How does this tournament look?

there's no way u could still have bowl games in the same way. so many schools would miss out on bowl games and the revenue that goes along with them, it's hard to imagine that being the solution.

personally, i feel that what makes march madness so great is that it's this crazy tournament instead of following the NBA playoff format. making college football look the same as the NFl would make it lame. yeah, there's controversy and bickering...but what would we do without that? i guarantee it would make things boring...kinda like the NFL playoffs tend to be (esp. when u have teams like the Pats and Colts who meet in the AFC championship game which ends up being the real Super Bowl).

keep it real, keep it different [from pro sports], keep it the way it is! bowl games are fun! the system is continuously being refined [look at Boise State last year and the possibilities for Hawaii this year]. A playoff system would end up being really, really lame.

looey, I respectfully disagree. They can keep the bowl system intact (minus the stupid BCS of course) and give all the schools the revenue and exposure they're looking for. All of the little knick knack bowl games (San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, PapaJohns.com Bowl, and my favorite - the Brut Sun Bowl) could even be used as qualifiers for the bigger bowl games against higher seeded teams.

The bowl system would be PERFECT as the bracketed playoff system...culminating in, I don't know, one of the current BCS bowls as the championship? Hell, they could still keep the "big 4" intact and rotate the championship thru each one every year the same way the BCS currently does. That way, Tostitos get's its major run on a regular basis, right?

At least you didn't say "well, the regular season is really the playoffs" which is the worst argument that folks make against a playoff system.

In the time it took for me to log in, there were 2 responses basically saying everything to Looey that I wanted to.

I wholeheartedly feel like the bowl game is flawed. The only way, and i mean ONLY way to remedy it, is to switch to a playoff format. Also, how can you even question the NFL playoffs in terms of excitement? You have those wild card teams that win the super bowl (Pats vs. Rams, Denver vs. Green Bay), which you cannot have in bowl games. NFL playoffs NEVER get boring.

I also have to agree that if you switch the bowl games to the first round of the playoffs, then the schools miss nothing. And I agree with the point that NO ONE and I mean NO ONE cares about 90% of the bowls, unless their favorite school is playing.

The bottom line is that in sports, no matter who is ranked higher on paper, anyone can win any given game. Look at that Michigan game earlier this season. I would have LOVED to see Boise St. go from unknown last year, to facing another team the next week. There would be so much hype, so much excitement.

The only drawback I could potentially see is that football is unlike any other sport. You could play 3 games of basketball, hockey or baseball three days in a row. Football, you cannot. Teams get beaten up, injured and worn down. Also, they have too much money at stake in the pros to risk it all in a greuling playoffs. Then again, since they are football players, they should grab their sacs and go out there and compete for a REAL championship.

The bottom line is that if you switched to a playoff format, no one could argue with the eventual champion. There would never be any controversy. Whoever wins the tournament is the #1 team, even if they had three losses during the season. Under the current system, the best team in the country could miss out on the BCS because of one play, one stupid loss. That to me is bullshit. If you lose the first game of the year because you are missing 3 starters, then win the next 11, you could not be in the championship game because 2 other teams go undefeated in weaker conferences. Bottom line, BCS is bullshit and playoffs are the only way to determine a champion. Its American to have a REAL champion.

i get how they could keep the bowl system intact, that's not the point. my point is this: i don't want to see the same handful of teams over and over again in multiple bowl games.

bowl games generate revenue for each team that plays in them. the argument in the article about Ohio State making $5 million off of its home games only benefits Ohio State. so yea, a few schools could potentially make a boat load of cash off the playoff system.

but the current bowl format allows a greater number of schools to get revenue they would not get with a playoff system. right now there are 32 bowl games (i think), meaning 64 teams get to go to a bowl game and get the added revenue from doing so (with BCS bowls worth more of course). with a playoff system, a few teams would get to play more home games and get significantly more money, but this would be in the hands of the few (and mighty...teams like the traditional powers that are good year in and year out).

do we really need to give Ohio State more money? or USC? or my team Michigan? absolutely not, but that's what this playoff system would do. but i thought this playoff system was supposed to help out the little guy? instead the rich would get richer.

i understand the appeal of a playoff system but i personally feel it's just a grass is always greener situation. i just don't see making college football look like the NFL as making it anymore exciting.

as for favorite bowls, my new favorite has to be the Meineke Car Care bowl.

