I just thought of something that may solve some problems with the BCS and that has been considered before but wanted to hear everyone's reaction...
Everyone knows the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in basketball?
What if opening week each year there was a Big 12/SEC, Big 10/PAC 10 challenge etc that rotates conferences each year. (IE SEC plays Big 12 this year then the Big 10 next year then the ACC, etc etc) The teams at the bottom of the conference in the previous year are excluded from the playoff each year so the bottom 2 of the SEC/ACC/Big 12 would be dropped so there would be 10 games against the PAC 10. The home teams could rotate each year within each conference so there would be 5 home and 5 away each year.
This would make it easier for voters and computers to separate teams/conference strength prior to bowl games.
Since ESPN picked up the SEC contract too, that means the TV contracts wouldn't be too tough to handle either.
What prompted my idea was a question I asked Mel Kiper in today's chat:
Brett (Gainesville, FL): Mel, what are your thoughts on a Big 12/SEC Challenge in FBS similar to what we see in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in basketball? Would that help clarify the rankings as well as provide one great opening weekend of football?
SportsNation Mel Kiper: (1:29 PM ET ) Yeah, I think if you could schedule it properly. But schedules are made so far in advance. We're in a cycle right now where The Big 12 has so many great QBs. But who's to say that in 3-4 years they will still have great QBs? People talk about the schedules and how easy they are, but when they scheduled the game, the team was good. I think it's a great idea, having the SEC and Big 12 play each other. Texas plays Arkansas and I think that might be it.
Thoughts? Potential Road Blocks (don't even say the name Jim Delaney...)? Arguments against/for?
ShoelessJoe wrote:I usually can't stand Ivan Maisel because he may love the Big 10 more than his wife but I did agree with some of his points in this week's 'I-Formation'
A reader suggested the two teams playing the best right now are Florida and USC. It's unfair, the reader said, that the two best teams would not get the opportunity to play for it all.
I happen to agree with this reader that the Gators and the Trojans are playing better than just about anybody else right now...
...
Back up a minute. Why aren't Florida and USC at the top right now? Each of them lost a game. Where did they lose it? In the polls? The computers? No, both of them lost on the field. Florida lost at home to an Ole Miss team that is 5-4. USC lost on the road to an Oregon State team that is 5-3. Didn't that prove something?
I agree. Everyone hears Pete Carroll saying he's in favor of a playoff. Bob Stoops said the same thing yesterday. And guess what? Both of those teams lost on the field.
I'd be interested to hear what Carroll or Stoops said when asked about a playoff next year if their team was in Texas Tech/Alabama's position...
To be fair, both have been proponents of a playoff system for some time.
ShoelessJoe wrote:I just thought of something that may solve some problems with the BCS and that has been considered before but wanted to hear everyone's reaction...
Everyone knows the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in basketball?
What if opening week each year there was a Big 12/SEC, Big 10/PAC 10 challenge etc that rotates conferences each year. (IE SEC plays Big 12 this year then the Big 10 next year then the ACC, etc etc) The teams at the bottom of the conference in the previous year are excluded from the playoff each year so the bottom 2 of the SEC/ACC/Big 12 would be dropped so there would be 10 games against the PAC 10. The home teams could rotate each year within each conference so there would be 5 home and 5 away each year.
This would make it easier for voters and computers to separate teams/conference strength prior to bowl games.
Since ESPN picked up the SEC contract too, that means the TV contracts wouldn't be too tough to handle either.
What prompted my idea was a question I asked Mel Kiper in today's chat:
Brett (Gainesville, FL): Mel, what are your thoughts on a Big 12/SEC Challenge in FBS similar to what we see in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in basketball? Would that help clarify the rankings as well as provide one great opening weekend of football?
SportsNation Mel Kiper: (1:29 PM ET ) Yeah, I think if you could schedule it properly. But schedules are made so far in advance. We're in a cycle right now where The Big 12 has so many great QBs. But who's to say that in 3-4 years they will still have great QBs? People talk about the schedules and how easy they are, but when they scheduled the game, the team was good. I think it's a great idea, having the SEC and Big 12 play each other. Texas plays Arkansas and I think that might be it.
