Welcome back! How was Chipotle?

OK, a quick review of the rules as we have them:

1. Colleges cannot play more than 11 regular season games (one less than current numbers)
2. First poll is not released until the end of September (after teams have played); Coaches and AP polls abolished for conflict of interest (or if continued, cannot be used in televised commentary)
3. 6 wins needed to be bowl eligible, games against non division 1 schools do not count towards total
4. The major 6 conferences will need to adjust their membership to include 12 teams
5. Each conference decides their champion by a championship game; how they determine who plays there is up to them

I'm feeling pretty good: ESPN agreed with me twice, first on polls-

Preseason polls will be abolished
Sometime during the next decade, the Associated Press and coaches' polls finally get it right and decide to abolish their preseason polls. The first polls won't be released until Oct. 1. Remarkably, Notre Dame will still be No. 1.

Then ESPN predicted that the realignment will happen. Although they also talk about a "plus one" (fifteen games for some people...), here's their predictions:

The Big Ten is exploring the possibility of adding a 12th team, and I'm betting it will be Missouri before the 2011 season. With 12 teams, the Big Ten can split into two divisions and stage a conference championship game. Who can't wait to flock to Detroit or Minneapolis in early December?

With Missouri leaving, the Big 12 will add TCU to its lineup of schools. Not to be left out, the Pac-10 will add Boise State and Utah, giving it 12 teams and a moneymaking championship game. The Big East will react by adding Memphis, East Carolina, Central Florida and Temple.

We didn't talk about the Conference Championship Games in our last post: In my opinion, the Big lEast game happens in Lincoln Financial Field, the Big T1e2n game is either at Soldier Field or in Detroit's new ballpark (could even be played on a Sunday, since the Lions aren't using it), and the PAC12 championship alternates between Seahawks Stadium in Seattle and the new NFL stadium in Los Angeles.  Good times.

OK, so now we have our six champions. Some folks have questioned this idea- "what if team A from this conference is the third best team but is better than the champ from Conference X?". Valid point, but let's look at the NFL for our response. In 2008 we had the 8-8 Chargers hosting the 12-4 Colts while the 11-5 Patriots sat at home. Yes, it seems unfair, but the No Fun League's rules also value conference championships, and it seems as if America has accepted those parameters pretty well. 

Look, you have to draw a line somewhere- my line is that national champions should also be conference champions. It keeps the regular season meaningful, and will reward (or at least not penalize) teams for playing difficult out of conference games- you can lose one, win your conference, and still be dancing at the end. Also, if you're in a difficult conference and "beat up on each other every week", your record won't matter if you win your CCG.

OK, now onto the rest of the changes:

• The Conference Championship Game should be considered the first round of the playoffs; a team who loses is eliminated from the postseason tourney, but may still play in one of the many other bowls
• The six conference champions will be matched up into a playoff; number one seeds determined by a Harris poll (which including schedule strength, margin of victory, etc.)
• The last two spots will be filled by the highest ranked two teams remaining, as long as neither team played for their conference championship. This allows for teams who are in a stronger division within their conference (Big 12 South, SEC East, Hayes Division) or are not within a power conference (Boise State, TCU) to be involved, preventing any ridiculous legal action.
• No more than two teams from any one conference in the final eight, and teams from the same conference must play in the first round; the final four will consist only of one team per conference

Let's look at these, just to make sure we're on the same page. It is possible for two teams from the same conference to get to the playoffs, but it can't be through the conference championship game. If you lose your conference championship game, you're out; even if it's your only loss of the season (Florida, circa 2009). It doesn't matter that you could beat everyone else in the playoffs- you lost in the first round. You won't hear the Chargers gripe about losing to the Jets and ask for a better match up; it's one and done.

Remember, this would only happen in situations like Texas' from last year (beat Oklahoma, lost to TTU, got bumped out of the championship game by league decision) or Georgia from 2007 (didn't win their division, highly ranked at the end of the year). In these rare occasions, the two teams play in the first round what ends up being a second conference championship; the final four will represent four different conferences.

Most of the time, though, these "at large" teams will be conference champions from one of the other conferences- Boise State, TCU, Hawaii, Tulane, etc. It insures that teams will have their "chance" at playing for a title without sacrificing the efforts of teams from stronger conferences.

