College football needs playoff plan

Jeffrey Shear, North Las Vegas

Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011 | 2 a.m.

After a long hot summer, many of us are “ready for (fall) football.” But is college football ready for us?

In addition to major player compensation scandals at the University of Miami and Ohio State, controversy over the Top 25-ranked teams has reared its gargoyled head!

But since the major conferences and bowls block the adoption of an actual playoff system, controversy is likely to be a permanent fixture of college football — and future BCS bowl contenders will be selected via polls that favor storied programs and major conference champions while discriminating against smaller nontraditional football powers and conferences.

Solution: Adopt a playoff system that would start with 12 seeded teams, with the four-highest seeds receiving a first-round bye. The highest and lowest seeds would be matched against each other in each round, with the first games being played around Christmas, the second round of games around New Year’s, the two semifinal games Jan. 6-9 and the BCS championship game two weeks later. The existing bowls — Orange, Rose, etc. — could be used as playoff venues.

Major collegiate football is no longer played for “fun” by a bunch of unpracticed Ivy Leaguers in front of a few adoring fans; the sport generates billions of dollars and is followed by millions worldwide. Therefore, some sort of playoff system needs to be adopted so that all teams, large and small, have a chance to win the championship on the actual field of play!