If There Was a BCS Playoff

If there was a 16 game BCS tournament of just the top 16 BCS teams getting bid we'd be getting these games this week:

1. Alabama vs 16. West Virginia
2. Texas vs 15. Miami
3. Cincinnati vs 14. BYU
4. TCU vs 13. Penn State
5. Florida vs 12. LSU
6. Boise State vs 11. Virginia Tech
7. Oregon vs 10. Iowa
8. Ohio State vs 9. Georgia Tech

Not bad at all. Three teams from the ACC, SEC, Big 10. Only one team from Pac 10 and Big 12. Of FBC conferences, 8 of 11 are represented.

Here's what the tournament would look like if every FBS conference sent a minimum of 1 team (you couldn't pass off a 16 team tournament without guaranteeing the "minors" at least one spot), leaving 5 at large spaces.

1. Alabama (SEC) vs 16. Troy (Sun Belt)
2. Texas (Big 12) vs 15. East Carolina (Conf USA)
3. Cincinnati (Big East) vs 14. Central Michigan (MAC)
4. TCU (Mountain West) vs 13. Penn State (At Large #5)
5. Florida (At Large #1) vs 12. LSU (At Large #4)
6. Boise State (WAC) vs 11. Virginia Tech (At Large #3)
7. Oregon (Pac 10) vs 10. Iowa (At Large #2)
8. Ohio State (Big 10) vs 9. Georgia Tech (ACC)

Not bad. Troy, ECU, Central Michigan replace BYU, Miami, West Virginia at a shot for the national title. More importantly ECU lost in the regular season at West Virginia 35-20. We'd probably have to hear about that one all season.

Not to mention, Alabama vs Sun Belt Champion Troy. Um. Remember Troy? Week 2 at Florida ring a bell? 56-6 final score. Imagine what Alabama would do to them.

Cincinnati vs Central Michigan wouldn't be the end of the world, but the #3 ranking for the team would be even more contested by TCU given that the Horned Frogs would now be stuck playing a pretty good Penn State team instead of the MAC Champion.

Now, to be fair, if we're going to let a minimum of 1 team from each conference into the tournament, odds are there will also be a cap of a maximum 2 teams from each conference in the tournament. That will mix the tournament up to look like this:

1. Alabama (SEC) vs 16. Troy (Sun Belt)
2. Texas (Big 12) vs 15. East Carolina (Conference USA)
3. Cincinnati (Big East) vs 14. Central Michigan (MAC)
4. TCU (Mountain West) vs 13. West Virginia (At Large #5, Big East #2)
5. Florida (At Large #1, SEC #2) vs 12. BYU (At Large #4, Mountain West #2)
6. Boise State (WAC) vs 11. Virginia Tech (At Large #3, ACC #2)
7. Oregon (Pac 10) vs 10. Iowa (At Large #2, Big 10 #2)
8. Ohio State (Big 10) vs 9. Georgia Tech (ACC)

Adios LSU and Penn State; welcome back West Virginia and BYU. In case you were wondering both Penn State and Iowa were 10-2 (6-2 in conference), but Penn State's loss to Iowa gives Iowa the BCS edge.

So let's digest these brackets.

BCS National Championship Tournament 2009:

Bracket A

1. Alabama vs 16 Troy
8. Ohio State vs 9. Georgia Tech

4. TCU vs 13.West Virginia
5. Florida vs 12. BYU

Bracket B

2. Texas vs 15. East Carolina
7. Oregon vs 10 Iowa

3. Cincinnati vs Central Michigan
6. Boise State vs Virginia Tech

First things first: Bracket A turns out to be murder compared to bracket B.

The next thing I ask you, is this really better than what we have?

Alabama vs Troy, Ohio State, Florida/TCU en route to the national championship. Texas vs ECU, Oregon, Cincinnati/Boise State en route to the national championship. Are these really better that having a regular season loaded with "playoff" type games.

Why would Florida care about last weeks game with Alabama in this atmosphere? They knew they wouldn't fall below 5. Why not end up in the pool with BYU, WV, and TCU instead of the pool with Ohio State and Georgia Tech?

Think about the other games from the regular season that would have been rendered meaningless: Ohio State vs Iowa, Boise State vs Oregon, TCU vs BYU, the list goes on. All of the inter conference games that were meaningful would have been equally meaningful, if not more meaningful (given the two team per conference cap).

I'm not trying to convince you a tournament is useless, because it's not. It would be fun. But let's not forget that what separates college football from other sports (did anyone actually watch 'Cuse vs Florida in NCAA-B on Thursday?) is that the regular season is so important that we'll watch even the most futile of games.

So before you cast your vote for a college football playoff, ask yourself, "is Alabama vs BYU in December really worth sacrificing USC vs Ohio State in September?" Because we all know that the BCS is the only reason big time schools book worthy competition in their non conference schedule.