it.

People thought Butler and George Mason were wastes of time in March Madness. Turns out they weren't. Maybe football's version of George Mason or Butler could come from those conferences - who knows? But by winning their conferences, the Sun Belt, MAC, and C-USA champions have earned at least a shot at the title, realistic or not.

Also, I find it hard to believe that the same NCAA who just expanded March Madness to 68 teams would refuse to go along with a 16-team playoff in football.

I think we all can agree that it's much easier to make a run in basketball than it would be in football. There's a reason the "big" football schools win 99.9% of their match-ups with lower tier cupcakes. We all know that Miami (Ohio) wouldn't stand a chance against Auburn. If those two teams played 100 times, Auburn would win 100 of them. Using basketball is a bad comparison. It's just different with football.

The NCAA won't even look at a playoff. We'd be lucky to get 8 teams.

[LMU]

FBS: 85 scholarships/school, 120 teams

D-1 Basketball: 13 scholarships/school, 346 teams

There's your difference.

[Seadragon76]

But I'm not arguing in favor of making it like the 1-AA playoffs. I'm arguing in favor of making a playoff system like SI's proposal:

OK, whoever made the bracket goofed with the Sun Belt champ. Florida International would be the rep from the Sun Belt because they won the head to head tiebreaker with Troy.

And why not a 12 team playoff? The FCS has 20 teams in their postseason. Division II has 24 teams. Division III has 32 teams. You cannot tell me that this is not feasible in any way shape or form. I've heard all the excuses over the years, and that's what they are: excuses.

So, for those who do care... Here's the 2010 version of Seadragon's Playoff Plan.

-12 teams (11 Conference Champions and 1 At-Large)

-The At-Large bid can either be given to the best ranking Independent program at the end of the season or it can be given to the best team that is not a conference champion.

-Rules for At-Large Bid:

-Must win at least 9 games (This rule also applies to the Indies)

-Eight or more of the wins must come against FBS schools

-The At-Large winner cannot be seeded in the Top 4

So, with the rules in place, the next step is seeding.

-The seeding would be based on a form of the Sagarin Ratings and the final regular season AP Poll. The 4 Highest ranking conference champions will be given the top 4 seeds.

-Each game in the first two rounds is held at the higher seed.

-The Semifinals, Third Place and Championship Game are held at the BCS Bowls (Fiesta would be the National Championship Game this season, Orange is the host for the Third Place Game and the Rose and Sugar would be the Semifinals)

So, the top four seeds are as follows:

1. Auburn (SEC Champion)

2. Oregon (Pac-10 Champion

3. TCU (Mountain West Champion)

4. Wisconsin (Big Ten Champion)

Now, the remaining 6 conference champions (and At-Large) are as follows

5. Stanford (At-Large bid)

6. Oklahoma (Big 12 Champion)

7. Boise State (WAC Champion)

8. Virginia Tech (ACC Champion)

9. UConn (Big East Champion)

10. UCF (Conference USA Champion)

11. Miami [Ohio] (MAC Champion)

12. Florida International (Sun Belt Champion)

So, the first round games would be like this:

-UConn at Virginia Tech (Winner at Auburn)

-Florida International at Stanford (Winner at Wisconsin)

-Miami [Ohio] at Oklahoma (Winner at TCU)

-UCF at Boise State (Winner at Oregon)

[Lights Out]

OK, whoever made the bracket goofed with the Sun Belt champ. Florida International would be the rep from the Sun Belt because they won the head to head tiebreaker with Troy.

Their bracket was made a couple weeks ago, hence why the seeding and some of the teams are wrong.

[Seadragon76]

OK, whoever made the bracket goofed with the Sun Belt champ. Florida International would be the rep from the Sun Belt because they won the head to head tiebreaker with Troy.

Their bracket was made a couple weeks ago, hence why the seeding and some of the teams are wrong.

Never mind... But that is a nice bracket though.

