Doug Franz College Football Playoff – Week 1

The Week 1 standings are out for the BCS.

In case you don’t know from the things I’ve said on air. I want a playoff in college football but I don’t have a problem with the BCS formula. I just don’t want it used to narrow the field from 120 to two.

I have yet to hear any “pro current system” argument that I can’t destroy on logical grounds. Of course there’s one argument I can’t beat and that is anyone saying they like the current system and they don’t want it changed. Other than that, I’m still waiting for someone to convince me to give up my dream for a college football playoff.

I put before you the Doug Franz College Football Playoff. Every week the BCS rankings will change, therefore changing the teams making the playoff. Check in each week and see how things have changed. At the end of the season, it’s up to you to pick the winners of each game and set in motion the championship challenge.

If you want an explanation for the way my formula works, check the bottom of the blog.

Here’s the playoff pairings if the regular season ended today.

16) West Virginia @ 1) Oklahoma

15) Florida St @ 2) Oregon

14) Oklahoma St @ 3) Boise St

13) Wisconsin @ 4) Auburn

12) Stanford @ 5) TCU

11) Mizzou @ 6) LSU

10) Ohio St @ 7) Michigan St

9) Utah @ 8) Alabama

OBSERVATIONS:

I’m sure someone will react to conference teams meeting in the 7/10 game but guess what? They won’t meet during the regular season so why not in the post-season?

All those years Wisconsin and Auburn are fighting the bigger teams in their conference and now they meet to see who advances to the second round.

Do you have any idea how often we’d here Wolf tell his story of WVU winning in Norman while he played during the 1950’s?

Tell me this playoff game wouldn’t be huge: Alabama @ Oklahoma. That’s a second round game.

Yes, that’s right Utah fans. Your fun acting like the Sugar Bowl win was something to brag about would come to an abrupt end in the first round of the DFCFP.

I can’t believe how far some heavyweights have fallen. UGa=71; Tenn=77; Penn St.=63.

I never thought I’d put together a 16-team playoff with Florida, Texas, and USC all uninvited.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN:

By ranking every team, you get a true representation of the best conference by simply taking the average BCS rank of every team in the conference. This playoff system makes every college football game in the country vital because it rewards teams and conferences alike.

Here’s the ranking of the conferences after Week 6 of the BCS and the average BCS rank of the teams in the conference.

1) Big 12: 33.25
2) Pac-10: 36.3
3) SEC: 39.5
4) Big 10: 41.09
5) MWC: 57.78
6) ACC: 58.67
7) WAC: 64.67
8) Big East: 67
9) C-USA: 77.75
10) MAC: 91.69
11) Sun Belt: 104.22

CONFERENCE OBSERVATIONS:

I never imagined the SEC wouldn’t be number one. The fact that it’s number three is shocking.

Adding Colorado only causes a small drop for the Pac-10 but Utah is 9th in the BCS and that might vault the Pac-10 to the top conference in the country.

Really hurt my MAC almost made the playoff last year and now they’re fighting the Sun Belt to avoid the cellar.

The Big East is so bad it barely makes the playoff. This also shows you how screwed up the BCS is. Why does the Big East get an automatic bid into the BCS just to get a payout other conferences don’t get? Look how close the WAC is to catching the ACC yet both the ACC and Big East will pocket $14 million a piece in the BCS.

The SEC West alone would come in at a 22.33 rank. It’s amazing that the average team in any one division is a top 25 team in BCS rank.

PLAYOFF EXPLANATION:

The magic of the DFCFP is how it highlights the regular season more than any other system. Here’s the process for coming up with the teams for the playoff.

1) Rank all D-1 (FBS) teams 1-120 (from Oklahoma to Akron)
2) Rank all the conferences 1-11 based on the average BCS rank of the teams in the conference.
3) Reward the first place team in the top eight conferences with an automatic bid.
4) Independents — this means you Notre Dame — get no special treatment. If you’re not in a conference, earn a wild card bid or join a conference.
5) Select eight wild-card teams based on BCS rank excluding those already selected with an automatic bid.
6) Rank the 16 teams based on BCS rank with no regard to status as an automatic qualifier or wild-card entry.
7) First two rounds are at the home of the better seed.
8) Final Four and Championship game are played at a rotation among Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, Rose.

I’m aware that after the first two rounds there are three games left at neutral sites with four bowl game hosts. This is leverage in case the Rose wants to stick to tradition. If they duck out I’ve got three games and three bowls. If the Rose does want to stay involved, there would be a new bowl game created for the two teams that just missed out on the playoff. This week would be Iowa v Nebraska.

I give you the extra bowl game just to prove that the bowls don’t have to die. Iowa v Nebraska is still a great college football game with great fans. We wouldn’t have 35 bowl games anymore — sorry Pinstripe Bowl — but some of the big ones with tradition don’t have to go anywhere. If you’re an ASU fan are you saying you wouldn’t go watch the Sun Devils against the Longhorns in a Holiday Bowl just because it wasn’t in the playoff?

You’d still get the benefit of extra practices to prepare for your bowl game. Players would still get to enjoy the goodies they receive for participating. As for the fans, we get a real champion.

Feel free to ask me any questions or give me your opinions and I’ll put it in the mailbag: doug@ktar.com

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