College Football - Wishing We Hadn't Watched the Sugar Bowl and Dreaming of Something Better

We wish we hadn't watched the Sugar Bowl.  And it has absolutely nothing to do with what happened on the field, an ugly overtime mess.  We wish we had completely ignored it and watched the NCIS with LL Cool J.  Or the utterly forgettable Unforgettable (Spoiler Alert:  She doesn't forget shit).  Or the season premier of "Hey Look at These Fat People."  Or the series premier of "Bosom Buddies Without Tom Hanks and the Other Guy Who Isn't Tom Hanks and Now Does Sad Erectile Dysfunction Commercials" (Spoiler Alert:  It sucks.)  Or even Glee.  We wish we had watched Glee.

We didn't go to Michigan or Virginia Tech, so we didn't have to watch.  Then we could have sat here and boasted that we didn't allow ourselves to be taken advantage of and manipulated, through the mere act of turning on the game, into the supporting lie that is the BCS; the charade that the system is designed to reward the most deserving teams with spots in the coveted showcase bowls.  That we protested our dissatisfaction by refusing to watch a game that featured two of the top programs of the past 25 years because it was such a blatant cash grab.

Because when the BCS games were announced we swore we wouldn't watch this one.  Sure, we were annoyed at the LSU-Alabama rematch.  But it's for the title, we have to no choice but to ignore the fact that Alabama had its chance and choked while other one-loss teams (Oklahoma State, Stanford and our choice Boise State) didn't.  The system worked the way it was supposed to and gave us the two best teams (or at least who we assume are the two best teams).  It's the other bowls that are about deserving.

That's why the Sugar Bowl was supposed to be our breaking point.  When the bowl organizers passed over at least five more deserving teams (including four of the BCS Top 10) by reaching all the way down to 11 (VT) and 13 (Michigan) to choose a match-up more suited for this year's Gator Bowl, we were done.  It was simply inexcusable that Arkansas (only losses to LSU and Alabama), South Carolina (2 losses in the SEC), Kansas State (losses to Top 10 ranked Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) are playing elsewhere this week and Boise (a field goal away from playing LSU) was stuck demolishing a .500 team in Vegas before Christmas.  People, we, were supposed to protest.  But we didn't.  We watched it.  Because it was football and it was on.  But we didn't.  We watched it because it was football and it was on.  And because its the Sugar Bowl and we're supposed to be interested.  We let ourself and everyone else down.

But that didn't keep us from hating the BCS.  It's irretrievably broken.  But since we like to be constructive with our criticism, we have a solution.

The Persnickety Playoff

The Principles

We've discussed our playoff ideas generally before as part of our college football realignment plan.  That was fantasy but in reality, the principles are the same.  To actually work, any solution has to be built on the following:

1.  Change as little as possible, there's too much money tradition at stake.

2.  Respect the conferences.

3.  Maintain the bowl system.

4.  Don't extend the regular season (too much).

5.  Involve enough teams to make it meaningful.

6.  Make money.

If your idea can fulfill six principles, not only can it work, but it's also worthwhile.  There are plenty of ideas that work, like the dopey "Plus One" idea, but aren't worth the trouble. (How do you have a National Championship game and then decide to maybe play another game?)  And there are probably even more that are worthwhile but would never get past the idea stage.  Like a monster 16-team playoff that would require a complete restructuring of the bowl system.  Our idea?  We think it can be both.

The Basics

At its core, it's a simple 8-team playoff.  Eight is the perfect number.  It's enough to accommodate the BCS conferences by giving automatic bids to their champions (with one caveat we'll explain later) while still providing room for the two best remaining teams.  It involves enough teams to both include the deserving and and sufficiently undercut the complaints of the "first team out."  (Is anyone going to have a lot of sympathy for the seventh to ninth best team?  And if they do, hasn't the BCS proven that controversy isn't the worst thing in the world?)  Even with all those benefits, it still only takes three rounds to find a champion which means the season isn't much longer and, with only a few minor modifications, can keep the current BCS system in tact.

The Logistics

It takes 7 games to complete an 8-team playoff.  That means you need seven different bowl games.  With the existing four BCS bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose) already locked in that leaves room to add three new bowls to the national championship mix.  (That's math, people!!)  But, we're going to do it a little differently.

Just like now, the BCS Championship will be rotated between the four majors only now the games will be staggered.  Each year one will host the final, two the semis and, to appease the big bowls and persuade them to give up some of their substantial piece of the pie, the remaining bowl will get two of the first round games.  

Doing it this way means adding only two bowls and keeping the balance of power with the original four.  To further keep down them down and as a penance for not being the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta or Rose Bowls, the new bowls will only host first round games.  With all the money and exposure they stand to gain, we doubt they'll complain.

FBS get the reward of a school-funded trip to some random city that costs the school more than it makes.  And the sanctity of college football is saved.

NKOTB

One of the newly added bowls has to be the Cotton.  It's the second longest-running non-BCS Bowl (since 1936, two years after the Sun Bowl) and has the not-unsubstantial benefit of playing in the new Cowboy Stadium.  As for the second bowl, whichever of the other quasi-major bowls has a sponsor that's willing to pony-up the required payout (starting at something like $18m) wins.  The Capital One, Outback, Pinstripe, whatever.  It doesn't matter.  