[WJMorris3]

OK, whoever made the bracket goofed with the Sun Belt champ. Florida International would be the rep from the Sun Belt because they won the head to head tiebreaker with Troy.

Their bracket was made a couple weeks ago, hence why the seeding and some of the teams are wrong.

Never mind... But that is a nice bracket though.

I do not like that bracket, if only because I think the at-large teams do not have a true claim to the title, because they didn't win their conference. A bracket with just the 11 conference champions makes sense. Anyone who has a reasonable claim (read: wins their conference) is in.

[HedleyLamarr]

Outside of being "fair", (and let's not pretend any money making sport is fair) there's really no point in giving the Sun Belt, MAC, C-USA etc. automatic playoff spots. It's a waste of time and we all know it.

People thought Butler and George Mason were wastes of time in March Madness. Turns out they weren't. Maybe football's version of George Mason or Butler could come from those conferences - who knows? But by winning their conferences, the Sun Belt, MAC, and C-USA champions have earned at least a shot at the title, realistic or not.

Also, I find it hard to believe that the same NCAA who just expanded March Madness to 68 teams would refuse to go along with a 16-team playoff in football.

I think we all can agree that it's much easier to make a run in basketball than it would be in football. There's a reason the "big" football schools win 99.9% of their match-ups with lower tier cupcakes. We all know that Miami (Ohio) wouldn't stand a chance against Auburn. If those two teams played 100 times, Auburn would win 100 of them. Using basketball is a bad comparison. It's just different with football.

The NCAA won't even look at a playoff. We'd be lucky to get 8 teams.

The NCAA also doesn't control the FBS postseason....conference commissioners and school presidents do. They'll be damned to relinquish that kind of power to the NCAA.

If you want the NCAA to start a playoff, you also have to agree to let the NCAA assume control of schedule-making. In that case, the little schools are going to die off, as they'll no longer get $500,000+ (that they don't share with their conference mates) to go play at a larger school and fund their athletic budgets.

It may not seem like it, but the BCS is the best thing Boise State could ask for, as far as competing and finances are concerned.

[Still MIGHTY]

OK, whoever made the bracket goofed with the Sun Belt champ. Florida International would be the rep from the Sun Belt because they won the head to head tiebreaker with Troy.

Their bracket was made a couple weeks ago, hence why the seeding and some of the teams are wrong.

Never mind... But that is a nice bracket though.

I do not like that bracket, if only because I think the at-large teams do not have a true claim to the title, because they didn't win their conference. A bracket with just the 11 conference champions makes sense. Anyone who has a reasonable claim (read: wins their conference) is in.

So last week when you were spouting your inane nonsense that if Auburn lost in the SEC title game, they should still have a shot at the BCS title because they are "so elite and whatnot," what happened to that? Auburn wouldn't have won the conference, but you were still advocating they get a shot even if they lose.

You're an idiot. Stop posting.

[RyanMcD29]

If I had my way with a playoff system

-12 teams

-6 BCS Conference Champs plus 2 best non-AQ conference champs (MWC, WAC)

-4 At-Large bids

-NFL style bracketing

Probably would never happen, but it seems feasible enough and gives schools an opportunity to win a national title and also adds two more bids to the process (and no, football is not like basketball, so I say no to giving every conference a bid)

[infrared41]

It may not seem like it, but the BCS is the best thing Boise State could ask for, as far as competing and finances are concerned.

That's the thing with the hardcore fans calling for a playoff. They think that the Boise States and Miamis of Ohio of the world are going to benefit from it. They won't. They won't even be involved most of the time. For as long as people have been arguing for a playoff around here, I've been preaching the same thing over and over again; any playoff won't be about being fair or giving everyone an equal shot at a title. A playoff will be dictated by one thing and one thing only, money. A playoff scenario that puts in Boise State or the Sun Belt or C-USA champ at the expense of an Ohio State or Alabama is simply never going to happen. Until you find a playoff that a.) keeps the bowl tie-ins and b.) guarantees it's going to be filled with nothing but "name" schools, it's just not going to happen.