Thoughts? Potential Road Blocks (don't even say the name Jim Delaney...)? Arguments against/for?
I think it could help, but there would still be arguments. The scheduling would be a major problem because like they said the schedules are made years in advance so it would take a while to get started. I would not want to see it in the first week though because we all know that without "preseason" games these teams are not playing there best ball the first week or so of the season.
Apparently, this was mentioned at the Big 12 media days and some of the Big 12 coaches are in favor it.
Rumblings have been heard during recent months about the Big 12 testing the waters on a potential "challenge series" for football. It would be tailored along the lines of the one developed for Pac-10 basketball.
The idea would be to match most, if not all, 12 teams from the conference against a similarly configured conference like the ACC or SEC.
Stoops has championed the idea of such a series several times in recent seasons. And Leach said that he was intrigued by the concept, although he hasn't heard anything specific about it.
"I think it sounds like a pretty good idea," Leach said. "The key thing would be to involve everybody."
I know the logistics may be tough initially once you get it up and running and everyone on board I don't see any major problems so long all of the conferences agree. Plus if ESPN were to pay each school to do this (in return they get some GREAT games) that would recoup the losses that some teams may complain about because they don't get a home game every other year. Or if ESPN doesn't want to pay out of pocket, call up FedEx and it could be the FedEX Conference Challenge.
ShoelessJoe wrote:I just thought of something that may solve some problems with the BCS and that has been considered before but wanted to hear everyone's reaction...
Everyone knows the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in basketball?
What if opening week each year there was a Big 12/SEC, Big 10/PAC 10 challenge etc that rotates conferences each year. (IE SEC plays Big 12 this year then the Big 10 next year then the ACC, etc etc) The teams at the bottom of the conference in the previous year are excluded from the playoff each year so the bottom 2 of the SEC/ACC/Big 12 would be dropped so there would be 10 games against the PAC 10. The home teams could rotate each year within each conference so there would be 5 home and 5 away each year.
This would make it easier for voters and computers to separate teams/conference strength prior to bowl games.
Since ESPN picked up the SEC contract too, that means the TV contracts wouldn't be too tough to handle either.
What prompted my idea was a question I asked Mel Kiper in today's chat:
Brett (Gainesville, FL): Mel, what are your thoughts on a Big 12/SEC Challenge in FBS similar to what we see in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in basketball? Would that help clarify the rankings as well as provide one great opening weekend of football?
SportsNation Mel Kiper: (1:29 PM ET ) Yeah, I think if you could schedule it properly. But schedules are made so far in advance. We're in a cycle right now where The Big 12 has so many great QBs. But who's to say that in 3-4 years they will still have great QBs? People talk about the schedules and how easy they are, but when they scheduled the game, the team was good. I think it's a great idea, having the SEC and Big 12 play each other. Texas plays Arkansas and I think that might be it.
Thoughts? Potential Road Blocks (don't even say the name Jim Delaney...)? Arguments against/for?
I think it could help, but there would still be arguments. The scheduling would be a major problem because like they said the schedules are made years in advance so it would take a while to get started. I would not want to see it in the first week though because we all know that without "preseason" games these teams are not playing there best ball the first week or so of the season.
Youre preseason statement is why I dont like those that judge teams based on their non-conf scheds. I do like how many SEC teams have it set up where they play non-conf games throughout the season. If the schedulers ever set up some type of challenge, I'd hope they'd set it up so that it plays throughout the season.
“I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football,” Obama said Monday on ESPN. “I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams – the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.”
If we have a president who's against the BCS, maybe he'll put some kind of pressure on the NCAA to scrap it and go to a playoff.
Saw an interesting stat in ESPN Magazine this week about first down yardage on offense and defense. They did the top 12 in the BCS from last week. Offensive number is average gained on first down and defense is average given up
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by ShoelessJoe » Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:32 pm 
