If you can't win the national championship trophy...

[Chavez]

Grits and Shins

We are talking about division 1A where the national champion is voted on and then declared.

It's always amused me how the college presidents just CAN'T work out a playoff system for 1A football, for various "reasons" - reasons that, apparently, football AT EVERY OTHER LEVEL (and I do mean EVERY - HS, NAIA, D III, 1-AA, NFL) has managed to work out.

[Kansas State 2000]

Grits and Shins:

The two teams that are the most popular make it to game that is deemed to be the championship game.  The national championship is determined by a VOTE, note by what happens on the field

True and Untrue …

 

Untrue If a team is undefeated and is the only undefeated team at the end of the year and has won their conference. They will be the undisputed #1 team in the nation. And will have won on the field the right to play for the national championship.

 

True If there are three teams tied at 11-0 at the end of the season we know only two can go. At that point the popularity contest comes into play. One good team would get screwed as USC did last year after Oklahomo lost by 4 touchdown (To K-State) in the conference championship game.

 

Example – If Notre Dame, K-State & Florida State were all tied at 11-0 at the end of the season K-State would be the team out as the other two are more popular with the voters.

[lynch]

We are talking about division 1A where the national champion is voted on and then declared. [/QB]

 

I know the difference between the two. That was what I was pointing out. How easy it would be to create a playoff system. You could even use the bowls that they have now. You could have 16 or 32 teams. This gives you 4 or 5 weeks of extra footbal. Now they wait up to 6-7 weeks to sometimes.

 

With 32 teams you play the first round at the higher ranked teams field. The second round on you play at different "Bowl Games". The Semifinals and Championship take place at the BCS Bowl sites, it could just continue to rotate between the Bowls.

[Guest VoteQuimby]

Kansas State 2000:

 

 

Example – If Notre Dame, K-State & Florida State were all tied at 11-0 at the end of the season K-State would be the team out as the other two are more popular with the voters.

That sounds about right brow .

[justin]

Grits and Shins:

... yes, the NC is a popularity contest.  The two teams that are the most popular make it to game that is deemed to be the championship game.  The national championship is determined by a VOTE, note by what happens on the field.

 

incorrect...for so many reasons. first of all, the popularity of a team in any given year can be dependant upon how good/successfull a team is. therefore, the argument that popularity dictates the NC is invalid. that would be like saying that the super bowl winner did not really win the nfl championship because the two best teams (maybe the two teams with the best record) did not compete against each other in the super bowl - it just doesnt make sense.

while votes indeed do impact the bcs, by the end of the season, votes are based on what happened on the field.

[Grits and Shins]

justin ... you can say what you want ... but the bottom line is that the at the end of it all the national champion is the one that gets the most votes. Furthermore the 2 teams that get to the championship game are those that got the most votes.

 

That makes it a popularity contest.

 

The SB winner played their way to the SB ... they actually EARNED it. It was not an arbitrary selection ... but teams played all season long to earn seeds ... then played until 1 was left standing.

[BS Miscreant]

WOW! This is an amazingly poor defense of your point and critique of Grits', justin. Frankly, I think the reason is that there is no defense of your point when the argument is approached from a reasonable perspective.

 

Let's start by saying that Grits' argument is extreme, to say the least. Even he will admit that a team must earn some modicum of respect through winning to even be considered by the vast majority of voters(ie Army got no votes). After that, aside from a few predetermined, computer-calculated criteria, it does come down to a vote. We'll revisit the whole "vote" thing in a bit.

 

Back to the issue at hand...

You say Grits' "popularity" point is invalid because a team's popularity can be based on success in a given year. Regardless of how long a team has been popular(40 years or 6 weeks) they are still popular. Popular = votes

You then go on to make your(your, not Grits') NFL comparison which makes no sense at all because the NFLs playoff system is completely objective. They have a concrete set of factual criteria to determine playoff teams and the rest is settled on the field. Everyone knows exactly what the criteria are before the season even begins. Nothing like 1-A college football at all.

Finally, my favorite part of your argument...

"votes are based on what happened on the field." Only in a perfect world would this flawlessly produce the right teams every time. People vote for what they "think" is right. If you ask for an opinion(voting) then it's a popularity contest. We need only go back to this past season to see the giant holes in the system. OU, after getting their butts handed to them on national TV, still got to play in the big game. I'm a fan and didn't think they deserved to be there. Then, USC gets a slice of the NC pie in spite of the fact that the BCS system clearly wink crowns LSU. I guess it comes down to one question.

 

How do you end up with a split NC if voting/popularity is not a factor?

[lynch]

I would love to see a 32 team Playoff. That would take 5 weeks. The conference campions from each of the 11 1-A conferences. Then you put together a committee(like basketball) to pick the other 21 teams that make the playoffs. They also seed the teams into four 8 team brackets and we watch the teams play to see who is the best.

 

It is a whole lot harder to argue that the 33rd best team in the nation deserved the title over whoever won the playoffs.

[Akfatha]

saying the two teams playing for the title is a popularity contest and has NOTHING to do w/ what happened onthe field is stupid simply because: HOW COME IT'S ALWAYS A 1 OR 0 LOSS TEAM IN THE TITLE GAME! If it was a popularity contest there would be 2 or 3 loss team in the game cuz ppl voting would pick their boys! Second, if there WERE a playoff, a lot of you playoff buffs would STILL be bitching because one year ur team would just barely miss out even though they 'DESERVED TO BE THERE'.

[gspot]

Or stolen from that team on the field by a pass interference call that was not pass interference.

 

123497[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

Everyone seems seems to forget the "blown" 4th down call a few series before which went FOR the losing team. If that had been called correctly, the "infamous" pass interference call might have been a moot point. Assuming they correctly rule on the 4th down call, they most likely get points.

 

Calls went both ways, but all the people who can't let it go only focus on the one call. Why the focus on only one the one call? The 4th down call was clearly blown, while the PI play was a judement call.