College football should have a playoff. Enough said. Any questions? What sort of justification can there be that there isn't one for Division I-A (Bowl Subdivision for those scoring at home)? It is the only sport that isn't decided on the field. The BCS formula turns the ultimate sport into gymnastics or figure skating (with no East German judge to provide humor)... and it's definitely time for the sport to move into the current century.
That said... what should the alternative be? Much like the NCAA basketball tournament went from 8 schools in 1939 to 64 in 1985... we can't expect pure perfection at first. I'm fine with a 4 or 8 team bracket... although to do it right we'd need a sweet sixteen.
Each conference gets an automatic bid-- yes... the Sun Belt, MAC and Conference USA get representation-- and why not? They're playing D-I FBS just like the others... since members of the WAC and MWC operate as guaranteed wins for the big boys of the SEC and Pac-Ten... the best of their lot deserves something.
Eleven conference champs mean five wildcard slots are open. This allows a very good team (Florida this year, Texas last year) that came up just short of a conference crown to still have a shot at the national title. And there would be few complaints of the sixth wildcard that didn't get in-- if you can't win your league or finish in the top five, better luck next time.
Balance the bracket with regional ties-- Alabama to the South, Texas to the Midwest, Boise State to the West... this isn't brain surgery. MAC in the Midwest...Sun Belt to the South... the bracket almost writes itself.
Home field for the first round-- rewards teams who've had excellent seasons... and keeps costs down (I'd subsidize the lower seeded schools travel costs within reason). Games would be played the second or third Saturday of December.
Regional Finals on New Years Day-- neutral sites would give fans the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, Holiday, Citrus and Peach as warm-weather destinations... plus give these bowls some juice for the first time in a while. You can even add in some dome locations (St Louis' "Gateway" and Detroit's "Motor City" bowls) to spread the wealth.
National Semis a week and a half after New Years Day... Championship game eight days before the Super Bowl-- just a thought...
So... without further ado here's this year's bracket that wasn't...
South--
#1 Alabama vs Troy
#8 Ohio vs #9 Georgia Tech
East--
#4 Cincinnati vs #13 LSU
#5 Florida vs #12 Virginia Tech
Midwest--
#2 Texas vs Central Michigan
#7 Oregon vs #10 Iowa
West--
#3 TCU vs East Carolina
#6 Boise State vs #11 Penn State
ABC and ESPN could partner up and be able to show all the games...could you imagine a Friday night prime-time affair with the top seed? Followed by a quadrupleheader on ESPN and a tripleheader on ABC?
Yeah, an overblown bowl system that actually costs more money at the lower levels and means little except to a pair of schools is much better.
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