Bill Hancock officially began his tenure as BCS executive director this week and spoke with reporters on Thursday about the current state of college football.

Let’s go point by point…

“College football has never been better and I believe the BCS is part of that.”

This is actually a true statement, but it isn’t saying much. If something is better than asinine, does it make it good? No, it doesn’t. It makes it better than asinine. Yes, the BCS Championship Game is better than the pre-BCS system, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be drastically improved.

Hancock said the fact that other lower levels of college football use playoffs to decide their champions doesn’t mean it would work in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The second-tier of Division I football, the Championship Subdivision, has a 16-team playoff with all but the final played at home sites.

“It works at that level, I can’t deny it, but if you look attendance for those games, only Montana had decent attendance,” he said. “Many teams didn’t draw as well as they did in the regular season.”

All right, so because Hancock has some anecdotal data about lower level teams not drawing as well in the playoffs, we’re supposed to believe that home playoff games at the D1 level wouldn’t work either? Really? Like the Gators aren’t going to sell out the Swamp in the first round of an eight-team playoff? Give me a break.

This excerpt from ESPN (via the AP), Hancock throws out several debatable “facts” and says the case is closed.

Bill Hancock said a playoff at college football’s highest level would lead to more injuries, conflict with final exams, kill the bowl system and diminish the importance of the regular season.

More injuries? The current BCS system has five games. My proposed eight-team playoff would include seven games. Does Hancock really believe that the additional injury risk of two games is a valid argument against a playoff?

Kill the bowl system? The current system features a lot of lower-level bowls that feature teams that aren’t playing for a national championship. Players, coaches and fans attend these games as a celebration of a good season. How would holding a playoff affect this system in any way?

Diminish the importance of the regular season? If anything, it would increase the importance of the regular season. Under the current system, if a team loses a game it shouldn’t, it’s championship aspirations are effectively killed. With a playoff, that team would still have a fighting chance to make the postseason and compete for a title. And think about those fringe teams fighting for a playoff spot over the last couple of weeks. Every contest would become an elimination game. Under the current system, none of these teams would have an opportunity to play for a title.

Conflict with final exams? In an eight-team playoff, there are only four D1 teams in the entire country that would play more than one postseason game, and we’re worried about final exams?

Sigh.


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Near the end of the Texas/Nebraska game, when it looked like the Cornhuskers might pull the upset, Brent Musbuger said repeatedly that a Texas loss would result in “BCS chaos.” But don’t we already have chaos? We have five undefeated teams — Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State — and only two get to play for a national title. Of course, BCS apologists think that the system got it right. They dismiss TCU and Boise State because they aren’t from power conferences, and they’re hoping that Cincy loses to Florida in the Sugar Bowl so that they can dismiss the Big East champs as well.

Based on the various polls that are out there, 90% of the public want to see some sort of a playoff in college football. Over the last few weeks, I have been outlining my proposed eight-team playoff. Here are my assumptions:

1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS. I’d rather do a straight #1-#8 seeding based on the rankings, but in order for a playoff to get implemented the big conferences would need some preferential treatment. That’s just the way it is and we all know it.

2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

3. If a conference champ is ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. This is the “I Drink Your Milkshake!” rule.

4. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

5. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

Now that the regular season and conference championship games are over, how would a playoff shake out this year?

#8 Georgia Tech @ #1 Alabama
Tech’s win over Clemson in the ACC Championship clinched the final playoff spot. Alabama looked strong against the Gators, and they’d host a geographical rival in Tuscaloosa.

#5 Florida @ #4 TCU
On the heels of their loss to Alabama, the Gators would have to beat the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth to get another shot at the Crimson Tide (assuming they beat Georgia Tech).

#7 Ohio State @ #2 Texas
Texas survived the Big 12 Championship, so they would host the Buckeyes in Austin. This would be a matchup of two of the biggest programs in the country.

#6 Boise State @ #3 Cincinnati
The Broncos get Oregon’s bid because they beat the Ducks earlier in the season and are ranked ahead of them. They’d have to play the Bearcats in Cincy.

Who gets screwed? The Ducks have a beef, but they lost to Boise State early in the season, so they lose their bid via the “I Drink Your Milkshake!” rule. If the two teams hadn’t played, it would be the Broncos that would miss out on the bid since all of the power conference champs were ranked in the top 15 and there would be two at-large bids (Florida and TCU) ranked ahead of Boise State. But the Broncos beat the Ducks, so they’re in.


