Redux
Donor
Round 1, Played weekend following regular seasons end/This year December 1st
(This round takes place on Championship Weekend because it is basically still just Championship weekend. The only difference is that now, if the Independents want to be considered for a playoff spot, they must partake in a 13th game or just nut up and join a conference. From a sheer numbers standpoint, this makes a "22 team" playoff. Obviously not all 11 winners will advance but it puts them in a much better position for getting in and for seeding purposes.)
SEC East
SEC West
Big 12 #1
Big 12 #2
Pac 12 North
Pac 12 South
Big Ten East
Big Ten West
ACC Atlantic
ACC Coastal
American East
American West
Sun Belt Group A
Sun Belt Group B
C-USA East
C-USA West
MtnWest Mountain
MtnWest West
MAC East
MAC West
Independent #1
Independent #2
Round 2, played after a bye week following Round 1/This year December 15th
Automatic Advance Spots: ACC, Big 12, SEC, Pac 12, Big Ten and Top Ranked Group of 5 Champion
(Now that championship weekend has concluded and we have our 11 victors, we will unfortunately eliminate some of them until we have our 8 spots filled. The committee now finalizes the 8 spots and seeds them accordingly. The Power 5 Conference Champion winners are automatically in. I don't give a hoot if Northwestern knocks off Ohio State, they are now in. Why? Becasue THAT makes the regular season matter! Because THAT makes winning your conference actually still mean something! But don't worry, if you go 12-0 and lose in the title game you aren't out just yet at 12-1.
The top ranked Group of 5 Champion gets in. That's the whole reason for playoff expansion. This spot will be decided by the committee based off S.O.S, W/L record and where they finished ranked. You know, the stuff they are supposed to take into consideration now but kinda don't.
The remaining 2 spots will be decided by the committee. These two spots can go to a highly ranked independent, a team that lost in their conference title game but didn't drop very far ie; an at large, or even another group of 5 champion if there is another say undefeated group of 5 team that slid into the top 10. These 2 spots will almost always go to the SEC runner up, an SEC didn't quite win it's division ie; Alabama, or of course Indy darling Notre Dame. But it opens the door for more teams. This round is played at the higher ranked teams stadium OR a neutral site favoring higher seed if weather makes that impossible. AQ- Automatic Qualifer AL- At Large)
#1 SEC West- AQ
#8 Independent- AL
#2 ACC Atlantic- AQ
# 7 American East- AQ
#3 Big 12 #1- AQ
#6 Pac 12 South- AQ
#4 Big Ten East- AQ
#5 SEC East- AL
Round 3, played after another bye week/This year December 29th
(Pretty self explanatory at this point, the 4 teams that won advance. These games will be played in the major bowl rotation like the Peach, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton and Orange. The Rose Bowl bias needs to go. Some accommodations can be made to protect the "integrity" of it's traditional pairings....but really not many people care anymore that it's a Big Ten vs Pac 12 game.)
#1 SEC West
#6 Pac 12 South
#7 American East
#4 Big Ten East
Round 4, The Championship Match, Played a week and a couple days following Round 3/This year January 7th
(Personally, I think this game should be played on a Saturday. I've always hated how it's on a Monday. But hey, it is what it is and this format seems to work. If we could move it to Saturday great, if not oh well. Nothing earth shattering here, the site is among the same 6 major bowl rotation sites and this game is the meeting of the final 2 teams)
#1 SEC West
#4 Big Ten East
There you have it folks. It gives those runner up teams AND the Group of 5 an open door to get in. It spaces the games out nicely and doesn't make the teams overly worked, plus gives those who set the games up time to do so. It makes the regular season matter. It makes winning your division matter. It makes winning your conference matter. It basically fixes everything, you're welcome.
But what of the other bowl games? Honestly I don't even care about them. The bowl system is such a corrupt joke I've soured on them unless Nebraska is playing. We have WAY too many to even care about most of them. So, I would say cut them down to around 20 bowls. That's 40 spots for 40 deserving teams, meaning no more bowls for 5-7 teams. Aww......shucks. This would make getting a bowl bid mean something again too. Now, someone with the power to do so, pass this along to the committee and let's get this officially setup. I don't need the thing named after me, but a nice payment would do. Maybe even some free yearly tickets to playoff games. Again, you're welcome.
