First off Division I-A teams would be only allowed to play 10 regular season games. An 11th game will be allowed for schools that play in conferences that are decided by a championship game. The 11th game can be a conference championship game only. The season will start on whatever date that would allow the season and championship games to be played in a 14 week span with the 14th week being the last Saturday in November. 16 teams would qualify for the playoffs. The 11 conference champions and 5 wildcards. Any Independent that finishes the season undefeated will also receive an automatic bid as long as their BCS ranking is higher than that of the conference champion with the lowest ranking. To qualify you have to have at least 6 I-A wins. The 6th win can't come in a conference championship game because that would have given you an extra game to get the 6 wins. Also if you have a I-AA loss you need to have at least 7 I-A wins. If you have two I-AA losses you need to have 8 I-A wins. So scheduling a lower division team slims your chances of getting your 6 I-A wins whether you win or lose. If you win that is just on less opportunity you had to get a I-A win and if you lose that is one extra I-A game you have to win with one less to do it in. Any conference that can't produce a champion that meets the qualifications, would be replaced by a wildcard team. Wildcards would be produced by taking the five highest (or however many needed) ranked non-conference champions and Independents in the BCS Poll. No one conference may be awarded more than 3 wildcards, making up a maximum participation of 4 teams by any one conference. The determination of a conference champion in case of a tie will be done by applying the following. In the case of a two way tie the team that won the head to head matchup would be declared the champion. If there was no head to head matchup then the team with the higher BCS ranking would be declared the champion. In the case of a tie between 3 or more teams the team with the best head to head record in games involving the teams that are tied would be declared the champion. If there is still a tie then the team with the highest BCS ranking would be determined the champion. In all scenarios any team that doesn't have the minnimum requirement of 6 I-A wins met is automatically eliminated. Here is a clarification :
Two Way Tie (with head to head play) Team A 7-1 in conference Team B 7-1 in conference Team A won head to head matchup so team A is champion. Two Way Tie (with out head to head play) Team A 7-1 in conference Team B 7-1 in conference Team A is ranked 20th in BCS and Team B is ranked 14th. Team B is champion. Three (or more) Way Tie (same head to head record) Team A 6-1 in conference Team B 6-1 in conference Team C 6-1 in conference Teams A, B, and C are all 1-1 in games involving the other two so they are still tied. Team A is ranked 11th in BCS, B is ranked 17th, and C is ranked 20th. Team A is champion. Three (or more) Way Tie (different head to head record) Team A 5-2 in conference Team B 5-2 in conference Team C 5-2 in conference Team A is 2-0 in head to head, Team B is 1-1 and Team C is 0-2. Team A is champion.The 16 playoff teams would then be seeded 1-16 by their rank in the BCS. The 1 and 2 seeds will be the two highest ranked conference champions or Independent in the BCS poll and will have home filed advantage through out the playoffs. Wildcards that are members of a conference will not be allowed to hold the 1 or 2 seed. After the initial placing, a check would be made to make sure no conference team would have a possible first round or quarter - final matchup with a fellow conference team. During the readjustement - seeds 1, 2, 3 and 4 can not be adjusted, other than in the case of a 1 or 2 that didn't win its conference. Also no team will be allowed to drop more then 2 spots or go up more than 2 spots. There would be home field advantage through out the first three rounds. Home field advantage goes to the conference champion or non-wildcard. In the case of a team that went undefeated in conference play but are designated as a wildcard that team would have the same home field priority as a conference champ. If there are two conference champions or two wildcards playing then the home field advantage goes to the higher seeded team. For the first round Bracket I will play on Saturday and Bracket II will play on Sunday. The first round will be held on the first weekend in December. The quarter-finals will be held on the second Saturday in December. The semi - finals will be held on the third Saturday in December. The National Title Game would be held on January 2nd. The National Championship Game will be hosted by one of the Tier I Bowls that have been selected for that particular 4 year contract. The bowl season will stay intact with the 22 highest ranked teams with records of .500 or better in the BCS poll not making the playoffs playing in the bowls and the winners of Bracket I and Bracket II playing eachother in the National Championship Game. The BCS would now become a "true" Bowl Championship Series. The Playoffs and the 12 bowls would now all fall under the BCS and the post - season as a whole would now be called the Bowl Championship Series.
