Quick facts about this proposed system for college football:
• Colleges separated into nine nine-team conferences based on geography.
• The top 81 schools for the top divisions are chosen based on average home attendance.
• Conference winners automatically advance to 16-team postseason playoff.
• The remaining seven slots in the playoffs are filled by teams with highest composite ranking.
• Playoffs held at higher seed's stadium of choice until championship game.
Teams in red have qualified for the 16-team postseason playoff seeded below the standings. Teams in blue
have qualified as the worst two teams in Division 1 and must play to
see who is sent down to Division 2 for the following season. Teams are
ranked in each division using the brilliant Massey comparison rankings.
Mid-South
4-0 Alabama
4-0 Ole Miss
4-0 Mississippi State
4-1 LSU
4-1 Louisville
2-2 Tennessee
2-2 Memphis
3-1 Kentucky
1-4 Vanderbilt
Southwest
4-0 Oklahoma
5-0 Texas A&M
4-0 Baylor
3-0 TCU
3-1 Oklahoma State
2-2 Texas
2-2 Texas Tech
1-3 Texas-San Antonio
2-2 UTEP
Southeast
4-0 Auburn
4-0 Florida State
3-1 Georgia
4-0 Georgia Tech
2-1 Florida
2-2 Clemson
3-2 Miami
1-2 Central Florida
2-3 South Florida
Northwest
4-0 Oregon
4-0 BYU
4-1 Washington
3-1 Utah
3-1 Oregon State
3-2 Boise State
2-3 Washington State
3-1 Air Force
2-3 Colorado
West
4-0 UCLA
3-1 USC
3-1 Stanford
4-0 Arizona
3-1 Arizona State
3-1 California
2-2 San Diego State
2-3 Fresno State
1-3 Hawaii
Great Lakes
4-0 Notre Dame
3-1 Michigan State
3-1 Ohio State
2-2 Northwestern
2-1 Cincinnati
2-2 Indiana
3-2 Illinois
2-3 Michigan
2-3 Purdue
Midwest
5-0 Nebraska
4-1 Missouri
3-1 Kansas State
3-1 Wisconsin
3-2 Arkansas
4-1 Minnesota
4-1 Iowa
1-3 Iowa State
2-2 Kansas
Atlantic
3-2 South Carolina
4-1 Maryland
3-1 East Carolina
4-1 North Carolina State
3-2 Virginia Tech
3-2 Virginia
4-1 Duke
2-2 North Carolina
2-3 Wake Forest
Northeast
2-2 West Virginia
4-1 Penn State
4-1 Rutgers
2-2 Syracuse
3-2 Pittsburgh
3-2 Boston College
2-3 Navy
1-3 Army
1-4 Connecticut
College football playoff projections...
16 West Virginia at 1 Auburn
15 South Carolina at 2 Oklahoma
14 LSU at 3 Alabama
13 BYU at 4 Oregon
12 Notre Dame at 5 Texas A&M
11 Nebraska at 6 Florida State
10 Mississippi State at 7 UCLA
9 Baylor at 8 Ole Miss
Relegation playoff to be sent down to Division 2
Connecticut at Army
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Week 4 conference standings and playoff projection
Q: Why stop at 81 teams?
A: There are three primary reasons. First, with 78 college football teams no longer making the postseason as they do now with the bowl system, the new conferences need to be small enough so that the fan bases have hope for as long as possible. Create a 10-team conference and suddenly you have the possibility of nine teams missing the postseason.
Second, nine teams in a conference sets up the schedule for eight conference game and continues to leave four non-conference games for natural rivals not in the same conference.
Third, if you open it up to nine or 10 more teams, Montana, a school from the NCAA's second division, gets in. The rest of the teams that would also get in, which you can find at this link, do not excite. An 81-team league was a natural cutoff.
Q: Why is attendance so important, what kind of attendance are you talking about, and where is a link to these figures?
A: The top 81 schools for this example were selected using the average home attendance from the 2013 season. If the NCAA were ever to adopt this plan, a five-year average might be more valid.
