Taunter Media

Obama is yet again talking about a college football playoff.  I am not entirely sure why this is such a complicated thing – every other NCAA sport runs a playoff, and if scattered bowls were such a good idea, why is no one proposing to replace March Madness with a Pac 10 / Big 10 game at the Staples Center to settle nothing – but the logistics seem to escape everyone.  So why not this:

All bowls before January 1 stay exactly the same, and exactly as meaningless.  All non-BCS bowls that are currently scheduled after January 1 – I’m looking at you GMAC Bowl – have to move to before January 1.

On January 1, Bowl Across America for the eight best teams in the country (seeded).

10am local (10am Eastern) New York – 4 v. 5
1pm local (2pm Eastern) Chicago – 3 v. 6
4pm local (6pm Eastern) Denver – 2 v. 7
7pm local (10pm Eastern) Seattle – 1 v. 8

On January 8 (adjusting in relevant years for NFL conflicts)

Semifinals (reseeded) at two of: Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, Los Angeles

On January 15 (adjusted in relevant years for NFL conflicts)

Final game at whichever of Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, Los Angeles was not used the previous week and was not used at all the previous year.

So, for example, using this year’s teams we would have had:

Alabama & USC at Giants Stadium
Texas & Utah at Soldier Field
Texas Tech & Florida at Invesco Field
Oklahoma & Penn State at Qwest Field

With the winners playing on.  It captures every team that is a serious contender to be the best in the country.  And it neutralizes the weather advantage – Big Ten schools have to build a team to compete in lousy weather, while the worst USC can ever face is a bit of early season rain; and then they settle things on a “neutral” field in the sun.  In this system, every team has to win a game in the north as well as a game in the south.  And the ratings would be tremendous – it focuses on New Year’s Day and brings games to large markets that are otherwise completely overlooked by the college game.