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For the last two weeks, I’ve constructed an eight-team bracket for a “what if” college football playoff.

Here are my assumptions:

1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS.

2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

3. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

4. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

5. If a conference champion is ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. This is the “I Drink Your Milkshake!” rule.

Georgia Tech lost to Georgia this week. How does that affect our bracket?

#8 Georgia Tech @ #1 Florida/Alabama
The Yellow Jackets still have to play Clemson in the ACC Championship. If they lose that game, they’ll be in danger of falling out of the playoffs altogether. The winner of the SEC Championship is a shoe-in for the #1 seed.

#5 Cincinnati @ #4 TCU
These two teams are very close in the BCS standings, so it’s possible that the Bearcats could leapfrog the Horned Frogs (pun intended) if they get a win over #15 Pitt next week. Pitt’s loss to West Virginia last weekend makes this less likely, however.

#7 Ohio State @ #2 Texas
The Buckeyes move up due to Georgia Tech’s loss to Georgia last weekend. Texas has to beat #22 Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship to secure the #2 seed.

#6 Boise St. @ #3 Alabama/Florida
The loser of the SEC Championship might fall further than #3 in the BCS standings, but I doubt it. Unless the loser looks awful, they’ll probably stay ahead of TCU, Cincy and Boise State. We will see. Meanwhile, the Broncos take Oregon’s spot due to a regular season win over the Ducks. This is the “I Drink Your Milkshake!” rule in effect.

Who gets screwed?
The GT loss complicates matters. Oregon and Ohio State both move up, but the Ducks are left out due to a loss to Boise State. Usually, a major conference champ that is ranked 7th is going to make the playoffs, but it just so happens that the Ducks lost to a non-BCS school that is ranked ahead of them. The Broncos beat the Ducks on the field and deserve the berth. Oregon plays #16 Oregon State next week and the Ducks would need to win big to convince the voters to put them ahead of the Broncos.

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Every Monday through the end of the college football season, I update my “what if” eight-team college football playoff. (Want to see how this bad boy has developed? Here are links for Version 1.0 and Version 2.0.)

Here are my assumptions:

1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. If they are ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. (I debuted this rule last week to account for Boise State’s head-to-head win over Oregon. I call it the “I Drink Your Milkshake” Rule.)

2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

3. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

4. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

People want to know why I don’t utilize a 12-team or 16-team format. Simply stated — I don’t think that either format is feasible given our current situation. Maybe we can get there down the line, but there are too many anti-playoff pundits who say that a playoff makes the regular season meaningless. (I’m looking at you, Kirk Herbstreit.) The larger the playoff, the more “meaningless” the regular season becomes. This playoff needs to be as exclusive as possible while still being inclusive enough that there isn’t a sh*tstorm when the bracket is announced.

That said, what does a college football playoff look like this season?

#8 Ohio State @ #1 Florida/Alabama
This week Florida plays Florida State and Alabama plays Auburn. Then the two teams will play in the SEC Championship for the right to have the #1 seed. The Buckeyes clinched the Big Ten title, but are #10 in the rankings, so they’re the #8 seed.

#5 Cincinnati @ #4 TCU
TCU plays New Mexico at home on Saturday, while the Bearcats have Illinois this week and #9 Pittsburgh next week. These two teams are pretty close in the standings, so it’s possible that a pair of Cincy wins might vault the Bearcats over the Horned Frogs and into the #4 seed. That would move the game from Fort Worth to Cincinnati.

#7 Georgia Tech @ #2 Texas
Texas has Texas A&M this week and Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship. Georgia Tech faces Georgia and #18 Clemson in the ACC Championship.

#6 Boise State @ #3 Florida/Alabama
Boise State takes Oregon’s spot due to the “I Drink Your Milkshake” Rule. (The Broncos beat the Ducks, 19-8, early in the season.)

Who gets screwed?
Nobody. #8 Oregon lost to #6 Boise State, while #9 Pitt has its shot when they face Cincy. #11 Iowa lost to Ohio State and #12 Oklahoma State lost to Texas. The regular season still matters…a lot.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Last week, I debuted this season’s “what if” college football playoff bracket, and there was one serious flaw — Boise State was left out of the playoff despite being ranked ahead of Oregon and having a head-to-head win against the Ducks. This week, I’ll remedy that.

