Draft No. 1,927,638: A College Football Playoff System

Inspired by @weNEEDaPLAYOFF, TBDS has come up with a unique college football playoff formula.

Warning: This will not completely please the BCS.  However, the great minds of TBDS came up with a formula to keep big business happy while using the BCS formula.

Aren't we so thoughtful?

First, we're making it a 16-team playoff.  No moaning, groaning or bitching.  The kids at the FCS level have been doing it for years, and they have to go through the same finals schedule everyone else does.  And there is no complaining about "thinking of the children" when they have to do it.

So, how do we pick 16 teams?  Let's start with the conference champions.  All of them.

Georgia Tech (ACC), Texas (Big 12), Ohio State (Big Ten), Cincinnati (Big East), Alabama (SEC), Oregon (Pac 10), Houston (C-USA), Central Michigan (MAC), Troy State (Sun Belt), Boise State (WAC), Texas Christian (MWC).

With 11 spots already grabbed by auto-bids, that leaves us with five open spots.  How do we choose them?  Well, if the BCS insists on pestering us with their presence, we'll use their system to work for us rather than against us.

TBDS will use the BCS rankings to pick the best five at large teams.  Those teams are: Florida (SEC), Iowa (Big 10), Virginia Tech (ACC), LSU (SEC) and Penn State (Big 10).  Sorry, Brigham Young (MWC), better luck next season.  The aforementioned squads rank fifth, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th in the BCS standings.

Now that we have our teams, let's break them down and then place them into regions.

No. 1 seeds: Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati

No. 2 seeds: Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Boise State

No. 3 seeds: Florida, Iowa, LSU, Penn State

No. 4 seeds: Houston, Central Michigan, Troy State, Virginia Tech

Furthermore, we'll use the BCS bowls as playoff sites for the final four.  We'll seed the top four teams as follows, according to the BCS rankings and set them in a pod.

Sugar Bowl - Alabama (1)

• Georgia Tech
  
• Penn State
  
• Troy State
  

Fiesta Bowl - Texas (2)

• Boise State
• Iowa
• Central Michigan
  

Rose Bowl -TCU (3)

• Oregon
• LSU
• Houston
  

Orange Bowl - Cincinnati (4)

• Ohio State
• Florida
• Virginia Tech
  

If the seeds pan out you'll have an Alabama-Georgia Tech game in the Sugar Bowl, a Texas-Boise State game in the Fiesta Bowl, a TCU-Oregon game in the Rose Bowl and a Cincinnati-Ohio State match-up in the Orange Bowl.

This way, everyone gets a chance.  Want a higher BCS ranking?  Schedule tougher opponents.  If you can't schedule tougher opponents, the BCS teams that bring in the University of the Little Sisters of the Poor before the conference season starts will be penalized in the rankings.

Our system benefits everyone.  The BCS gets to stay around with its numbers formula and their big-time money making bowls, the fans get their playoff system and every conference is represented.

Non-BCS bowls can serve as the college football world as an appetizer to the playoff main course.  Therefore, the schools that will be on the outside looking in will also have a chance to end the season with a "W" ... or as Athletic Directors look at it ... getting another paycheck to throw into the coffers.

What do you think?  We'll accept questions, comments, concerns, compliments, hate and general thoughts in the comments section.

If you dare.

Heisman Trophy & Bowl Championship Series Buried Leads

Only in college football you can find a team win all of its games and not compete in a national championship game.

You'll read that lead a million times from now until mid-January.  Cincinnati, Boise State and Texas Christian (TCU) each were undefeated and were the undisputed champions of their conference.  That we know.
 
But consider the following factors.

Texas Christian University found itself screwed because its school name doesn't stop at Texas.

At what point does a 28.3 margin of victory come into play?  I guess that only works if you're one of the big boys.  Gotcha.

The Longhorns came into the season ranked No. 2 in the country because of the return of quarterback Colt McCoy.  Its non-conference schedule featured Louisiana-Monroe (6-6), Wyoming (6-6) and UTEP (4-8).  The only non-conference opponent with a winning record was UCF (8-4).  Basically, all Texas had to do was load up on cupcakes and coast into the Big 12 championship game.

