I gave this answer to important people who could make changes, and was told to piss up a rope.

Here's what you do:

Eight 16 teams superconferences, each split into two 8 team divisions. Separate them geographically. That gives 132 teams a chance to win it all.

The playoff is 8 teams. Those 8 teams are the superconference winners. Seed them by ranking. Fine. Still, just the 8 teams. That said, EVERY division winner gets a chance to win it all because the conference title games are essentially the first round of a 16 team playoff.

1. It gives everyone a chance.
2. It makes a division title a big deal, and a conference title a HUGE deal, again.
3. It keeps the conference title games from being meaningless, if not punitive.
4. It keeps it regional in nature and eliminates bias.
5. It makes the playoffs legit games.

Here were my conferences:

1. Big South Conference

Southwest Division

Texas
Baylor
TCU
Texas Tech
Houston
SMU
Rice
North Texas

Big 8 Division

Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Tulsa
Kansas
Kansas State
UTEP
New Mexico
New Mexico State

2. Southeastern Conference

Rocky Mountain Division

Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Memphis
Middle Tennessee
Alabama
Auburn
Troy
UAB

Old South Division

Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Southern Mississippi
LSU
Tulane
Louisiana Monroe
Arkansas
Texas A&M

3. Atlantic Coast Conference

Citrus Division

Florida
Florida State
Miami
USF
FAU
UCF
Stetson
FIU

Palmetto Division

South Carolina
Clemson
South Carolina State
Coastal Carolina
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Georgia Southern
UL-Lafayette

4. East Coast Conference

Tobacco Road Division

North Carolina
Duke
NC State
Appalachian State
East Carolina
Wake Forest
West Virginia
Marshall

Capital Division

Virginia
Virginia Tech
Liberty
Maryland
Navy
Rutgers
Syracuse
Army

5. Northeast Conference

New England Division

Connecticut
Boston College
Boston University
Pitt
Penn State
Temple
Buffalo
Massachusetts

Midlands Division

Ohio
Ohio State
Toledo
Miami of Ohio
Cincinnatti
Akron
Kent State
Bowling Green

6. Heartland Conference

Great Lakes Division

Indiana
Purdue
Notre Dame
Ball State
Michigan
Michigan State
Central Michigan
Western Michigan

Central Division

Illinois
Southern Illinois
Northwestern
Northern Illinois
Wisconsin
Missouri
Kansas
Kansas State

7. Big Sky Conference

Mountain Division

Minnesota
Iowa
Iowa State
Nebraska
Montana
Air Force
Colorado
Colorado State

West Division (running out of names)

Utah
Utah State
BYU
Idaho
Boise State
Wyoming
Air Force
South Dakota State

8. West Coast Conference

Pacific Division

Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
UNLV
Nevada
Stanford
Cal-Berkley

Golden State Division

USC
UCLA
San Diego State
San Jose State
Fresno State
NAU
Arizona
Arizona State

There you go. Sixteen teams in the "playoff", which starts with the conference division winners. Then the "actual" playoff is the 8 conference winners, seeded the same way we seed now. Use 8 bowls, with the NYD bowls being the first round. Then you give two sites the semis on a rotating basis, and the same for one bowl site getting to be the title game also every four years.

Does that tighten up the number of teams in the "big" division? Maybe from 140+ to 132, but really, screw the rest of those teams. This gives everyone a shot, AND it means you can schedule THREE kickass non-conference games because they in no way keep you from having a chance at the 16 (eight) team "playoff".

You could play rivalry games (Texas v A&M, etc.) every year, really at any time, because they wouldn't affect your ability to be in the playoff because they don't affect conference standings.

I was told to shove it. The SEC and Big10 will never let it happen because it limits their power and money. It's the right thing to do, but it'll never go down.

Do away with all conferences and play a completely randomized schedule. Then seed accordingly.

They'd never go for any of these ideas so it's all pointless but it is a fun exercise.

HarryJ33tamu said:

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Lol no

Why would any of the smaller schools agree to this?

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Because they'd have an equal chance. They'd REALLY want this. It gives Air Force the same starting point that Alabama has, and all they have to do is win their conference. You can't say that now. There's nothing subjective about this, and everyone not named Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, and Texas wants the subjective part removed.

Divisons are way unbalanced

Some of those divisions are laughable. Like Ohio state is the only real team in their entire division

Same thing with Penn state

Capital division is a complete joke.

Luigi Vampa said:

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Some of those divisions are laughable. Like Ohio state is the only real team in their entire division

Same thing with Penn state

Capital division is a complete joke.

---

It gets hard to separate some of the losers from the winners, and those can be changed to even them out, but I like things being geographic and eliminating the polls and the arguing and all the BS. I also think a lot of the crappy teams, with an equal chance and even NIL money, would improve in a hurry.

ThatGuyFromWayBack said:

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HarryJ33tamu said:

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Lol no

Why would any of the smaller schools agree to this?

---

Because they'd have an equal chance. They'd REALLY want this. It gives Air Force the same starting point that Alabama has, and all they have to do is win their conference. You can't say that now. There's nothing subjective about this, and everyone not named Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, and Texas wants the subjective part removed.

---

The smaller schools currently have a better chance of winning their conference and being ranked and getting an auto bid to the playoff than they ever would winning one of these proposed conferences.