Based on attendance, these 81 schools represent the teams that fans are most interested in seeing. The fans are rewarded for supporting their school. There is not a fairer method of selection.
This isn't about including schools from every state, or rewarding a school with a flash of success. All those other schools that missed the cut will still play football -- in Division 2 where their stadium size and fan base fits, which segues perfectly into the next question.
Q: Why put only one team up for relegation? Would one from each division be better?
A: Being relegated to a lower division can be devastating to a program. One a year is enough. If you did it to nine teams a year, the conferences would have a drastic change in landscape by continuously kicking teams out, and not for the better.
And having to promote nine teams would be somewhat anti-climatic and cancel the need for a 16-team playoff with a champion promoted to the first division.
Thanks for the questions!
Teams in red have qualified for the 16-team postseason playoff seeded below the standings. Teams in blue have qualified as the worst two teams in Division 1 and must play to see who is sent down to Division 2 for the following season. Teams are ranked in each division using the brilliant Massey comparison rankings.
Mid-South
4-0 Alabama
3-0 Ole Miss
4-0 Mississippi State
3-1 LSU
3-1 Louisville
2-1 Tennessee
2-1 Memphis
2-1 Kentucky
1-3 Vanderbilt
Southwest
4-0 Oklahoma
4-0 Texas A&M
3-0 Baylor
2-1 Oklahoma State
2-0 TCU
1-2 Texas
1-2 Texas-San Antonio
2-1 Texas Tech
2-1 UTEP
Southeast
3-0 Auburn
3-0 Florida State
2-1 Georgia
4-0 Georgia Tech
2-1 Florida
1-2 Clemson
2-2 Miami
1-2 Central Florida
2-2 South Florida
Northwest
4-0 Oregon
4-0 BYU
3-0 Utah
4-0 Washington
3-1 Boise State
3-0 Oregon State
1-3 Washington State
2-2 Colorado
3-1 Air Force
West
3-0 UCLA
3-0 Arizona State
2-1 USC
4-0 Arizona
2-1 Stanford
2-1 California
1-2 San Diego State
1-3 Fresno State
1-3 Hawaii
Great Lakes
3-0 Notre Dame
2-1 Michigan State
2-1 Ohio State
2-0 Cincinnati
2-1 Indiana
2-2 Michigan
3-1 Illinois
1-2 Northwestern
2-2 Purdue
Midwest
4-0 Nebraska
2-1 Wisconsin
3-1 Arkansas
2-1 Kansas State
3-1 Missouri
3-1 Minnesota
3-1 Iowa
1-2 Iowa State
2-1 Kansas
Atlantic
3-1 South Carolina
4-0 Duke
3-1 East Carolina
3-1 Maryland
4-0 North Carolina State
2-2 Virginia Tech
2-2 Virginia
2-1 North Carolina
2-2 Wake Forest
Northeast
4-0 Penn State
2-2 West Virginia
3-1 Pittsburgh
3-1 Boston College
2-1 Syracuse
3-1 Rutgers
2-2 Navy
1-3 Connecticut
1-2 Army
College football playoff projections...
1 Oklahoma vs. 16 Penn State
2 Auburn vs. 15 South Carolina
3 Alabama vs. 14 Nebraska
4 Texas A&M vs. 13 LSU
5 Florida State vs. 12 BYU
6 Oregon vs. 11 Notre Dame
7 Ole Miss vs. 10 UCLA
8 Mississippi State vs. 9 Baylor
Relegation playoff to be sent down to Division 2
Connecticut vs. Army
A: There are three primary reasons. First, with 78 college football teams no longer making the postseason as they do now with the bowl system, the new conferences need to be small enough so that the fan bases have hope for as long as possible. Create a 10-team conference and suddenly you have the possibility of nine teams missing the postseason.
Second, nine teams in a conference sets up the schedule for eight conference game and continues to leave four non-conference games for natural rivals not in the same conference.
