The Moment the BCS format was in talks of being scrapped for a playoff, I immediately drew up an 8 team playoff with conference champions and at-large bids. Back before the Pac-12 was poached for talent and sucked up by the money bag conferences, I had 5 Conference Champions and 3 at-large bids. Notre Dame would get an automatic at-large bid if they finished Undefeated as well as an Undefeated Group of Five Champion.
Of course they went with the 4 team at first which all but created the need for 1 of the power conferences to go. Leaving 1 Conference Champion out every year was always going to be flawed and riddled with controversy.
I was right about that as well as we saw many times where the 4 team playoff format failed and we saw first hand the consolidation of Schools into 4 major conferences. This move drastically changed the landscape with ESPN paying 50+ million a year per school and the BIG 10 forking over 60+ Million per year from all their lucrative TV deals. The ACC and Big 12 shell out over 40+ million a year to their schools.
So now that we have 4 major Conferences, we can just do 4 Conference Champions right?
Wrong and not only did they not just do 4 conference champions, they expanded to a 12 team playoff! Skipping right over the 8 team format and have been talking about 14 and 16 as potential options.
When they unveiled the 12 team playoff and I was once again correct. I said it would devalue the regular season for many, prop up the top schools that do not play each other and then we would hear arguments for why the #13-14-15 teams in the country deserve to be in, which is exactly what we’re seeing now. The SEC and BIG 10 teams are propped up all year and the Big 12 and ACC can’t even rest on going 11-1 and making it (BYU).
We’re already hearing arguments for 3-loss teams (Texas) and 2-loss teams (Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami, Vanderbilt)
Maybe if people actually listened and comprehend what I have to say about this they would understand that the 8 team playoff is the best format. We’ll never get it because of gross incompetence + unsatiated greed for more money and entertainment at the expense of authenticity, tradition, and fairness.
Here’s my rules for the 8 team playoff (now modified for the current landscape).
- 4 Conference Champions win Auto-bids like Basketball
- Undefeated Notre Dame gets an automatic bid
- An Undefeated Group of Five Champion that also beat a power 4 opponent
- At-large bids to fill out the rest of the bracket for those not filled already
Very Simple rules, Very Straight Forward, Can’t argue. The Conference Champions are included because this is a tournament to be crowned the best team in the Nation, Conference Champions should have a stake to play against the other conference champions to see who’s superior.
Undefeated Notre Dame deserves to get in because they always schedule tough teams throughout the year and rarely have a cake walk to 12-0.
Also, 12-0 is extremely difficult to do, no matter who you play and that’s why an Undefeated Group of Five Champion deserves to be in. I also say they need to beat a power 4 opponent throughout the year and this is to account for past teams like UCF who went undefeated but were on the outside looking in. This gives those teams a pathway.
If these rules were applied today, James Madison, Tulane, North Texas would all be on the outside looking in. Teams with 3 losses (cough couch Texas) wouldn’t be close to the conversation because if you lost 3 games, who is really arguing you should be #1.
The Playoff is about who deserves to be #1. The BCS was 2 teams, the 4 Team playoff was to include arguments for 3 and 4 to be the #2 team to play #1. No one in the past has ever argued the number #14 team should be playing for the National Championship. However, with 12, we’re seeing arguments for five 10-2 teams and Texas at 9-3. (I’m excluding Utah because they aren’t kicking and screaming for a chance).
My 8 team playoff eliminates the non-sense and gives us the Tournament of Champions and the Elite. It rewards the Regular season AND the Conference Championship Games.
Here is how MY 8 team playoff field would look as of now in 2025:
- Ohio State/Indiana Winner
- UGA/Alabama Winner
- Texas Tech/BYU Winner
- Virginia/Duke Winner
- Ohio State/Indiana Loser
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M (unless UGA Loses the SEC Championship, then UGA gets this over Texas A&M)
No 2 loss teams have arguments and 3 loss teams wouldn’t even think they are privileged enough to join the 8. The Regular season would matter greatly as many teams would see that 2 losses all but ensures they are out of the conversation, 3 ends it unless you win your conference. Big Time Match-ups would still count favorably to all teams for scheduling, as a top win over a big time team would help prop you up all season to be in position for the playoff if you were to lose 1 game.
Ah What could’ve been in the land of fairness and logic.
The World will never know.
P.S. Ohio State would’ve made my playoff last year as the 8 seed.
2024 Playoff Field:
- Oregon
- Georgia
- Arizona State
- Clemson
- Texas
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
If the 1st round is a bust and blowout central again, the NCAA should really look into downsizing instead of growing the field to include more inconsistent teams.
-Jaracz
The Other Side of Sports 