Bracket I 01 vs 16 08 vs 09 05 vs 12 04 vs 13
Bracket II 02 vs 15 07 vs 10 06 vs 11 03 vs 14
Overall Seed Bracket Seed
01 and 02 01
03 and 04 02
05 and 06 03
07 and 08 04
09 and 10 05
11 and 12 06
13 and 14 07
15 and 16 08
Note- The overall seed represents the final seeding after all adjustments have been made. This is why a team
that finished lower than another team in the final BCS ranking might have a slightly higher seed in the playoffs.
National Championship Game (Bracket I winner vs Bracket II winner) Hosted by 1 of the 4 Tier I Bowls, January 2nd of every year.
Bowl Games to be played between the Monday after the third Saturday in December and January 1st.
Tier I Bowls (Bracket I vs Bracket II and the 6 highest ranked non playoff teams in the BCS poll) Fiesta Orange Rose Sugar Tier II Bowls (the 7-14 highest ranked non playoff teams in the BCS poll) Citrus Cotton Holiday Outback Tier III Bowls (the 15-22 highest ranked non playoff teams in the BCS poll) Alamo Gator Las Vegas PeachTiers were created by taking the 12 bowls that made the highest per team payouts in the 1999,2000, and 2001 bowl seasons. With Tier I having the 4 highest, Tier II the second set of 4 highest, and Tier III having the third set of 4 highest. This is just used as a model. If my system was actually in effect sponsors would bid for the tiers every 4 years.
Please send any comments to me at [email protected].
Round Eliminated In Round 1 $6 million per team 8 teams x $6 million = $48 million Round 2 $8 million per team 4 teams x $8 million = $32 million Round 3 $10 million per team 2 teams x $10 million = $20 million Runner-Up $16 million 1 team x $16 million = $16 million* Champion $16 million 1 team x $16 million = $16 million** - 6 million of the 16 will come from participating in the National Championship Game.
Total Playoff Payouts = $120 million
Bowl Payouts Tier I Bowls $3 million per team x 6 teams = $18 million Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar. National Championship Game $6 million per team x 2 teams = $12 million Tier II Bowls $2 million per team x 8 teams = $16 million Citrus, Cotton, Holiday, and Outback. Tier III Bowls $1 million per team x 8 teams = $8 million Alamo, Gator, Las Vegas, and Peach. Total Bowl Championship Series Payouts Playoffs $120 million Bowls $ 54 million Total of $174 million This money would represent the guaranteed payouts only. Not inclued is the percentage of money schools and conferences would receive for advertisements, ticket sales, and television contracts. Any Bowl or sponsor would be free to bid for the tiers. I just used the top 12 highest paying bowls from the 1999-2000 Bowl Season to divide the tiers.
2002 Playoff Breakdown
Automatic Bids Conference - School Overall Seed Bracket Seed ACC - Florida State (11) (06) II Big East - Miami-Florida (01) (01) I Big 10 - Ohio State (02) (01) II Big 12 - Oklahoma (06) (03) II Conference USA - Cincinnati (15) (08) II MAC - Marshall (14) (07) II Mountain West - Colorado State (13) (07) I PAC 10 - Washington State (07) (04) II SEC - Georgia (03) (02) II Sunbelt - North Texas (16) (08) I WAC - Boise State (12) (06) II Undefeated Independent- None Wildcards Big 10 - Iowa (05) (03) I Big 12 - Kansas State (08) (04) I - Texas (10) (05) II PAC 10 - Southern Cal (04) (02) I Independent - Notre Dame (09) (05) I
Fiesta Bowl - National Championship Game Bracket I winner vs Bracket II winner Tier I Bowls (BCS Rank) Fiesta National Championship Game Sugar Florida (17) vs West Virginia (16) Orange Penn State (12) vs Maryland (15) Rose Michigan (11) vs Colorado (17) Tier II Bowls Citrus South Florida (23) vs Tennessee (25) Cotton North Carolina State (19) vs Arkansas (20) Holiday Auburn (21) vs Virginia Tech (22) Outback Pittsburgh (26) vs LSU (27) Tier III Bowls Alamo Arizona State (35) vs Texas Tech (37) Gator TCU (33) vs Oklahoma State (34) Las Vegas Oregon State (30) vs Hawaii (31) Peach Virginia (28) vs Boston College (29)
2001 Playoff Breakdown
Automatic Bids Conference - School Overall Seed Bracket Seed ACC - Maryland (11) (06) II Big East - Miami-Florida (01) (01) I Big 10 - Illinois (07) (04) II Big 12 - Colorado (02)* (01) II Conference USA - Louisville (14) (07) II MAC - Toledo (15) (08) II Mountain West - BYU (13) (07) I PAC 10 - Oregon (04) (02) I SEC - LSU (10) (05) II Sunbelt - Wildcard^ WAC - Louisiana Tech (16) (08) I Undefeated Independent- None Wildcards Big 12 - Nebraska (03) (02) II - Texas (08) (04) I - Oklahoma (12) (06) I Pac 10 - Stanford (09) (05) I SEC - Florida (05) (03) I - Tennessee (06) (03) II
^ - North Texas, champion of the Sunbelt failed to fulfill the minimum requirement of 6 regular season wins against I-A opponents therefore the Sunbelt's automatic bid is replaced by a qualified Wildcard (Oklahoma).