Third, if you open it up to nine or 10 more teams, Montana, a school from the NCAA's second division, gets in. The rest of the teams that would also get in, which you can find at this link, do not excite. An 81-team league was a natural cutoff.
Q: Why is attendance so important, what kind of attendance are you talking about, and where is a link to these figures?
A: The top 81 schools for this example were selected using the average home attendance from the 2013 season. If the NCAA were ever to adopt this plan, a five-year average might be more valid.
Based on attendance, these 81 schools represent the teams that fans are most interested in seeing. The fans are rewarded for supporting their school. There is not a fairer method of selection.
This isn't about including schools from every state, or rewarding a school with a flash of success. All those other schools that missed the cut will still play football -- in Division 2 where their stadium size and fan base fits, which segues perfectly into the next question.
Q: Why put only one team up for relegation? Would one from each division be better?
A: Being relegated to a lower division can be devastating to a program. One a year is enough. If you did it to nine teams a year, the conferences would have a drastic change in landscape by continuously kicking teams out, and not for the better.
And having to promote nine teams would be somewhat anti-climatic and cancel the need for a 16-team playoff with a champion promoted to the first division.
Thanks for the questions!
Teams in red have qualified for the 16-team postseason playoff seeded below the standings. Teams in blue have qualified as the worst two teams in Division 1 and must play to see who is sent down to Division 2 for the following season. Teams are ranked in each division using the brilliant Massey comparison rankings.
Mid-South
4-0 Alabama
3-0 Ole Miss
4-0 Mississippi State
3-1 LSU
3-1 Louisville
2-1 Tennessee
2-1 Memphis
2-1 Kentucky
1-3 Vanderbilt
Southwest
4-0 Oklahoma
4-0 Texas A&M
3-0 Baylor
2-1 Oklahoma State
2-0 TCU
1-2 Texas
1-2 Texas-San Antonio
2-1 Texas Tech
2-1 UTEP
Southeast
3-0 Auburn
3-0 Florida State
2-1 Georgia
4-0 Georgia Tech
2-1 Florida
1-2 Clemson
2-2 Miami
1-2 Central Florida
2-2 South Florida
Northwest
4-0 Oregon
4-0 BYU
3-0 Utah
4-0 Washington
3-1 Boise State
3-0 Oregon State
1-3 Washington State
2-2 Colorado
3-1 Air Force
West
3-0 UCLA
3-0 Arizona State
2-1 USC
4-0 Arizona
2-1 Stanford
2-1 California
1-2 San Diego State
1-3 Fresno State
1-3 Hawaii
Great Lakes
3-0 Notre Dame
2-1 Michigan State
2-1 Ohio State
2-0 Cincinnati
2-1 Indiana
2-2 Michigan
3-1 Illinois
1-2 Northwestern
2-2 Purdue
Midwest
4-0 Nebraska
2-1 Wisconsin
3-1 Arkansas
2-1 Kansas State
3-1 Missouri
3-1 Minnesota
3-1 Iowa
1-2 Iowa State
2-1 Kansas
Atlantic
3-1 South Carolina
4-0 Duke
3-1 East Carolina
3-1 Maryland
4-0 North Carolina State
2-2 Virginia Tech
2-2 Virginia
2-1 North Carolina
2-2 Wake Forest
Northeast
4-0 Penn State
2-2 West Virginia
3-1 Pittsburgh
3-1 Boston College
2-1 Syracuse
3-1 Rutgers
2-2 Navy
1-3 Connecticut
1-2 Army
College football playoff projections...
1 Oklahoma vs. 16 Penn State
2 Auburn vs. 15 South Carolina
3 Alabama vs. 14 Nebraska
4 Texas A&M vs. 13 LSU
5 Florida State vs. 12 BYU
6 Oregon vs. 11 Notre Dame
7 Ole Miss vs. 10 UCLA
8 Mississippi State vs. 9 Baylor
Relegation playoff to be sent down to Division 2
Connecticut vs. Army
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