Honestly, I am totally content with a 4 team playoff, 8 at the absolute max. Here's my reasoning. Based on the BCS rankings heading into the bowls, here's the top 16: LSU Bama OkSt Stanford Oregon Arkansas Boise St. Kansas St. South Carolina Wisconsin Virginia Tech Baylor Michigan Oklahoma Clemson Georgia Sure, some of the teams out of the top 4 or even top 8 could get hot and run off three games in a row with the right matchup, but if you think about it, do we really need to see GA-LSU again, or 'Bama - Clemson, or OkSt-OK again, or Stanford-Michigan? No. This isn't like college basketball where there are a lot more teams that can get hot on a given night and pull an upset, I don't really see the need for a 4 week long playoff. The top 4 would be adequate, the top 8 is a bit of a stretch, the top 16 is completely unnecessary.
I get what you're saying but why not match up to the D2 playoff system that has been working? We have 35 bowl games and all you have to do is win 6 games to be eligible. Really? Let's eliminate the "bowls" and replace it with a 24 team playoff. It would be much more watchable and more exciting.
They will never eliminate the 35 bowl games. Too much money at stake. We'll be lucky to get the 4 team playoff.
8 I can live with, but 4 would have problems in a lot of years. Think about the season LSU won the title as a 2 loss team. There were no clear favorites, and it certainly didn't come down to 4 teams. Also, this season if there was only 8 (let's say 6 bcs conference winners and 2 at large spots) Boise St wouldn't get in. Instead they were designated to a terrible bowl game against a team that wasn't even ranked. 8 is manageable, but I'll take more if I can get it. The time frame is certainly there. Saban said his team took 3 weeks off practice before the championship. They can definitely squeeze an extra game in.
Mentioned it before, will mention it again. 16 teams. Top six seeds are your 6 BCS conference champions. The remaining 10 teams come from the next top 10 in the standings. It rewards conference play as well as overall. Teams like Boise State, Houston and Notre Dame can still get in with a high enough ranking. You can even include the major bowls into it. Some kind of rotational system where they are the hosts of the semifinals (8 teams, 4 bowls) and final 4 (4 teams, 2 bowls). Could be done if you used the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton and then probably the Capital One bowl (next highest in terms of payout so I'm assuming it is the next largest. It also used to be the Citrus Bowl so it has a decent history to it.). Then you have your independent championship game like they have right now. But what do I know? Not much.
I never understood why they can't do a playoff without keeping the bowls. You have the title game, excluding those two after the playoff, but keep the Rose Bowl as Pac-12 v. Big 10, Sugar Bowl as Big 12 v. SEC, Orange Bowl as ACC v. Big East, and Fiesta Bowl as two at-large teams. That way you keep the profitable bowl games and don't even have to let a #24 West Virginia team into the playoff.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/intelligence_squared/2012/04/the_next_slate_intelligence_squared_debate_is_may_8_why_malcolm_gladwell_thinks_we_should_ban_college_football_.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/in ... ball_.html</a> I don't like it, but he makes a valid point. Interesting to think about.
The best argument I heard against a playoff including the bowls is the fan support. How many fans can afford to travel to 3 or 4 different bowl sites to support their team? Or are they all just going to wait until the championship to try and go? I am all for a playoff system. The conferences are way too different to keep leaving it up to records and voters.
It's a four team playoff. So that's two games, max. And from what the various proposals suggest, they'll either host each semifinal at the higher ranked team's stadium (solving the travel problem) or at a traditional bowl site. If the semis are at a neutral site, some fans may have to choose one game or the other, but to say that there would be a lack of fan support for a semi-final or national championship game is ridiculous.
I think the Penn State thing goes to show that you can accomplish just about anything if you get a big enough mob frothing at the mouth. Are any of the people responsible even associated with the school anymore? Doesn't matter as long as we get to lynch somebody, I guess. And don't tell me it's about sending a message unless you think there are people out there who are thinking, "Gee, I was going to cover up a pedophilia scandal, but I don't think I'll risk it if I might get in trouble 12 years from now." If anything, it will give programs another reason to hide things now that they've seen how bad the punishment is. You don't try to cover something up if you don't think you're going to get away with it. And vacating the wins? What does that accomplish except giving the finger to Paterno? Did he gain some kind of competitive advantage from having a pedophile on campus? Then why isn't Notre Dame any better? Though it is refreshing to see some media-manufactured public outrage that isn't coming from the state of Florida for a change.
1 - Fake chronic. 2 - He'll transfer to a D2 school ala Janoris Jenkins and still make millions 3 - can we please start referring to him now as the "Honey Weasel"?