* - Nebraksa finished ranked #2 in the BCS poll. However, they did not win their conference championship therefore the next highest ranked conference champion Colorado earns the #2 seed and Nebraska drops to the #3 seed.
Rose Bowl - National Championship Game Bracket I winner vs Bracket II winner Tier I Bowls (BCS Rank) Rose National Championship Game Fiesta Washington State (12) vs Michigan (16) Sugar South Carolina (14) vs Washington (15) Orange Syracuse (17) vs Georgia (18) Tier II Bowls Citrus Virginia Tech (21) vs Florida State (22) Cotton Arkansas (26) vs Texas A&M (28) Holiday Fresno State (19) vs UCLA (23) Outback Auburn (24) vs Ohio State (25) Tier III Bowls Alamo Texas Tech (29) vs Marshall (30) Gator Iowa State (33) vs North Carolina State (34) Las Vegas Hawaii (31) vs North Carolina (32) Peach Boston College (35) vs Georgia Tech (36)
% - Purdue, Northwestern, and Michigan all tied for the Big 10 Championship with 6-2 records in conference play. Purdue went 2-0, Northwestern went 1-1 and Michigan went 0-2 in the games between eachother. Purdue wins the tiebreaker on the strength of having a better head to head record and is awarded the automatic bid.2000 Playoff Breakdown
Automatic Bids Conference - School Overall Seed Bracket Seed ACC - Florida State (02) (01) II Big East - Miami-Florida (03) (02) II Big 10 - Purdue% (13) (06) I Big 12 - Oklahoma (01) (01) I Big West - Boise State (16) (08) I Conference USA - Louisville (15) (08) II MAC - Wildcard^ Mountain West - Colorado State (14) (07) II PAC 10 - Washington# (04) (02) I SEC - Florida (08) (04) I WAC - TCU* (12) (06) I Undefeated Independent- None Wildcards Big East - Virginia Tech (05) (03) I Big 12 - Nebraska (07) (04) II - Kansas State (11) (06) II PAC 10 - Oregon State (06) (03) II - Oregon (09) (05) I Independent - Notre Dame (10) (05) II
^ - Marshall, champion of the MAC failed to fulfill the minimum requirement of 6 regular season wins against I-A opponents therefore the MAC's automatic bid is replaced by a qualified Wildcard (Notre Dame).
# - Washington, Oregon State, and Oregon all tied for the PAC 10 Championship with 7-1 records in conference play. They all went 1-1 in games between eachother. Washington wins the tiebreaker on the strength of having a higher BCS ranking (04) than Oregon State (06) and Oregon (10) and is awarded the automatic bid.
* - TCU and UTEP tied for the WAC Championship with 7-1 records in conference play. TCU beat UTEP 47-14 in their head to head matchup, therefore TCU is awarded the automatic bid.
