December Madness?

June 19, 2008 Note: This is a post that originally appeared on Golden's Football Rankings and is reproduced here for posterity.

So someone mentioned recently that with 32 bowl games, we have exactly 64 teams playing in the postseason. To complete the thought, I put together the 64 teams into a March madness style bracket, using the BCS rankings for the first 42 teams, and the Golden Rankings for the last 22. First two rounds are on campus. Midwest plays West, East plays Southeast. The bracket is listed below.

Midwest
1) Ohio State
16) Alabama

8) Houston
9) Arizona State

4) Rutgers
13) West Michigan

5) Tennessee
12) Texas Tech

3) Auburn
14) Oklahoma State

6) Boston College
11) Rice

2) Boise State
15) Minnesota

7) UCLA
10) Missouri


West
1) LSU
16) Miami

8) Oregon
9) Central Michigan

4) West Virginia
13) Kansas St

5) BYU
12) Nevada

3) Arkansas
14) San Jose St

6) Texas A&M
11) S. Miss

2) USC
15) Iowa

7) Ga Tech
10) S. Florida


Southeast
1) Florida
16) New Mexico

8) Hawaii
9) Navy

4) Virginia Tech
13) Purdue

5) California
12) Ohio

3) Notre Dame
14) Utah

6) Nebraska
11) Tulsa

2) Wisconsin
15) MTSU

7) TCU
10) Maryland


East
1) Michigan
16) Troy

8) Georgia
9) Clemson

4) Wake Forest
13) E Carolina

5) Texas
12) Cinncy

3) Oklahoma
14) Florida State

6) Oregon State
11) Kentucky

2) Louisville
15) No Illinois

7) Penn State
10) S Carolina

Lots of interesting match-ups, but the first round games that pop out at me are the Alabama at OSU game and the LSU/Miami rematch of the Peach Bowl. Of course something like this is entirely unrealistic, but who would’ve imagined 30 years ago that there would be 32 bowl games.

-I went to the Motor City Bowl last night. Not a bad game, not a bad venue, and overall a feel good night for the CMU Chips. As a fan of one of the big time programs, you never really realize how much wins in even a so-called lesser bowl mean to a fan base. There were a lot of CMU fans there calling this one of the biggest wins in the program’s history. What we forget when we complain about the glut of bowls is that these games give hope to the “other” I-A programs that have little to no chance of playing on the big stage of the BCS.

-The Motor City Bowl chose Middle Tennessee State instead of a major conference teams because it had no choice. A new NCAA rule this year stated that a 6-6 team could only qualify for a bowl if it was filling one of it’s conference’s bowl slots, or if all of the 7-5 or 8-4 teams are taken. That’s why 7-5 MTSU and NIU went to bowls while 6-6 Kansas, Arizona, Washington State and Pittsburgh stayed home. Personally, I think it is a great rule that will help level the playing field, if only a little bit.

-The talk of a “Plus One” playoff is encouraging, if only because it is an improvement on the current system. The system does have it flaws, and wouldn’t resolve all problems, but it would be a playoff and could lead to an enlarged tournament. The thing to remember is that a four, or even an eight-team tournament is not likely. Right now, there are 10 BCS bowl spots that pay 10-17 million each, eight of which go to the power conferences. Any playoff system that is enacted would have to either take place after the BCS bowls, or would have to guarantee at least 10 big payouts. Additionally, any system that does not reserve at least one spot for non-power conference teams could face a legal challenge, or political pressure. That means the only two possibilities that would be likely to get support from the power conference presidents would be a “plus one” or a twelve team tournament. Since a 12-team tournament seems like an unlikely first step, I would guess we will see more support for a post bowl game playoff after this BCS contract runs out.

-Did anybody tell the Oregon Ducks that their uniforms were, are and continue to be god-awful? I mean seriously, somebody has to tell them. We can’t let them go on embarrassing themselves like that.