=>I have always advocated that in a perfect world, the NCAA would get rid of the bowls and go to a 32 team playoff. Like in basketball, the conference champion would get an automatic invite (11 spots). The other 21 spots filled with at-large teams. The tourney would be seeded and the higher seed would host through the second round or maybe even through quarterfinals. The final rounds would be on a neutral field.

Would the current bowl system or a 32 team tourney format benefit the MAC more?

32 TEAM FORMAT

PROS: A MAC school, like in basketball, has a mathmatical change, albeit a long one, of winning the national championship.

CONS: Likely only 1 MAC school would make the playoffs every year. Some years 2 or 3 could slip in (2003 season Miami and BUGS finished in Top 25 and NIU, at 10-2 was just outside it ). Ex. CMU would be in the tourney this year, but bowl teams NIU, WMU, and Ohio U. would not qualify for the postseason. Another con is the MAC champion would likely be one of the worst seeds and have to beat a top 8 team on the road in the first round. In addition, the 2nd round and maybe quarterfinals would also be on the road versus a very good team.

CURRENT BOWL FORMAT

PROS: More opportunities for postseason. This year, the MAC will get 4 teams in postseason play. In a 32 team playoff, the MAC would have just got one. Also, under the current BCS rules, a MAC school could get a BCS bowl if it went undefeated like Boise State. The BCS bowl would be a neutral game in a huge showcase.

CONS: No real mathmatical chance at all for a national championship, even if went undefeated.

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Vote which system is better for the MAC (and not necessarily what you want to see or which system is better for college football as a whole)?

You can have both a playoff and the current bowl system. The top 8 teams square off in the playoff, the top 3 bowls rotate who gets the final every year, the other 2 get the semi-finals and the next best 4 get the quarter-finals. Every need is met that way. Notsure how or why every NCAA sport, even football in every division but I-A has a playoff yet they can't come to an agreement for what would be a huge draw and quiet all critics.

No reason why the NCAA couldn't incorporate the current bowls into a 32 team playoff. Those bowls that didn't want to participate could still have their game but they wouldn't get one of the top 32 teams.

32 teams is too many. 8 is too few. Take the geometric mean.

=>This issue I presented is what of those two scenarios only would be in the best interest of the MAC.

The post was not what is the best playoff system as a whole.

Thanks for clarifying that but we can read just fine. Why limit the poll to 2 choices when choice 3 is far better and is basically the best of both worlds?

DrTorch Wrote:32 teams is too many. 8 is too few. Take the geometric mean.

I'd prefer to take the average. lmfao
(sometimes, I just crack myself up!)

I don't think it's possible to do anymore than an 8 team playoff, and an 8 team would include just about all the teams that could actually win it all, while keeping the "bowl system" in tact.

mollautt Wrote:=>This issue I presented is what of those two scenarios only would be in the best interest of the MAC.

The post was not what is the best playoff system as a whole.

Ok, but that's sort of like asking, "Would you rather be covered in horse ****, or cow ****?"

I'm sure there are pros and cons to either, but I'd still prefer "none of the above." But for you Miami (IN) grads, to each his own.

Polish Hammer Wrote:You can have both a playoff and the current bowl system. The top 8 teams square off in the playoff, the top 3 bowls rotate who gets the final every year, the other 2 get the semi-finals and the next best 4 get the quarter-finals. Every need is met that way. Notsure how or why every NCAA sport, even football in every division but I-A has a playoff yet they can't come to an agreement for what would be a huge draw and quiet all critics.

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this is a no-brainer.

4 bowl games on Jan 1 and 2. Two semis on Jan 8 and 9. Championship Jan 16. That is a total of 7 "BCS" Bowl games - or two more then what we have now.

Each "BCS" conference gets an automatic. and save the other 2 for the other conferences, independents, etc.

Sure that gives a break to the 'little guys' but that isn't a bad thing. This year it would be Boise and ND.

The remaining bowl games could be played as they are.

All I suggest is to put a playoff format on the BCS format that we have for '07.

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Having said all of that, I really prefer a 16 team format with 4 bids to the non- big 6 conferences and Independents. The "BCS" schools would still get 2 bids per conference.

Seed them 1 to 16 and play them in neutral site bowl games - 8 games on Dec 31 and Jan 1. Include the Outback, Gator, etc. to come up with 8 sites for the first round.

the non-selected bowl teams, e.g., CMU, MTSU, Cincy, WMU, etc. can have their bowls before Jan. 1.

If the BCS czar reads this and has any questions, he can PM me.

I like 32, but I like 24 better. If you have a play-in round then A) it rewards the regular season more and B) you have more meaningful games for the non BCS teams.

In my dream world 24 is the number.