Four team playoff to replace BCS

[jkwuc89]

Three words: It's about time! The door is open and I guarantee that the 4 team playoff will eventually lead to an expanded field when the networks whisper in everyone's ear about how much MORE more money can be had. I never liked the BCS and I am glad that it will finally die! Memo to all who want to qualify including UC: Time to upgrade the schedule. No more scheduling of lower division schools regardless of what conference you play in.

[1977 BearCat]

Originally Posted by jkwuc89

Three words: It's about time! The door is open and I guarantee that the 4 team playoff will eventually lead to an expanded field when the networks whisper in everyone's ear about how much MORE more money can be had. I never liked the BCS and I am glad that it will finally die! Memo to all who want to qualify including UC: Time to upgrade the schedule. No more scheduling of lower division schools regardless of what conference you play in.

What kind of luck do you think the Cats (or similiarly positioned schools) will have getting any team from the the "Big 4" (ACC doesn't belong) to schedule them, particuraly in Cincy?

[ucfan34]

I would be shocked, stunned, & flabbergasted if a team not from the SEC, Big 10, PAC 10, Big 12 (or Miami, Fl St., Va Tech) are chosen as one of the four teams.

I was all for a playoff in college football, but the more I read about this the more it looks like the good ole boy club.

It's only going to get increasingly more difficult for teams in the Big East & ACC to find high quality opponents (I.E. OH St., Bama, Texas). I can see UC easily replacing the lower division schools with solid mid tier opponents. Say...Georgia Tech and Houston. The games are played, UC is 11-1, and they're sitting there as number 8-15 in the top 25 polls with no chance of sniffing the 4 team playoff.

Shoot, they could be 11-1 with Ohio St./Random SEC school 10-2, both teams sitting at 4/5, and there's not a snowballs chance UC gets picked. I don't care who's on the schedule & who each lost to. No chance.

It's still going to take perfection to get in, no matter what.

I'm generally an optimistic person, and would love to be 100% wrong about this. Don't think I am. Once they expand to 12 team or more I think most of the concerns are eliminated.

[cpawstoney]

A four-team, three-game playoff that incorporates the major bowls and may be worth $500 million annually in television revenue was approved yesterday in Washington by the 12-member BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.

A selection committee will determine the playoff participants, with weight placed on record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and whether a team is a conference champion.

Negotiations on the next BCS television contract are set to begin later this year. The current deal, under which Walt Disney Co. (DIS) (DIS)’s ESPN and ABC pay $155 million annually for the title game and rights to the four BCS bowls, expires after the 2013-14 season.

The next contract may have a price tag that ranges from $400 million to $500 million annually....

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ace-bcs-system

[cpawstoney]

ESPN

The semifinal games will be played in a rotation among six bowl sites and the championship game will be offered to the highest bidding city, like the NFL does with the Super Bowl. At this point, only two games are guaranteed a spot in the semifinals rotation: the Champions Bowl (which will pit the Big 12 against the SEC) and the Rose Bowl (which pits the Big Ten versus the Pac-12). The ACC is close to finalizing an agreement with the Orange Bowl, which would also become one of the three contract games included in the rotation.

The commissioners will take bids to host the other three bowl games that will be part of the semifinals mix. The Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl will probably be considered...

...the commissioners' plan is for the six major bowl games, including the two semifinals, to be played on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day each season. Commissioners said the first semifinals games will be played on either Dec. 31, 2014 or Jan. 1, 2015. The first national championship game is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2015...

The revenue-sharing plan remains under discussion....

How much access will teams from smaller conferences have to get into the playoffs?
There are basically five power conferences left in college football: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. The champions of those leagues will be guaranteed a spot in one of the six major bowls (and in one of the semifinals if they're selected by the committee). The teams in college football's other leagues have to hope they're good enough to be selected by the committee.

By adding two more major bowl games, the commissioners feel like they've increased the chances of a team like Boise State or Hawaii playing in one of the sport's marquee postseason games.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...estions-remain

[cpawstoney]

USATODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colle...ved/55845112/1

msnfox
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoot...-season-062612

espn : Wojciechowski
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/story...r-team-playoff

ap
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireSto...ayoff-16658035

[1977 BearCat]

Originally Posted by ucfan34

I would be shocked, stunned, & flabbergasted if a team not from the SEC, Big 10, PAC 10, Big 12 (or Miami, Fl St., Va Tech) are chosen as one of the four teams.