Look, anytime there's any sort of ranking there's going to be some controversy. Think of March Madness- even with 65 teams there are others who feel shunned unfairly. And there are often others who end up in a really easy bracket or a really difficult one. It's a part of the nature of the game- The Patriots only lost one game in 2007, but it was in the Super Bowl to an "allegedly inferior" opponent. In football and college basketball, it's not "best of..." series- it's one and done.

Onward.

Remembering one of our other directives, the playoffs have got to involve the current bowls as best as possible (money, tradition, and tourism, remember?), while working to remove automatic home field advantage for teams in the south and west AND thinking regionally so fans can go and tailgate appropriately. This meant creating two extra bowls (sanctioned by the NCAA), one for the first round and one for the final game.

The chosen eight teams would play four games during "Bowl week", and would include three "traditional" bowls and a new one located in the new New York stadium (to partially eliminate home field disadvantage for the Big T1e1n, half of the Big 12, most of the Big East, and some of the ACC. New York would also serve as a viable destination for tourism, one of our other goals). Rankings would be used for seeding purposes in regions for this first round- North, West, Central, and South.

Two weeks later, the winners would face off in Pasadena and Miami, and two weeks after that the winner would be crowned at a new bowl in  Indianapolis' (home of NCAA headquarters) new stadium. Not only does this centralize the final game (no more home field advantage for the SEC and PAC12), but it would give the NCAA another opportunity to promote itself and the other sports. There's a reason the Final Four seems to be in Indy every three years or so.

The "Championship" is played during the week before the Super Bowl. I know they've moved the All Star Game to that weekend, but, let's be honest; if people don't want to play, ain't nobody gonna' watch.

So- what would this look like? Let the totally imaginary games that will never happen in real life because money and television are too much of a factor begin!  Well, in January of 2008, we would have seen:

Playoff first round: January 1-4, 2008

• West Region: Fiesta Bowl (Arizona)- U$C and Hawaii
• South Region: Sugar Bowl (Louisiana)- LSU and Georgia (same conference, must play each other)
  
• Central Region: Cotton Bowl (Dallas)- Oklahoma and WVa
• North Region: Big Apple Bowl (New York)- tOSU and BC

Playoff second round: January 15, 16, 2008

• Rose Bowl (Pasadena)- U$C and WVa
• Orange Bowl (Miami)- LSU and tOSU

National Championship Game : January 25, 2008

• NCAA Championship (Indianapolis)- U$C and LSU

January of 2009, would have looked like-

First Round: January 2-3, 2009

• West Region: Fiesta Bowl (Arizona)- Boise State and U$C
• South Region: Sugar Bowl (Louisiana)- Virginia Tech and Florida
• Central Region: Cotton Bowl (Dallas)- Texas and Oklahoma (same conference, must play each other)
• North Region: Big Apple Bowl (New York)- Cincinnati and Penn State

Second round: January 9-10, 2009

• Rose Bowl (Pasadena): USC and Oklahoma
• Orange Bowl (Miami): Florida and Penn State
  

National Championship Game : January 24, 2009

• NCAA Championship (Indianapolis)- U$C and Florida

And for this year (all results speculative):

First Round: January 1-2, 2010

• West Region: Fiesta Bowl (Arizona)- Boise State and Oregon
• South Region: Sugar Bowl (Louisiana)- Georgia Tech and Alabama
• Central Region: Cotton Bowl (Dallas)- Texas Christian and Texas
• North Region: Big Apple Bowl (New York)- Cincinnati and Ohio State

Second round: January 15-16, 2010

• Rose Bowl (Pasadena): Oregon and Texas
• Orange Bowl (Miami): Ohio State and Alabama
  

National Championship Game : January 30, 2009

• NCAA Championship (Indianapolis)- Alabama and Texas

Those look like pretty impressive matchups. Plus, the other teams would still be allowed to play a 12th or 13th game- there are tons of bowls looking for a rabid fanbase to come and enjoy their festivities.

It would still be a problem for fans to travel to these extra events, would also impact academics (going an additional month into spring semester/quarter), and would not totally remove the debate aspect (who's the at-large teams? Are seedings and regions fair?). But, these issues seem to not be much of a concern during basketball season, so I'm sure we'd get over it. Plus, it allows for other teams to still be involved in the pageantry of December/January football.

Is it perfect? Nope. But it's better than just griping about the current system, blindly following what ESPN hands you, or rambling on and on about the good old days when Michi1gAAn  had a football program.

And, if nothing else- it's got us talking.

Next week: Rob/Talonk/and yours truly will maintain civility as we tear into each others' ideas.