Note to BCS: Go Away! (Or At Least Give My Way a Try)
By Kelly L. Martinez

Author’s note: The playoff brackets and seedings listed in this article are fictitious and are in no way meant to imply that the NCAA has such a logical solution in place in the crowning of its football national champion.

Special thanks to my son, Josh Martinez, for fact-checking this article and offering ideas and suggestions.Even though his UCLA Bruins beat my USC Trojans to thwart the latter’s chance at the national title, I love and appreciate him.

It’s that time of year again.  One hundred and nineteen Division I-A football teams have concluded their 2006 regular season schedules, and only two have a shot at the holy grail of collegiate football — the national championship. 

The hopes and dreams of each of the 119 teams have given way to a debate between fans, players, coaches and critics about the current system used to crown a national champion.  The Bowl Championship Series has been in place since 1998 and its one redeeming quality is that it has guaranteed that the two top-ranked teams face off for the national title each year. However, its way of determining the two top-ranked teams is flawed.

Using a combination of poll rankings and computer formulas, the BCS has its own ranking system that is published weekly from mid-season on. It bases its national championship game on its own rankings and, like its predecessor the poll system, creates a debate every year.

Unlike other major collegiate sports, football does not have a playoff system in place.  It offers no hope of a national championship to other than a handful of highly-ranked teams.  Without a playoff, there is no chance of a Cinderella story unfolding in an effort to claim to the national crown.  Without a playoff, fans are left to wonder if indeed the team playing the best football when it counts is going to become the national champ.

A college football playoff is long overdue.

A Solution

Below is an imaginary lineup for the 2006 NCAA Division I-A playoffs.  It is a self-devised system that seeds teams based on division and conference championships and BCS rankings.  By virtue of the fact that the BCS has made more of an effort to crown a true national champion than the previous poll-decisive method, its rankings play a major part in this proposed playoff program.

Each of the 16 Division I-A division and conference champions are seeded in the top 16 of the 32-team playoff.  The remaining 16 spots are on an at-large basis and are seeded based on BCS rankings and overall records.

Each of the top four BCS-ranked teams earns a top seed in their bracket and hosts their first round game.  The remaining 27 games of the tournament are played in established bowl games with the national championship being played in one of the major BCS bowls (Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar) on a rotational basis.

Perhaps there is a better way of doing this, but it seems apparent that college football is ailing and a playoff is the remedy.  There is a lot of talk right now of a playoff being an eventuality.  Why wait?  It seems the eventuality is and should be right now. The following is my suggestion on how to do it.

2006 NCAA Football Tournament

(BCS Rank) Conference/Division Champions

(BCS Rank) At-Large Teams

Seedings

Pairings

Bracket One

Bracket Two

Bracket Three

Bracket Four