College Playoff

[Jaxbuck]

Originally Posted by buckeyegrad

My only question to the people against a playoff system: If they are as bad and as degrading to the regular season games as you claim, why are there no calls in any other sport to have them eliminated?

Probably because CFB is the only sport where their is a long historic precedent of not having them(playoffs). CFB is 100+ years old and more popular than ever. If they had a playoff from day 1 and no one knew any better I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue. However, that is not the case. NFL, NBA, and college Bball all have more history with playoffs than without(if they have any history at all without a playoff).

My question to those who believe a playoff has no negative impact on the regular season is how many time have you seen a team with its playoff spot locked up rest its starters or pull them early and essentially concede a game? I know I've seen it a bunch.

The worst part imo, is that most CFB rivalry games are late in the season if not the very last game. That's exactly when a team is going to be looking foreward to playoffs and resting starters. I'm not saying it would always happen or a playoff would completely trivialize the regular season. I'm just saying there is no way to avoid some degree of it.

[akronbuck]

should be the playoffs and the only bad thing coming from that would be the last # pick getting a no thxs.

I could live with one of #5,#7,#9,#11,#13,#17 NOT getting it from which ever, playoff system would be the best

It would be a lot better then an auburn,penn state or the florida/scum pick thats been screwed up.


to all you fans what if we were in scums spot today?
THE PLAYOFF VOTE WOULD BE AT 100%YES

[Oh8ch]

My only question to the people against a playoff system: If they are as bad and as degrading to the regular season games as you claim, why are there no calls in any other sport to have them eliminated?

That is an excellent question.

My condescending answer is that majority of the TV audience is not as sophistaced as us purists. But there is also a different answer for different sports.

In sports where you play a ton of games the importance of individual games is already discounted. This is pretty much true in every sport except NFL and College football.

In MLB and NBA unless you are following your favorite team nobody watches games til the playoffs. I watch several CFB games every week.

As for the NFL, for me it has hurt the sport. I don't watch the NFL nearly as much as I used to and part of the reason is regular season games don't mean much. It is also because the Browns have sucked forever and I don't have a second team. But I am certainly in the minority here. The NFL is extremely popular.

I suppose if folks just love to watch NFL games more teams in the playoffs means more excitement.

That would be true of CFB as well. I would readily agree that a post season playoff would attract viewers and generate excitement. But I don't think it does anything for proving who is the best and Wild Card champs prove that IMO.

For my money it doesn't get much more exciting than Louisville versus Rutgers on a Thursday night in mid season. Or OSU versus Texas in week two. And Saturday with USC-UCLA and Florida-Arkansas was classic. (I just lay on the sofa all day and held up one finger for beer and two for nachos. My wife loves nothing better than to satisfy my simple pleasures.) You don't have games like that in the NFL til it is playoff time or if you are a real die hard when two teams are playing for home field advantage in the last week of the season.

[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

My question to those who believe a playoff has no negative impact on the regular season is how many time have you seen a team with its playoff spot locked up rest its starters or pull them early and essentially concede a game? I know I've seen it a bunch.

I haven't seen a single instance of that in I-AA, II, or III football (which have 16-team playoffs). Everyone wants to win as many games as possible to get the highest possible playoff seeding and homefield advantage. You think Tressel would rest starters for The Game just because he's 11-0 going into it and already has a playoff spot locked up?

[martinss01]

Originally Posted by MililaniBuckeye

I haven't seen a single instance of that in I-AA, II, or III football (which have 16-team playoffs). Everyone wants to win as many games as possible to get the highest possible playoff seeding and homefield advantage. You think Tressel would rest starters for The Game just because he's 11-0 going into it and already has a playoff spot locked up?

against scum? no. but my question to you is this. do you think tressel would do so for a game against say... purdue or illinois should we already have a spot in the playoffs locked up?

[buckeyegrad]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

My question to those who believe a playoff has no negative impact on the regular season is how many time have you seen a team with its playoff spot locked up rest its starters or pull them early and essentially concede a game? I know I've seen it a bunch.

The worst part imo, is that most CFB rivalry games are late in the season if not the very last game. That's exactly when a team is going to be looking foreward to playoffs and resting starters. I'm not saying it would always happen or a playoff would completely trivialize the regular season. I'm just saying there is no way to avoid some degree of it.

If you still use a BCS-style formula to rank the seat the teams in a playoff, I doubt this happens as long as you keep the number of teams to 12 or less. No one is going to risk losing a game and forfeiting a bye or home field advantage in the first round in order to rest players. As we have seen this year, BCS standings can fluctuate quite a bit at the end of the season.

This is why I like a six-team playoff scenario. The conference champions of the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, and SEC get automatic bids. The sixth seat goes to whoever the BCS formula spits out from the other conferences and independents. The top two teams in the playoff get the first week off.

That should prevent any teams from slacking in the last couple of weeks as occurs in the NFL because of the 16 game schedule and 6 teams getting in from each conference.

[Saw31]

Playoffs are not going to happen. It seems to me that everyone here gets all hung up on the matchups and brackets, and this search for a "true" champion. The "fan's perspective" in other words. The bowl system is not now, and has never been about finding a "true" champion, though the BCS certainly brings us closer than has been historically possible. What this is about is making money. Until someone can tell me how the money gets shared in a way similar to how it's done now, the idea of a playoff is moot. A playoff system will not spread the money around in a way that will ever be satisfactory to the decision makers involved IMO. We hear "the presidents don't have to say why they don't like a playoff"...Well, this is why. It will always be why. The arguements made for playoffs are all superficial and from a fan's point of view. That's not the way to approach it. The people that matter must look at it as a business decision and you can scream all you want that "the money will still be there", but it's not so much about how much as it is about how it's divided. For example: Do teams getting byes still get paid for that week? That's not going to go over very well. They incur no costs sitting at home while those playing do. Home field? If your chances of gaining home field are so slim, why would you want to trade in guarenteed money at a Bowl game for an elusive (only 2 teams a year) home field game and purse? Or do the home teams have to divide the money with the visitors? Do you give everyone their share as soon as they make it to the playoffs? But once someone is eliminated, they incur no costs. So that won't go over very well either. You're all advocating a 6 team playoff, but there is an opportunity for 10 teams to make the big money now. Why the hell would they want that number to go down to 6? It's not happening. Do you assume the TV money goes up just because you added more games? I don't think you can assume that first round playoff games make the pie bigger than it is now. Advertisers don't have more money to spend just because there's another week of football. So, more games (costs) for the same income? It's not going to happen. The search for a "true" champion is not the priority and never has been. The priority is to ensure (pay for) the future of these huge athletic departments and facilities. That includes those Universities that will never see a BCS game or would never make a playoff appearance. They get a vote too remember. They may not be equals on the field, but they are equals in the decision making process. They will still want their share as well...And with all due respect, D1AA and Div. III has no place in this discussion. Again, making your arguement from a fan's point of view is ignoring what the real hurdles to a playoff are. The D1AA and Div. III playoffs do not generate the kind of money we're talking about here with the Bowl system and it is an apples to oranges comparison...

So, if someone wants to make a "serious" proposal for a playoff system, I'm all ears. But until you address the money issues, each and every idea I've seen suggested on this and every other forum, is a non-starter, thankfully I might add...

No playoffs ever!!