Proposal for 8-team playoff

Sep 2, 2015, 11:16 PM

OK, here's a proposal for an 8-team playoff, with a new twist (at least I think it's new).

1. Have the "Committee" pick eight teams for the playoff using the following rules.
a. One team from each of the Power-5 conferences (not necessarily the "conference champion"; just the "best, most worthy" team).
b. One team, the "best, most worthy" team, from a non-Power-5 conference.
c. Two at-large teams, with the restriction that both can't be from the same conference.
2. Eliminate the conference title games and play the national quarterfinals on the Saturday currently reserved for the conference title games.
3. Play the quarterfinal games in Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Pasadena.
4. Have the Committee rank the selected eight teams (i.e., 1 plays 8, etc.) and assign games to locations based on proximity of the locations to the four highest ranked teams.
5. Have the Committee re-rank the quarterfinal winners for the national semifinal games.
6. Eliminate conference divisions since they were created solely to justify conference title games anyway.
7. Let each conference establish its rules for designating a "conference champion," since it would mean nothing to team selection for the playoff.

Advantages:
1. More teams are eligible for the playoff, meaning a deserving team (e.g., TCU last year) is less likely to be excluded from the playoff.
2. Each of the Power-5 conferences is guaranteed at least one team in the playoff.
3. The non-Power-5 conferences are guaranteed at least one team in the playoff, making play in those conferences more meaningful and contributing to the overall health of college football.
4. The conferences are likely to make more revenue from a national quarterfinal game than a conference title game, attendance should be better, and interest would be much greater.
5. We get an expanded playoff without extending the season or requiring teams to play more games, a primary argument of opponents of an 8-team playoff (i.e., you eliminate four conference title games and add four national quarterfinals).
6. With the elimination of conference divisions, conferences would have more flexibility in scheduling conference games to allow conference members to play each other more often and retain traditional rivalries that currently cross divisions within a conference. The current non-division rotation is beyond absurd. Why even be in the same conference with a team outside your division since you seldom ever play them.
7. Teams would be motivated to schedule better out-of-conference games to build their resume.
8. Eliminate the possibility of a team with a weak record slipping into the playoff by winning their conference title game, another primary argument of opponents of an 8-team playoff.
9. Make the regular season more meaningful for all teams and eliminate the risk of a team with an excellent regular-season record getting bumped out of the playoff by a flunk loss in a conference title game.
10. Eliminate the endless argument about which Power-5 conference gets left out of the playoff.
11. Further encouragement for Notre Dame to join a conference.

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