I was all for a playoff in college football, but the more I read about this the more it looks like the good ole boy club.

It's only going to get increasingly more difficult for teams in the Big East & ACC to find high quality opponents (I.E. OH St., Bama, Texas). I can see UC easily replacing the lower division schools with solid mid tier opponents. Say...Georgia Tech and Houston. The games are played, UC is 11-1, and they're sitting there as number 8-15 in the top 25 polls with no chance of sniffing the 4 team playoff.

Shoot, they could be 11-1 with Ohio St./Random SEC school 10-2, both teams sitting at 4/5, and there's not a snowballs chance UC gets picked. I don't care who's on the schedule & who each lost to. No chance.

It's still going to take perfection to get in, no matter what.

I'm generally an optimistic person, and would love to be 100% wrong about this. Don't think I am. Once they expand to 12 team or more I think most of the concerns are eliminated.

To borrow a term from college basketball, we are now officially a "mid-major." What kind of success do those folks have scheduling the majors in b-ball: a little away, and none at home. But, unlike college basketball, there will be little chance of being selected to play our way into the championship game.

[applegbt]

It will be interesting to see how closely the selection committee's choices will reflect the final polls, or if they will be willing to completely diverge when necessary in order keep the power conferences in the playoff.

[JDBEARCAT]

1st of all, why is the ACC listed as a power conference. BEAST has a better BCS record than them. If they didn't raid us, they would be an after thought. Does a big 10 team
get in with 2 losses. Their conference sucks. They may have 2 or 3 good teams a year &
the rest are average at best. But they are the "BIG 10." I always see the glass half full but the powers to be will not let all that money go to the Beast or the other "minor" conferences.
Just my humble opinion.

[Best Body]

I'm not sure even being in a power conference is a guarantee of getting to the final 4. If you are not Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, o$u, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, ND, Florida State, USC, Stanford, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma or one of about 5 other schools, you'd better finish undefeated if you want a spot. There will be a real possibility that a 2nd tier power conference school could win its conference with one loss and be leap frogged by one of its conference mates (top brand programs) and left out of the four.

For all of the Big East teams and most of the ACC teams, an undefeated season may or may not be enough.

[cmm27]

This particular scenario is the worst of both worlds. It is more exclusive than the BCS, but it gives them an argument that is is more democratic. I had stated, and will continue to state, a four team playoff is too few teams and if that was their solution they shouldn't have changed anything.

[DBSUC1982]

This is the beginning of the end for the Big East as a power conference. This will lead to the BIG 4 (P12, SEC, B12, B10) dominating football & eventually all major sports. By the time a playoff expands to 8 teams, the $$$ disparity will have become too large for the other conferences to compete. In 2009 does anyone think that a 12-0 UC team would have made the Final 4? Remember there were 5 undefeated teams that year plus Florida,whose only loss was to Alabama in SEC Championship game.

[cincycpaw]

Originally Posted by cmm27

This particular scenario is the worst of both worlds. It is more exclusive than the BCS, but it gives them an argument that is is more democratic. I had stated, and will continue to state, a four team playoff is too few teams and if that was their solution they shouldn't have changed anything.

Exactly. It funny to think that they made the situation worse and yet somehow have convinced others that it is a better situation just by using the term "playoff". Nevermind that access is denied for most and it's only 4 teams to begin with.

[Brooklyn Bearcat]

I can't write anymore about how absurd this "playoff" is, so I'll just copy and paste what I offered up on espn.com:

Once again, another shot at a payday for the "glamour schools", who basically had two more bowl games- and all the millions of dollars that those games command -created just for them. Now, how is that fair? It seems like this 4-team playoff only attempts to settle the "Who's the REAL National Champion?" argument waged between the likes of the SEC, Big 12, and Big 10 (with the occasional Pac 12 team sprinkled in; sorry ACC, you really ARE worse than the Big East). But, the other part of the equation is totally ignored, and that is to provide an equal shot for the smaller schools who are having great seasons, such as the "Non AQs", to try and topple the traditional giants.
It's amazing how scared college football is to disrupt the balance of Power. God forbid LSU actually lose to Houston, for example, in a high stakes game, thus diminishing the aura of the NCAA's major meal ticket. This system makes sure that that will never happen. So, now we just get another chance to see LSU and Alabama play (remember it's two great defenses going at it, so HOW can it be a bad game?), and for those schools (along with the TV networks) to get another chance to cash a giant check.
The system stinks. Everything about college football stinks. It is convoluted, hypocritical, arbitrary, and deferential to nothing but money; which is a real shame because the game of football is wonderful and exciting to watch. To top it all off, a computer (?!?!?) is used to settle who plays for the championship. It's amazing that while NCAA basketball is so great, with such a great post-season tournament, it is NCAA football, with all it's dysfunction that calls the shots. Anyone who can say with a straight face that this system is at all good or is even a "step in the right direction" is a liar. Give me a REAL playoff, of16 teams, which include all conference champions, and then maybe you have something. Until then, the product will continue to stink.