Revenue sharing.
and saraco, how many bowl games did you watch last year. (vs March Madness)

Saraco, gambling?!!! This is a BRACKET!!! Ask your bookie (if you got one) what his favorite time of year is and I promise its march madness. Vegas go nuts for a month. great time to go by the way

If gambling were legal, I'd guess that I watched and/or took an interest in most of 'em. Admittedly, the advent of more games in HD tends to suck me in when I least expect it.

haha. HD Sports programming... there is something we can all agree on.

maybe u and i don't care about many of the bowl games. again, that's not my point. i'm talking about how the current bowl game format allows for more schools to get increased revenues...as opposed to a select number of teams.

BOWL SYSTEM: again, i'm not disputing u can keep the bowl system, u can call anything u want a bowl game. duh.

NO LEGIT CHAMPION: well then there hasn't been a legit champion EVER in college football because it's always been this way. there have ALWAYS been polls, human or otherwise. also, i'm not disputing the controversy. but honestly, didn't that controversy make it all more interesting? wasn't it fun whining about USC or Auburn and so on and so forth?

As for the argument about losing your first game and blah blah blah. Um, look at the NFL. You can have a stacked conference division (for example, a couple years back when the Chargers, Chiefs, and Broncos were all pretty good). but someone gets left out. getting left out is part of the game. if u don't want to get left out, don't lose any games. even with a playoff system u can still get left out because of 2 plays or whatever u want to say. maybe u lose your conference championship due to an injury or 2 plays or whatever. losing is losing.

any system will inherently keep certain teams out of the race for a championship. why let a 7-5 team from the WAC play for a championship? u don't want to see their bowl game on Dec 22nd...why do u want to see them have a chance at the championship.

As for all this true champion speak, why should a true champion lose 5 games? We all want and expect someone to go undefeated. Go out there and do it. How often does an undefeated team like Auburn get left out? You want teams to go out there and grab their "sacs"...why shouldn't they do so and beat everyone?

REVENUE SHARING: is a flawed idea because these schools are hosting the games at their facilities. this is not like the NCAA Hoops tournament...where basketball games and programs do not bring in money like football games do. no way is Ohio State going to host a game at it's lame stadium and, after beating UCF soundly, going to give someone else the money. any why should they? they're the ones that drew the attention, put on the show, and made it happen. March Madness is a crazy entity all it's own. bowl games at home will not work in the same fashion.

NFL playoffs: anyone really care about the Super Bowl last year? Or was it obvious to everyone Indy was going to win? Cuz it was obvious to me and the Super Bowl was a bit of a snooze.

All I'm saying is that it's an idea that is so appealing right now but if it happens I don't think it will be so great. Just like at one point the BCS seemed like the answer to our prayers, this won't pan out as well as everyone thinks. In the end u're trying to take away some of the things that make college football college football.

I will give u this: I'd love to see those high flying teams from down South and out here on the West Coast try and play a game in Columbus or Ann Arbor or Madison in January. that would be pretty cool.

Donkey Kong.

mmmm...HD sports...it's like being on the field.

Well, if gambling were legal, I might consider making an annual trip to Vega$ (oh wait it is legal there) for the opening weekend of March Madness.

As far as bowl season goes, man, its a great month to be in Vega$. Why? Bowl games almost every day of the week. NBA games almost every day of the week. NCAA Hoops almost every day of the week. NFL on Sunday. (yeah, I guess you can kinda count NHL too) It's a pretty unbeatable time there...

looey - why would the bowl games have to be played in teams' home stadiums rather than the neutral sites currently used? Why not just keep the bowls as is?

I think looey is referring to the scenario in the article. This is an instance where I disagree with the article. Although I believe there should be regional home field advantage, actual homefield advantage wouldn't be the right way.