(This round takes place on Championship Weekend because it is basically still just Championship weekend. The only difference is that now, if the Independents want to be considered for a playoff spot, they must partake in a 13th game or just nut up and join a conference. From a sheer numbers standpoint, this makes a "22 team" playoff. Obviously not all 11 winners will advance but it puts them in a much better position for getting in and for seeding purposes.)
SEC East
SEC West
Big 12 #1
Big 12 #2
Pac 12 North
Pac 12 South
Big Ten East
Big Ten West
ACC Atlantic
ACC Coastal
American East
American West
Sun Belt Group A
Sun Belt Group B
C-USA East
C-USA West
MtnWest Mountain
MtnWest West
MAC East
MAC West
Independent #1
Independent #2
Round 2, played after a bye week following Round 1/This year December 15th
Automatic Advance Spots: ACC, Big 12, SEC, Pac 12, Big Ten and Top Ranked Group of 5 Champion
(Now that championship weekend has concluded and we have our 11 victors, we will unfortunately eliminate some of them until we have our 8 spots filled. The committee now finalizes the 8 spots and seeds them accordingly. The Power 5 Conference Champion winners are automatically in. I don't give a hoot if Northwestern knocks off Ohio State, they are now in. Why? Becasue THAT makes the regular season matter! Because THAT makes winning your conference actually still mean something! But don't worry, if you go 12-0 and lose in the title game you aren't out just yet at 12-1.
The top ranked Group of 5 Champion gets in. That's the whole reason for playoff expansion. This spot will be decided by the committee based off S.O.S, W/L record and where they finished ranked. You know, the stuff they are supposed to take into consideration now but kinda don't.
The remaining 2 spots will be decided by the committee. These two spots can go to a highly ranked independent, a team that lost in their conference title game but didn't drop very far ie; an at large, or even another group of 5 champion if there is another say undefeated group of 5 team that slid into the top 10. These 2 spots will almost always go to the SEC runner up, an SEC didn't quite win it's division ie; Alabama, or of course Indy darling Notre Dame. But it opens the door for more teams. This round is played at the higher ranked teams stadium OR a neutral site favoring higher seed if weather makes that impossible. AQ- Automatic Qualifer AL- At Large)
#1 SEC West- AQ
#8 Independent- AL
#2 ACC Atlantic- AQ
# 7 American East- AQ
#3 Big 12 #1- AQ
#6 Pac 12 South- AQ
#4 Big Ten East- AQ
#5 SEC East- AL
Round 3, played after another bye week/This year December 29th
(Pretty self explanatory at this point, the 4 teams that won advance. These games will be played in the major bowl rotation like the Peach, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton and Orange. The Rose Bowl bias needs to go. Some accommodations can be made to protect the "integrity" of it's traditional pairings....but really not many people care anymore that it's a Big Ten vs Pac 12 game.)
#1 SEC West
#6 Pac 12 South
#7 American East
#4 Big Ten East
Round 4, The Championship Match, Played a week and a couple days following Round 3/This year January 7th
(Personally, I think this game should be played on a Saturday. I've always hated how it's on a Monday. But hey, it is what it is and this format seems to work. If we could move it to Saturday great, if not oh well. Nothing earth shattering here, the site is among the same 6 major bowl rotation sites and this game is the meeting of the final 2 teams)
#1 SEC West
#4 Big Ten East
There you have it folks. It gives those runner up teams AND the Group of 5 an open door to get in. It spaces the games out nicely and doesn't make the teams overly worked, plus gives those who set the games up time to do so. It makes the regular season matter. It makes winning your division matter. It makes winning your conference matter. It basically fixes everything, you're welcome.
But what of the other bowl games? Honestly I don't even care about them. The bowl system is such a corrupt joke I've soured on them unless Nebraska is playing. We have WAY too many to even care about most of them. So, I would say cut them down to around 20 bowls. That's 40 spots for 40 deserving teams, meaning no more bowls for 5-7 teams. Aww......shucks. This would make getting a bowl bid mean something again too. Now, someone with the power to do so, pass this along to the committee and let's get this officially setup. I don't need the thing named after me, but a nice payment would do. Maybe even some free yearly tickets to playoff games. Again, you're welcome.