[Ruckle St.]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bearcat

I can't write anymore about how absurd this "playoff" is, so I'll just copy and paste what I offered up on espn.com:

Once again, another shot at a payday for the "glamour schools", who basically had two more bowl games- and all the millions of dollars that those games command -created just for them. Now, how is that fair? It seems like this 4-team playoff only attempts to settle the "Who's the REAL National Champion?" argument waged between the likes of the SEC, Big 12, and Big 10 (with the occasional Pac 12 team sprinkled in; sorry ACC, you really ARE worse than the Big East). But, the other part of the equation is totally ignored, and that is to provide an equal shot for the smaller schools who are having great seasons, such as the "Non AQs", to try and topple the traditional giants.
It's amazing how scared college football is to disrupt the balance of Power. God forbid LSU actually lose to Houston, for example, in a high stakes game, thus diminishing the aura of the NCAA's major meal ticket. This system makes sure that that will never happen. So, now we just get another chance to see LSU and Alabama play (remember it's two great defenses going at it, so HOW can it be a bad game?), and for those schools (along with the TV networks) to get another chance to cash a giant check.
The system stinks. Everything about college football stinks. It is convoluted, hypocritical, arbitrary, and deferential to nothing but money; which is a real shame because the game of football is wonderful and exciting to watch. To top it all off, a computer (?!?!?) is used to settle who plays for the championship. It's amazing that while NCAA basketball is so great, with such a great post-season tournament, it is NCAA football, with all it's dysfunction that calls the shots. Anyone who can say with a straight face that this system is at all good or is even a "step in the right direction" is a liar. Give me a REAL playoff, of16 teams, which include all conference champions, and then maybe you have something. Until then, the product will continue to stink.

After reading that I am ready to storm the NCAA offices. I don't think you could sum up the situation any better.

[JohnFrancis]

I just wish everyone would get off this conference championship garbage.

The conferences have gotten so big that almost everyone plays an unbalanced schedule, not a true round robin schedule (like in the good old days).

Isn't it possible Wisconsin can go undefeated without playing either Michigan or OSU? I am sure there are many other examples for other conferences.

The whole process of selecting teams is now too unwieldy. Good luck selection committee, you'll need it.

Also, why doesn't #1 play #3 and #2 play #4 (equal spacing of ranks)....why did they adopt NCAA Mens Hoops tournament matchups 1 and 4 and 2 and 3? Just wondering.

[GoCats1994]

It's not impossible for a BE program to make it into the playoffs, but it requires sustained success. Similar to Boise, you have to demand attention through your continued successful results on the field.

Conference championships in 3 out of the last 4 seasons is a good start, but UC must avoid repeats of the 4-8 clunker season (2010).

[mjv780]

Originally Posted by GoCats1994

It's not impossible for a BE program to make it into the playoffs, but it requires sustained success. Similar to Boise, you have to demand attention through your continued successful results on the field.

Conference championships in 3 out of the last 4 seasons is a good start, but UC must avoid repeats of the 4-8 clunker season (2010).

Also - cannot drop the ball when it comes to bowls. Liberty bowl was great. Previous two bowl appearances not so much, and those are the ones that people remember.

[#41]

Originally Posted by GoCats1994

It's not impossible for a BE program to make it into the playoffs, but it requires sustained success. Similar to Boise, you have to demand attention through your continued successful results on the field.

Replace "BE" with "MAC" and the above sentence still makes sense.

That's a bad sign for UC's future.

[sbcat84]

Originally Posted by #41

Replace "BE" with "MAC" and the above sentence still makes sense.

That's a bad sign for UC's future.

Name a MAC program with sustained success?