On this day of College Bowl games, I find myself sitting here wishing more than ever for a college football playoff. In my perfect world, here's how I see it working, loosely modeled from the NFL playoff structure.
I propose a playoff consisting of 14 teams played across 4 weeks.
The NCAA Division I conferences with at least 10 members get automatic seeds in the playoffs for their conference champion. For 2010 that would have been 9 conferences, Big East, C-USA, Big Ten, ACC, MAC, SEC, Sun Belt, Big 12, Pac-10.
So, for seeding in 2010, the top 9 places go to the 9 conference winners in order of BCS standing with the remaining 5 wild card seeds going to the highest rated BCS teams that are not conference champions.
Initial week of playoffs would be ordered as follows with the team matchups using 2010 seedings:
week 1 - Wildcard Round
A: 1 Bye (Auburn)
B: 2 Bye (Oregon)
C: 3 vs 14 (Wisconsin vs Michigan State)
D: 4 vs 13 (Oklahoma vs Arkansas)
E: 5 vs 12 (Virginia Tech vs Ohio State)
F: 6 vs 11 (UCF vs Stanford)
G: 7 vs 10 (Connecticut vs TCU)
H: 8 vs 9 (Miami of Ohio vs FIU)
week 2 - Quarter Finals
1: A vs H
2: B vs G
3: C vs F
4: D vs E
week 3 - Semi Finals
A: 1 vs 4
B: 2 vs 3
Week 4 Championship
1: A vs B
For 2010, the seeding works out as such:
1: SEC: Auburn
2: Pac-10: Oregon
3: Big Ten: Wisconson
4: Big 12: Oklahoma
5: ACC: Virginia Tech
6: C-USA: UCF
7:Big East: Connecticut
8: MAC: Miami of Ohio
9: SunBelt: FIU
10: Mtn West: TCU
11: Pac-10: Stanford
12: Big Ten: Ohio State
13: SEC: Arkansas
14: Big Ten: Michigan State
Just missed the playoffs:
15: WAC: Boise State
16: SEC: LSU
17: Big 12: Missouri
18: Big 12: Oklahoma State
19: WAC: Nevada
20: SEC: Alabama
We would get to see some interesting matchups and teams with less BCS/AP/Coaches Poll juice would get a chance to compete with the big boys. Some might note that there are only two conferences missing from the automatic seed, the WAC and Mtn West. I would prefer to see 2 extra wild card spots than to guarantee a small conference a seed. The WAC and Mtn West could also merge to guarantee themselves an automatic seed and still provide for 4 wild card spots.
You could also get rid of the two bye games by making it a 16 game playoff, but I like the idea of rewarding 1 and 2 with a little bonus. Then again, maybe 1 and 2 would rather play the game for additional revenue. Regardless, I'd be ok either way.
I know I'd watch nearly every one of these games and care a lot more during the entire college football season.