[Seadragon76]

Well, the BCS games are set.

Rose: TCU vs. Wisconsin

Orange: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech

Fiesta: UConn vs. Oklahoma

Sugar: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

BCS National Championship: Oregon vs. Auburn

[floydnimrod]

Well, the BCS games are set.

Rose: TCU vs. Wisconsin

Orange: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech

Fiesta: UConn vs. Oklahoma

Sugar: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

BCS National Championship: Oregon vs. Auburn

If I had to rank the excitement of these...

National Championship

Rose Bowl

Sugar Bowl

Orange Bowl (I think Stanford wins this easily)

Fiesta Bowl (I think Oklahoma wins this as the most lopsided BCS bowl this year)

Then again I haven't seen UConn or VaTech play this year, but I'm just going on what I see/hear/think. But I think the National Championship could be a shootout.

[Seadragon76]

Well, the BCS games are set.

Rose: TCU vs. Wisconsin

Orange: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech

Fiesta: UConn vs. Oklahoma

Sugar: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

BCS National Championship: Oregon vs. Auburn

If I had to rank the excitement of these...

National Championship

Rose Bowl

Sugar Bowl

Orange Bowl (I think Stanford wins this easily)

Fiesta Bowl (I think Oklahoma wins this as the most lopsided BCS bowl this year)

Then again I haven't seen UConn or VaTech play this year, but I'm just going on what I see/hear/think. But I think the National Championship could be a shootout.

I'd be careful on those picks in the Orange and Fiesta.

Virginia Tech has won 10 in a row after that horrifying 0-2 start. The Hokies aren't a bad team. They can give Stanford a run for their money.

Now, Oklahoma has a five game losing streak in the BCS. Oh, and need I remind you the last time Oklahoma played in the Fiesta Bowl against an upstart with nothing to lose?

[Kevin W.]

Now, Oklahoma has a five game losing streak in the BCS. Oh, and need I remind you the last time Oklahoma played in the Fiesta Bowl against an upstart with nothing to lose?

[aerodynamix]

Now, Oklahoma has a five game losing streak in the BCS. Oh, and need I remind you the last time Oklahoma played in the Fiesta Bowl against an upstart with nothing to lose?

That is awesome. I can see that being someone's signature.

[Kevin W.]

I would use it, but Florida ranks higher on my most-hated list than Oklahoma, so I can't celebrate Florida beating Oklahoma.

[Seadragon76]

Hope you don't mind me barrowing it, Kevin.

[Kevin W.]

Of course.

[Lights Out]

A playoff scenario that puts in Boise State or the Sun Belt or C-USA champ at the expense of an Ohio State or Alabama is simply never going to happen.

SI's bracket wouldn't do that - it'd be all conference champions plus a few at-larges. And if Bama or Ohio State doesn't get in one year as a conference champion or an at-large, other big-name schools will likely be filling those spots.

[knnhrvy16]

I'm really glad to see some relatively fresh faces in the BCS bowls this year, like Arkansas (my mom's homestate, so she's thrilled), Connecticut, and Wisconsin (it's been 11 years). Now that the final results are a little different than the projections we've seen the past couple weeks, I find myself a little more excited about them now. I think all around, it'll be a pretty competitive bowl season.

I'm still a little dissapointed that we couldn't see Wisconsin-Stanford in the Rose Bowl this year (that easily would have made bowl of the year, in my opinion), but I still think Wisconsin-TCU has the potential to be a fantastic bowl. I'm really intrigued by the Sugar Bowl matchup of Arkansas-Ohio State, though. I think both are very good teams, and it all comes down to the quarterbacks. Both are obviously very different in style - Pryor is the new-age hybrid thrower-runner against Mallett who is the old-school, drop back 'n gun it kinda guy. I predict a shootout, and it'll be fun.