Here are my assumptions:

1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS.

2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

3. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

4. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

I’m adding a fifth assumption, the “I Drink Your Milkshake” Rule. Last week, Boise State was left out of this playoff despite having a head-to-head win against Oregon and being ranked ahead of the Ducks. So, there is one more caveat for the conference champions: If they are ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. I drink your milkshake!

How does this affect our bracket? Let’s take a look…

#8 Ohio State @ #1 Florida/Alabama
Assuming Florida and Alabama both enter the SEC Championship undefeated, the winner will likely be the #1 seed while the loser is likely to fall to #3. (I don’t see TCU or Cincinnati passing up the SEC runner-up in the BCS, but I may be wrong.) The Buckeyes’ win over Iowa on Saturday gives Ohio State a bid.

#5 Cincinnati @ #4 TCU
The Horned Frogs were impressive this weekend and they don’t show any signs of giving up their ranking to Cincy or Boise State, so they will host the Bearcats in the first round. Cincy still has a Dec. 5 date with #9 Pittsburgh looming, which will effectively become a play-in game for both teams.

#7 Georgia Tech @ #2 Texas
The Yellow Jackets need to beat Georgia at home and then win the ACC Championship (vs. Clemson?) to keep their bid. If they were to lose in the ACC Championship, the conference would likely give up its playoff bid. Texas looks like a shoe in to finish the season undefeated.

#6 Boise State @ #3 Florida/Alabama
The Broncos get Oregon’s bid due to a head-to-head win and a higher BCS ranking. I drink your milkshake! The SEC loser might drop to #4, but more likely they’ll finish in the #3 spot and host a first round game. Can you imagine Boise State heading to Tuscaloosa for a playoff? That would be fun.

Who gets screwed?
No one, really. #11 Oregon loses its spot due to a head-to-head loss to Boise State, so the Ducks only have themselves to blame. #8 LSU lost to Alabama and Florida, so the Tigers need to look in the mirror. #9 Pittsburgh still has a shot to make the the playoffs with a win over #5 Cincinnati on Dec. 5. #12 Oklahoma State lost to Texas and #13 Iowa lost to Ohio State. (See, Kirk Herbstreit, the regular season still matters.)

Some have said that they support taking the rankings #1 through #8 and awarding the bids that way, but I don’t think that’s a realistic option given our current situation. In order to transition to a playoff, we have to have buy in from the BCS conferences, so they need to get some preferential treatment to convince them to get away from the status quo. It seems relatively fair to give each conference a bid, assuming their champion is in the top 15 and isn’t ranked behind a non-BCS school that beat them head-to-head. This may result in fewer games between the BCS schools and the top non-BCS programs, but those are the breaks.

Here’s a question I’d like to pose — what if Oregon hadn’t lost to Stanford? They’d likely be ranked #7 or #8, still behind the Broncos because of the head-to-head loss. If I implement the “I Drink Your Milkshake” Rule, is it fair that the Ducks give up their bid but Ohio State — a lesser ranked team — still gets in?

I think it’s more fair than eliminating the Buckeyes due to a Boise State win over Oregon — Ohio State wasn’t even involved in that game.

Please discuss.

Last year, I proposed an eight-team playoff system for college football that would take the place of the BCS. Here are my assumptions:

1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS.

2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

3. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

4. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

So, at this point in the season, what would a playoff look like?

#8 Oregon @ #1 Florida/Alabama
I’m assuming everyone wins out, so since the Gators and Tide are ranked 1/2 in the BCS, the winner would be the #1 seed. Oregon is currently ranked #13, but still face two ranked teams (#17 Arizona and #23 Oregon State), so they would definitely finish in the top 15 if they win out.

#5 TCU @ #4 Cincinnati
The Horned Frogs have been destroying teams of late and another win next week against #16 Utah would help convince the voters that TCU belongs. If Cincy wins out (including wins over Virginia Tech and Pitt), then they’ll likely leapfrog the Frogs and get a home game in the first round.

#6 Georgia Tech @ #3 Florida/Alabama
Tech has to beat Duke next week before their regular season closer with in-state rival Georgia. They will likely face Clemson in the ACC championship game, which will mean that if they win out, they’ll have three wins over ranked opponents. They’d likely travel to the SEC runner-up for the first round of this playoff.