The Schedule

It will take three weeks to play this thing through.  But, since the current BCS season now extends over approximately two weeks anyway, that means adding one additional game to the commitment for our precious student athletes.  Hopefully they'll still find time to study.  

The first round will start on New Year's Day.  The first three games will be played at 3, 5 and 8.  The fourth game (the second game at one site) will be played the next day.  We're aiming for overlapping games to provide more excitement and fan-friendly start times to help grow a generation of young college football lovers.  The semis are played the week of the current BCS Title Game (on Monday and Tuesday to avoid NFL Wild Card Weekend) with the final played one week later (on a Tuesday night to accommodate our basketball schedule).  All games are broadcast on the network that pays the highest rights fee.  Preferably ESPN since, despite its flaws, they do it better than anyone else.  Fox is shit. 

In case you like charts, here's how the rotation would look for one four-year period.

By way of illustration:

Year 1:

First Round:  Orange (2), Cotton, Whatever

Semi-Finals:  Fiesta, Sugar

Title:  Rose

Year 2:

First Round:  Rose (2) Cotton, Whatever

Semi-Finals:  Orange, Fiesta

Title:  Sugar

Year 3:

First Round:  Sugar (2) Cotton, Whatever

Semi-Finals:  Rose, Orange

Title:  Fiesta

Year 4:

First Round:  Fiesta (2) Cotton, Whatever

Semi-Finals:  Sugar, Rose

Title:  Orange

The Money

Each game gives its participants their customary payout (right now its $18m but figures to grow once the crazy money starts rolling in).  Teams that win get multiple payouts as they advance through each round.  Adding the additional two games to the mix brings another almost $40m to the table for the conferences to use (hopefully) to subsidize their there non-revenue sports or more likely build new stadiums and pay their coaches crazy salaries.

The Bowls get their cut of the T.V. revenue plus whatever they make from sponsorships, ticket sales and beer.  It figures to be highly lucrative.  

The Participants

Ideally, the best 8 teams in the country get in.  However, to keep them invested, each of the BCS conference champions gets a conditional automatic bid.  Add in the two highest BCS ranked teams as "At-Large" participants, and you have your eight teams.  The conference champions' automatic bids are conditional on the team being ranked in the BCS Top 12.  If they're not good enough to get into the Top 12, too bad.  If a conference champ can't meet the eligibility, the bid goes to the highest remaining BCS team.

The Match-ups

As a general matter, the teams will be seeded in accordance with the BCS standings and matched-up like another playoff (highest v. lowest seed) creating a gambling friendly bracket.  The only caveat is that in the year's the Rose Bowl hosts the first round, it is guaranteed a match-up of the Big 10 and Pac-12 Champions (provided they're in the Top 12, of course).  The remaining games would then be seeded accordingly.  Most year's it will go smoothly, in the others it will be quirky and interesting and generate debate about which schools are getting screwed.  Either way, not a bad thing.

Once the match-ups are set, the Bowls will then pick their games.  For the first round, the Big Four Bowl will pick first and last while the other two swap each year.  The second round bowls then try to pick the best game based on their bet on the outcome.

The entire process will be an ESPN special followed by 24 straight hours of Skip Bayless debating Stephen A. Smith on the topic.

The Dream


So, if The Persnickety Playoff started this year, what would it look like?

Here are this year's conference champions (BCS rank in parentheses):

SEC:  LSU (1)
ACC:  Clemson (15)
Big 10:  Wisconsin (10)
Big East:  West Virginia (23)
Big 12:  Oklahoma State (3)
Pac 12:  Oregon (5)

And the top two remaining teams:

At Large #1:  Alabama (2)
At Large #2: Stanford (4)

Because of the "Top 12 Rule", Clemson and West Virginia, the ACC and Big East Champions, respectively, lost their spots.  (We know WVU scored 70 in the Orange Bowl but they still aren't deserving based on the season they had).  Those spots then go to the next highest ranked BCS teams:

At Large #3:  Arkansas (6)
At Large #4: Boise State (7)

(K-State and South Carolina getting screwed is a small price to pay to have things settled on the field.)

In a year where the Rose hosted the first round, the games would look like this:

First Round:

Rose: Oregon (5) v. Wisconsin (10)

Cotton: Oklahoma State (3) v. Stanford (4)
Whatever: LSU (1) v. Boise State (7)
Rose: Alabama (2) v. Arkansas (6)

Not a stinker in the bunch.  Think the Sugar wouldn't rather have an LSU/Boise first round over its Michigan/VT pukefest?  Plus get a second game with Alabama playing in its building?

Semi-Finals:

Orange:  Alabama/Arkansas v. Oklahoma State/Stanford.  Picks first and bets on an Alabama/Stanford match-up but gets Bama/Oklahoma State game instead.

Fiesta:  LSU/Boise v. Oregon/Wisconsin.

Title Game:

Sugar:  Winners.

(Our predictions:  First Round:  Oregon over Wisconsin, Oklahoma State over Stanford, LSU over Boise, Alabama over Arkansas.  Second Round:  LSU over Oregon, Oklahoma State over Alabama.  Final:  LSU beats Oklahoma State.)

The Bottom Line

And there you have it, a playoff system that is brilliant in its simplicity and would totally work.  We highly doubt we're the first to ever look at it this way but we're even more confident that it's the best idea given the constraints of reality.  So let's all get behind The Persnickety Playoff and make it THE alternative to the current broken BCS. 

That is, of course, unless you have a better idea.