You had me up until the top 15 provision at the end. If the P5 get an auto-bid, give them the auto-bid. No more provisions, strict parameters.
There would be far more incentive to schedule tougher OOC games in that system, because you can take a chance or two outside of your league to snag a big win to help your seeding and/or at-large resume, with having the fall-back of knowing you can win your league and make the playoffs even if you lose a tough OOC game.
You had me up until the top 15 provision at the end. If the P5 get an auto-bid, give them the auto-bid. No more provisions, strict parameters.
If we raise it to 32 teams, scUM will have a chance to get in.
Open it up to 8. Bring back the BCS and let that rank the top 8. Seed accordingly.
Credit to Auggie because I'm pretty sure I read this from him and IMO it's the best solution(much later down the road, though).
Split FBS in half. 64 teams total 4 conferences(B12 dissolves), 16 teams each, 2 divisions in each conference. Conference championship acts as the quarterfinal. You can switch the bracket around every year to ensure the same conferences don't play every year. I think that's about the best you can do with so many teams.
6 teams, each P5 Champion plus the highest rated team from G5.
This year it would be:
1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. UCF
First Round: Georgia vs UCF, OSU vs USC
Semi-Final: Clemson and Oklahoma face R1 winners
Essentially works the same as NFL playoffs. I like it because it forces teams to win their conference and eliminates the committee and all non-sensical discussions about who should and shouldn't be in. You know immediately after winning your conference championship whether you are in or not
6 teams, each P5 Champion plus the highest rated team from G5.
This year it would be:
1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. UCF
First Round: Georgia vs UCF, OSU vs USC
Semi-Final: Clemson and Oklahoma face R1 winners
Essentially works the same as NFL playoffs. I like it because it forces teams to win their conference and eliminates the committee and all non-sensical discussions about who should and shouldn't be in. You know immediately after winning your conference championship whether you are in or not
They could move to Fox or split games. Where there's a will there's a way.An interesting point was made by Stewart Mandel, he indicated the #1 road block to an 8 team playoff is that the NCAA would want more $s from ESPN to help defray cost yet ESPN is sucking wind and not looking to spend any more $s on NCAA football.
I said it in another post. All P5 conferences OOC games should be all P5 teams. Eliminate conference championships, let it all be solved on the field then you'll have a true top 4 playoff teams and you know what? The teams will be the same cast of characters in the end. Unfortunately the big1o may never get in. Otherwise, this is the best system by far! College football, the only sport in all sports pro and amateur, where the regular season means something. So let's really make it worthwhile!
Personally, I would get rid of the conference championships and make that week the first week of an 8 team playoff.
If you like the conference championships, get rid of one regular season game, start the conference championships one week earlier and then start the playoffs the first week of December. Play the Semifinals and Finals under the current schedule.
I like the conference championships because they add spice to college football. There is a place for tradition. It would also elevate the importance of the league schedule and provide an objective metric for filling 5 of the 8 playoff slots.
Awarding the P5 conference champions with automatic bids might also spur teams to schedule more difficult OOC games. Take the top teams in the B1G having a realistic shot at winning the league. Wouldn't it make sense for those teams to play a couple of established powers as a way to beef up their chances at being selected as one of the two wild cards should they either not make the conference championship game or lose that game. If they lose those OOC games they would still have a chance to get into the playoffs by winning the league title.
And it should be easy to drop one game per year!