#7 Iowa @ #2 Texas
Texas is a good bet to win out and would move up to #2 since Florida and Alabama will still have to play each other in the SEC championship. Iowa is currently ranked #10, but a win next week against Ohio State would put them in position to clinch the Big Ten title. If the Buckeyes win out, they’d likely get this playoff spot.

Who gets screwed?
Boise State. They haven’t lost a game this season and have a head-to-head win over Oregon, who is in position to make the playoffs. At this point, the Broncos have to hope that the voters recognize this and rank them ahead of TCU. But then TCU would be screwed. A couple of things could be done to prevent this: 1) expand the playoff to 12 teams, or 2) if a non-BCS school has a head-to-head win over a BCS team and is ahead of that team in the rankings, then they get the bid. In this case, Boise State would replace Oregon, because the Broncos are ranked ahead of the Ducks and have a head-to-head win this season.

Please discuss.


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What’s done is done. That’s the…..um……great thing about the BCS system. Oklahoma jumped Texas last week in the rankings and now the Sooners are slated to face the Gators in the title game. As in years past, fans are supposed to just swallow this bitter pill and move on. Some lazy, narrow-minded sportswriters are happy to have the “debate” because their next few columns will essentially write themselves.

The truth is that the current system is not only a slap in the face to the Longhorns and their supporters, but to all college football fans across the country. The vast majority of us (85%-90% if you believe the polls) would like to see some sort of college football playoff. So the last few weeks I’ve been summarizing a proposed playoff system.

Here are my assumptions…

1. There would be an eight-team playoff. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15.

2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

3. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

4. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans).

So how does last weekend’s action affect our playoff field?

8-seed Cincinnati @ 1-seed Oklahoma
Both teams did what they needed to do. The Bearcats sneaked by Hawaii and Oklahoma was convincing in its win over Missouri.

5-seed USC @ 4-seed Alabama
In this case, it looks like the BCS rankings work. Both teams have one loss, but Alabama lost to a better team. Who wouldn’t want to see the Trojans visit Tuscaloosa? The winner would face the winner of the 1/8 game.

6-seed Utah @ 3-seed Texas
This format works for the little guy, or at least it works for Utah. (Sorry Boise State!) In order to advance, the Utes would have to win in Austin.

7-seed Penn State @ 2-seed Florida
With the Hawkeyes’ recent play, suddenly the Nittany Lions’ loss to Iowa doesn’t look so bad. They would face a tough test trying to win in Gainesville against the surging Gators.

This format would set up pair of semifinals that would pit Oklahoma versus Alabama and Texas versus Florida.

ACC champion Virginia Tech gives up its bid because the Hokies are not ranked in the top 15. With four losses, few would argue that VT should be included. With a win over #17 Oregon and an undefeated record, Boise State has the biggest gripe. We would have to move to a 12-team format (or require the conference champs to be ranked in the top 10, eliminating Cincy) to include the Broncos.

The other teams that are on the outside looking in — Texas Tech, Ohio State, TCU, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Georgia — either have three losses or have lost to teams that made the playoff, so the regular season clearly still holds its importance. (If Texas Tech had beat Oklahoma, if Ohio State had beat Penn State, if TCU had beaten Oklahoma and Utah, etc.)

The exclusion of Boise State is regrettable, but like March Madness, does anyone really think that the Broncos would be able to win three straight games against the elite teams in the country en route to a national championship? Unfortunately, in an eight-team playoff, we wouldn’t know for sure. It would be nice to have an option for a play-in game when there is an undefeated team from a non-power conference. In this case, Boise State could play Cincinnati for the right to play Oklahoma. However, if Ball State hadn’t lost to Buffalo, we’d be looking at two undefeated teams that would have been excluded. Then things get a little more dicey.

Another option would be a 12-team playoff that includes all the BCS conference champions and six at-large bids. That way, in addition to Oklahoma, Florida, USC, Penn State, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech getting bids, at-large teams Texas, Alabama, Utah, Texas Tech, Boise State and Ohio State would also get bids. I’m warming up to the idea of a 12-team playoff because it would account for cases like Boise State. Critics say that it would add too many games, but the only teams that would potentially play four games would be teams ranked #5 through #12 that made it to the title game (which is an unlikely scenario). Otherwise, everyone would play three or fewer additional games.