Bedlam...

[David Flick]

[Sandy]

I watched the last half. Quite a comeback, especially the 92 yard punt return that tied the game. The faces of the Oklahoma fans in the stands after that were priceless. Actually, it's rare for the game not to mean something outside of Oklahoma, though the Cowboys needed the win to get bowl eligible. They had a pretty good season going, with the exception of their first game loss to FSU, in which they outplayed the 'Noles, and literally came inches away from upsetting them, until they ran into the TCU buzz-saw. Seems like OSU has been on the better end of this rivalry in recent years, haven't they? Mike Gundy has built a real program in Stillwater.

The Big 12 has been, IMHO, one of the most balanced and exciting football conferences for several years now, since the departure of Missouri and Texas A&M. The prediction was that the league would belong to the Longhorns and Sooners. It has been anything but that. It would be a travesty if Ohio State gets into the final four, and a Big 12 team doesn't.

[David Flick]

[KeithE]

It will probably seldom be the case that 4 or 8 teams clearly stand out in front of the others. This year I’d say 6 teams did so.

Two ideas for improvement:

1) Just Bowl Games as they used to be and “experts” vote.

2) Have 5 conferences declared super conferences before the start of each season, they would all have conference championship games with wineries progressing to a 8 team playoff with three at large teams (not from those super conferences). Right now I’d say those conferences are : SEC, Pac-12, Big-12, "Big-10" (really Big -14), and the ACC.

[Sandy]

Since the playoff format more or less concedes that money drives major college football, I agree with Keith. The Pac 12 championship game, alone without competition on a Friday night, generated almost $6 million in revenue for the NCAA, not to mention the $6 million the conference took, of which is split between all of its schools equally. The other three championship games generated about the same amount together. I think an eight team playoff, one extra week, using all six of the highest payout bowl games (Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Peach) with a rotation that has four getting round one, and two getting round two, with a separate, independent championship, would be just fine, other bowls getting the rest of the teams. Five conference championship slots (Pac 12, SEC, Big 12, Big 10 and ACC) three at large (Other Div. 1 conferences, plus independents like Notre Dame and BYU if ranked high enough and selected) or teams from the power 5. It could be done in three weeks, starting around Christmas, with no interference with finals and minimal interference with the NFL.

Big 12 needs to get back into the major television markets in its area. It needs to raid Colorado State from the MWC to get into Denver, and probably the University of Houston, to get back into the largest market in the region. Then they could have two six team divisions, play a four game non league powder puff schedule like the SEC, and have a championship game with money to turn a committee's head.

I don't want to disparage the choice of Ohio State. I think they deserve it, and if they play like they did Saturday, they'll prove it. But I think Baylor and TCU are just as good as anyone in the top four, and could just as likely win it all. The NCAA needs to do something better for its most visible, most revenue-generating sport. This playoff makes it look unprofessional, and as prone to its biases and outdated traditions as pro baseball.