It's hard to take this whole system seriously when the BCS says it wants to make the regular season games have more of an impact, even though we all knew the winner of the Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences would be represented in the BCS title game.


Cincinnati might have the biggest beef because the system that was supposed to help it get to the title game cornholed it into a match-up with Florida.  Cincy owns wins at South Florida, when it was ranked 21st, against West Virginia when it was ranked 25th and at Pittsburgh when it was ranked 15th.  The Bearcats also defeated Oregon State, which currently 18th in the country.

And all it did was get them in a bowl game against Tim Tebow in what surely will be nothing short of an overblown going away party/Tebow slurp fest.

Do you think that if there was a playoff system in place, Brian Kelly wouldn't be feverishly putting together a game-plan for the Bearcats rather than wearing a lime-green tie in South Bend, Ind.?

Boise State's got beef too.  You can't say they didn't play anyone this time around.  In fact, the Broncos are the only undefeated team (other than Alabama) to have played an opponent heading to a BCS Bowl.  You all remember the punch, but apparently it doesn't matter much to the selection committee that Boise State beat Oregon in the process.

You could blame the computers or the voters with power conference ties, but the real culprit here is the pre-season poll.  It automatically puts teams in non-BCS conferences at a major disadvantage.  There is no level playing field from the get-go.  If the BCS system doesn't go after this season, the powers that be should really take a look at abolishing the pre-season poll.  Not having polls until Week 5 should give everyone enough time to separate the contenders and pretenders.

As for the Heisman, that now is too turning into a popularity contest. 

McCoy gets an invite because he was the best quarterback on one of the top teams in the country, despite posting numbers that were not as good as last year.  Mark Ingram gets the nod because he's the best offensive player on the nation's top team. 

It's unfair Ndamukong Suh gets punished because 1) He plays defense and 2) His team didn't get enough TV time.  Why should that matter?  Guess that means Toby Gerhart's trip to NYC is in vain as well.

And how come C.J. Spiller doesn't get an invite despite being the only player in college football to score a touchdown in each of his team's games.  Oh, right.  Because his team wasn't really good.  That's great.  Where does it say the Heisman is supposed to go to a player on a team that is ridiculously good.

(Checks.)

Nowhere.

I know a lot of people who think the government getting into the mix is stupid.  They couldn't be more wrong.  Sure, there's a two-front war going on, a nasty unemployment rate, a fledgling economy and health care on the docket -- and how is that different from any other time Congress is in session?  You know where you can place the blame for the two-front war. 

As for the umemployment rate, economy and healthcare, that can all be solved if Congress checked its ego at the steps of Capitol Hill and at least pretended that it cared about the people rather than what kind of pork it can get for signing a bill.

And why should the government be involved with the BCS anyway?  Simple.  Look at the two teams in your title game.  The University of Alabama vs. The University of Texas.  Two public universitites funded by government grants and such.

I dare you to tell me the government doesn't care about the schools it helped put on the map in the first place.

Future Headline: Obama To Slay The BCS Monster

Someone should tell President Barack Obama that eliminating the Bowl Championship Series should be his top priority as he steps into the Oval Office today.

Sure, the economy is in dire need of a PacMan Jones, rain-induced boost. And yes, we should make a courtesy call to our worldly neighbors just to catch up. And we should most definitely drape the White House with a banner that proudly says "U.S.A.: Under New Management" as soon as possible.

But why deal with all the hard stuff first. Take care of the BCS and you would be crowned an instant success by people like me.

All I am asking you is to come in on your white horse and slay the evil BCS Monster once and for all.

Or at least come with your cavalcade of black GMC Sierras and sign a bill with that mighty pen that denounces the system that has caused as more message board wars than Barry Lamar Bonds, SpyGate and Lindsay Lohan's relationship status combined.

Take advantage of that whole "executive power" deal and help benefit America, because, truth is, a playoff benefits everyone.

And if those bowl-pushing bullies try to intimidate you, tell them they can keep their individual bowls featuring the barely bowl eligible WAC and MAC teams as long as the top teams can battle for a true national championship.

