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Thursday, May 8, 2008
Should BCS now consider a true “Plus-One?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The BCS commissioners told us last week that they are not ready to support a four-team playoff and that the current two-team format will be with us for the next six years.
But what if there was a baby step that we could take between what we have now and the four-team playoff? Just consider this:
There were rumblings last week that while four of the commissioners were flatly against a four-team playoff, a couple of them might be willing to consider a true “Plus-One” format to decide the national championship.
In the true “Plus-One,” we would go back to the old days when conference champions played in their traditional bowls: ACC (Orange), SEC (Sugar), Big 12 (Fiesta), Big Ten and Pac-10 (Rose). After those games are played, THEN the BCS formula picks two teams to play for the national championship.
This is not a new idea. Vince Dooley proposed it at least 15 years ago.
So if we can’t have a four-team playoff right now, then tell me why this wouldn’t work in the short term. Here are the rules:
After the conference champions are in place, the bowls then get to pick their second team in a pre-determined order, just like they do now. Last season the order was Orange, Fiesta, Sugar. The Rose is not in the rotation because both sides are filled.
The five Coalition conferences (Conference USA, WAC, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt) have the same access as they do right now. If one of their teams finishes in the top 12, they are in. Notre Dame keeps its access rule (top eight finish).
Here are two new rules that I have added:
A fifth bowl, the Coalition Bowl, will be created. This bowl will be a part of the BCS with the same revenue sharing that currently exists. The bowl will not, however, be a part of the national championship game rotation. After the other four BCS bowls are filled, the Coalition Bowl may choose any two teams from the remaining pool of qualifiers for its game. This rule keeps the available spots for BCS bowls at 10.
This is important. In order to implement this plan, the rule limiting a conference to only two teams in the BCS will be waived. Bowls must be free to put together the best possible match-ups regardless of conference affiliation.
Based on the final BCS standings last December and the selection order these would have been the likely bowl match-ups:
ROSE BOWL: No. 1 Ohio State (11-1 Big Ten champ) vs. No. 7 Southern Cal (10-2, Pac-10 champ)
ORANGE BOWL: No. 3 Virginia Tech (11-2, ACC champ) vs. No. 5 Georgia (10-2, SEC at-large)
FIESTA BOWL: No. 4 Oklahoma (11-2, Big 12 champ) vs. No. 9 West Virginia (10-2, Big East champ)
SUGAR BOWL: No. 2 LSU (11-2, SEC champ) vs. No. 6 Missouri (11-2, Big 12 at-large)
COALITION BOWL: No. 8 Kansas (11-1, Big 12 at-large) vs. No. 10 Hawaii (12-0, WAC champ at-large)
After these five games are played, the BCS standings come out one more time and the top two teams would play for the national championship.
You can shoot a lot of holes in this idea but there are two things it would definitely do:
1) It makes every bowl relevant to the BCS championship where now only one of the five game matters to the vast majority of the viewing public. If LSU can play its way from No. 7 to No. 2 on Dec. 1, why can’t Georgia play its way from No. 5 into the BCS championship game? Every game could potentially be sending its winner to the big game. Ratings for all the games would go up.
2) Because teams get to play in their traditional bowls, this system provides better match-ups across the board, which is something that was certainly lacking last season. It also all but guarantees a sellout for the games.
This process essentially adds a week to the regular season, which has been used as an argument against it. Given the quality of college football’s regular season, I would say that it is an argument FOR it.
It’s not perfect. Sooner or later No. 1 is going to end up playing No. 2 in a bowl. But the percentages are overwhelmingly against it. In the 57 years between 1936 and 1992 before the first version of the BCS, No. 1 played No. 2 in a bowl only eight times.
It’s not a four-team playoff but wouldn’t it have more drama than what we have now?
I’m not advocating for this position but I am asking: Would it be better than what we have now?
Tell me why this wouldn’t work.
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