Orange Bowl - National Championship Game Bracket I winner vs Bracket II winner Tier I Bowls (BCS Rank) Orange National Championship Game Rose Georgia Tech (13) vs Michigan (16) Fiesta Clemson (15) vs Northwestern (19) Sugar Texas (12) vs Ohio State (18) Tier II Bowls Citrus Auburn (20) vs Wisconsin (23) Cotton Tennessee (21) vs Texas A&M (22) Holiday Georgia (24) vs Toledo (26) Outback Iowa State (28) vs Mississippi State (29) Tier III Bowls Alamo LSU (32) vs UTEP (38) Gator South Carolina (30) vs North Carolina State (33) Las Vegas Air Force (35) vs UCLA (37) Peach Ole Miss (32) vs Pittsburgh (39)
% - BYU, Colorado State, and Utah all tied for the Mountain West Championship with 6-2 records in conference play. They all went 1-1 in games between eachother. BYU wins the tiebreaker on the strength of having a higher BCS ranking (25) than Colorado State (27) and Utah (32) and is awarded the automatic bid.1999 Playoff Breakdown
Automatic Bids Conference - School Overall Seed Bracket Seed ACC - Florida State (01) (01) I Big East - Virginia Tech (02) (01) II Big 10 - Wisconsin (05) (03) I Big 12 - Nebraska (03) (02) II Big West - Boise State (15) (08) II Conference USA - Southern Mississippi (12) (06) I MAC - Marshall (11) (06) II Mountain West - BYU% (14) (07) II PAC 10 - Stanford (13) (07) I SEC - Alabama (04) (02) I WAC - Fresno State# (16) (08) I Undefeated Independent- None Wildcards Big 10 - Michigan (08) (04) I - Michigan State (10) (05) II Big 12 - Kansas State (07) (04) II SEC - Tennessee (06) (03) II - Florida (09) (05) I
# - Fresno State, TCU, and Hawaii all tied for the WAC Championship with 5-2 records in conference play. They all went 1-1 in games between eachother. Fresno State wins the tiebreaker on the strength of having a higher BCS ranking (59) than TCU (62) and Hawaii (71) and is awarded the automatic bid.
Sugar Bowl - National Championship Game Bracket I winner vs Bracket II winner Tier I Bowls (BCS Rank) Sugar National Championship Game Orange Georgia Tech (16) vs Mississippi State (18) Rose Penn State (11) vs Texas A&M (14) Fiesta Minnesota (13) vs Texas (15) Tier II Bowls Citrus Miami-Florida (19) vs Purdue (20) Cotton Illinois (24) vs Georgia (26) Holiday Oregon (23) vs Colorado State (27) Outback East Carolina (21) vs Clemson (28) Tier III Bowls Alamo Oklahoma (31) vs Utah (32) Gator Boston College (33) vs Virginia (34) Las Vegas Arkansas (30) vs Colorado (35) Peach Ole Miss (29) vs Louisiana Tech (36)
1998 Playoff Breakdown
Automatic Bids Conference - School Overall Seed Bracket Seed ACC - Florida State% (02) (01) II Big East - Syracuse (13) (07) I Big 10 - Ohio State# (04) (02) I Big 12 - Texas A&M (07) (03) II Big West - Idaho (16) (08) I Conference USA - Tulane (10) (05) II MAC - Marshall (15) (08) II PAC 10 - UCLA (05) (03) I SEC - Tennesseee (01) (01) I WAC - Air Force (14) (07) II Undefeated Independent- None Wildcards ACC - Virginia (11) (06) II Big 10 - Wisconsin (09) (05) I Big 12 - Kansas State (03) (02) II - Nebraska (12) (06) I Pac 10 - Arizona (08) (04) I SEC - Florida (06) (03) II % - Florida State and Georgia Tech tied for the ACC Championship with 7-1 records in conference play. Florida State beat Georgia Tech 34-7 in their head to head matchup, therefore Florida State is awarded the automatic bid. # - Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin all tied for the Big 10 Championship with 7-1 records in conference play. Ohio State went 1-0, Michigan went 1-1 and Wisconsin went 0-1 in the games between eachother. Ohio State wins the tiebreaker on the strength of having a better head to head record and is awarded the automatic bid.
Bowls - A Full BCS ranking list of all I-A teams wasn't available to predict the possible bowl match-ups.
Eric B. Shaw / [email protected]