Use the BCS bowls as playoff sites that pit conference champions against one-another. Because that makes sense, and unlike the thinking of the previous presidential regime, making sense is a good thing.

And if Central Michigan wants to play Nevada in the Big Dead Sidebar Bowl of Mediocrity, so be it.

We really could use the advertising money.

I care about one BCS...Baron, Carmelo Stephon

If you have not read the excellent blogs about the real BCS written by Stile Smith and Luis Medina, I would highly suggest it. With that said, I am tired of the love triangle going on in the Big 12 south, which is why I am focusing my attention on a different BCS. 

Three major stories that have developed throughout the season is the play (or lack thereof) from Baron Davis, Carmelo Anthony and Stephon Marbury. Too often it is Marbury getting all the attention while players like Davis and Anthony not only play great basketball, but have great stories of their own. 

Baron Davis

The Clippers were back. Elton Brand was going to be healthy and he was recruiting Baron Davis like Calvin Sampson on....anyone. And then $80-plus million was waved in the big man's face and he left Davis and the Clippers fans with little direction and almost no shot at the playoffs. 

Davis didn't care. The team only has three wins but he is averaging 17 points and 8 assists per game. But that should be expected of a player of his caliber. It is the fire and genuine passion he has shown every single game this season that is commendable. Forced five turnovers against Chris Paul, dropped 15 on the Miami Heat despite a stomach virus and most of all, wants to show that life as a Clipper goes on well past the departure of Elton Brand. 

Davis is the type of player that doesn't care if his team has three wins or 13 wins, he is going to bring it every night. The Clippers will have a chance to end 2008 with a statement as they get Brand's Philadelphia 76'ers on December 31. That's a must-see game no matter what the records.

Carmelo Anthony

There is no doubt LeBron James is the best player from the 2003 draft and Dwayne Wade is making headlines by leading the league in scoring, but to me Carmelo Anthony has shown the most improvement from year to year. An extremely impressive streak of 221 consecutive games of scoring in double digits came to an end Sunday for Anthony, but that just shows how reliable he is. 

His offense has always been great but he continues to improve by leaps in bounds in other areas. This year he is leading all small forwards in double-doubles and his rebounds per game have grown from 3 per game his rookie season to 6 per game this year. 

But what I like most about Anthony is watching the way he plays the game with an out of this world basketball IQ. Take for example the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls. Chauncey Billups would run off Anthony's screens every time and then reverse back around the screen. On the reverse, the defense would either make a switch, causing Anthony to get matched up on Rose — a huge mismatch — or Billups would take it to the hole cause Rose couldn't recover and Aaron Gray wasn't sliding over. Beautiful offense.

Denver is quietly the second best team in the west right now and if you get a chance to watch a game, look for the intricacies of how the Nuggets play, especially Anthony. At times, it is a work of art.

Stephon Marbury

Well, at this point, I wouldn't be a true American if I didn't throw my two cents in about the whole Stephon Marbury saga. The NBA's daily soap opera looks to be coming to a slow end finally as Marbury and the New York Knick's G.M. Donnie Walsh have opened discussions about a buyout or trade.

Marbury has become a complete cancer to his team and was already one of the most overrated players in the league as is. It's good to see the Knicks have come together and taken control of the team, instead of waiting for Marbury to act like they did last season. It's a good thing too, because they could be stuck with him for a little while longer because of Walsh's hesitation to buyout Marbury's contract and everyone else's disinterest in trading for him.

For the time being though Walsh has banned Marbury from games and practices and the Dallas Mavericks have voiced some interest in obtaining Marbury. Dallas must have a good retirement community for point guards because I see a trend happening there.  

For the sake of the Knicks, the NBA and the sanity of basketball fans everywhere, I hope this Marbury thing gets settled. But if this whole thing does continue, the least Marbury could do is throw another tattoo on his head so people have something new to look at.

In fact, Marbury could tattoo the formula for how to break a tie in the real BCS so everyone can stop worrying about the Big 12 South. Surely the pollsters and NCAA-folk will have enough time to study the formula on Marbury's head since there is at least an hour worth of clips of him on ESPN everyday.