They currently don't have to beat a P4 school to get in. They'd have to in your scenario. Tulane is about to make the playoffs and they lose by 5 TDs to Ole Miss this season.

Did anyone actually read this????

ironmanag said:

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Divisons are way unbalanced

---

Probably so, at least some of them, for now, but given time considering they have an equal chance and the same NIL cap, I think a lot of those teams will improve in a hurry. Look what Tech has done in no time at all. Would you ever have thought you'd see them ahead of Texas and A&M? Just takes some money given that everyone has the same chance in this format.

Send it to ESPN, except kick out tech, TCU and SMU for UTEP, UTSA, and TX St. maybe even get RGVU and Trinity in for Baylor and Houston and ESPN will have it set up for the sips within 2 years.

This makes for horrible tv during the regular season and revenues tank accordingly.

The Power G6 need to be their own division. The next few years of playoffs will show that the ACC and Big 12 belong with them, making it the G8. The Power 2 have their own championship. At that point, this gets much easier.

The idea of Virginia, Tulane, BYU, North Texas or any of the other bubble teams making it to the playoffs is absolutely absurd, but we all have to pretend like they deserve to be there over Vandy or even t.u. That charade can't last long.

@zooAI

Please sumerize OPs post

Tough road for Kansas and Kansas State being in two divisions.

UK & Louisville & Western Kentucky would like a word.

Way too much free time on your hands OP

how about the conferences are all alphabetical?

Here's ours

[ol]

Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee State Tigers

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

Texas Longhorns

Texas A&M Aggies

Texas Southern Tigers

Texas State Bobcats

Texas Tech Red Raiders

[/ol]

You either do something like this, or you have to get rid of conference championship games while also having a P4 only playoff. The G5 gets their own playoff and we go separate ways.

But this won't happen. They'll likely just expand this system before they do any of this.

Rocky Mountain division.

Promotion/relegation among tiers of ~20 teams each. Break each tier into 2 divisions, round robin in your div, plus maybe a couple from the other side. Top 2 or 4 in each div have a playoff. Bottom 4 teams are relegated for the next season, top 4 are promoted.

Removes all subjectivity, and that's a good reason why it will never happen.

ThatGuyFromWayBack said:

---

I gave this answer to important people who could make changes, and was told to piss up a rope.

Here's what you do:

Eight 16 teams superconferences, each split into two 8 team divisions. Separate them geographically. That gives 132 teams a chance to win it all.

The playoff is 8 teams. Those 8 teams are the superconference winners. Seed them by ranking. Fine. Still, just the 8 teams. That said, EVERY division winner gets a chance to win it all because the conference title games are essentially the first round of a 16 team playoff.

1. It gives everyone a chance.
2. It makes a division title a big deal, and a conference title a HUGE deal, again.
3. It keeps the conference title games from being meaningless, if not punitive.
4. It keeps it regional in nature and eliminates bias.
5. It makes the playoffs legit games.

Here were my conferences:

1. Big South Conference

Southwest Division

Texas
Baylor
TCU
Texas Tech
Houston
SMU
Rice
North Texas

Big 8 Division

Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Tulsa
Kansas
Kansas State
UTEP
New Mexico
New Mexico State

2. Southeastern Conference

Rocky Mountain Division

Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Memphis
Middle Tennessee
Alabama
Auburn
Troy
UAB

Old South Division

Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Southern Mississippi
LSU
Tulane
Louisiana Monroe
Arkansas
Texas A&M

3. Atlantic Coast Conference

Citrus Division

Florida
Florida State
Miami
USF
FAU
UCF
Stetson
FIU

Palmetto Division

South Carolina
Clemson
South Carolina State
Coastal Carolina
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Georgia Southern
UL-Lafayette

4. East Coast Conference

Tobacco Road Division

North Carolina
Duke
NC State
Appalachian State
East Carolina
Wake Forest
West Virginia
Marshall

Capital Division

Virginia
Virginia Tech
Liberty
Maryland
Navy
Rutgers
Syracuse
Army

5. Northeast Conference

New England Division

Connecticut
Boston College
Boston University
Pitt
Penn State
Temple
Buffalo
Massachusetts

Midlands Division

Ohio
Ohio State
Toledo
Miami of Ohio
Cincinnatti
Akron
Kent State
Bowling Green

6. Heartland Conference

Great Lakes Division

Indiana
Purdue
Notre Dame
Ball State
Michigan
Michigan State
Central Michigan
Western Michigan

Central Division

Illinois
Southern Illinois
Northwestern
Northern Illinois
Wisconsin
Missouri
Kansas
Kansas State

7. Big Sky Conference

Mountain Division

Minnesota
Iowa
Iowa State
Nebraska
Montana
Air Force
Colorado
Colorado State

West Division (running out of names)

Utah
Utah State
BYU
Idaho
Boise State
Wyoming
Air Force
South Dakota State

8. West Coast Conference

Pacific Division

Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
UNLV
Nevada
Stanford
Cal-Berkley

Golden State Division

USC
UCLA
San Diego State
San Jose State
Fresno State
NAU
Arizona
Arizona State

There you go. Sixteen teams in the "playoff", which starts with the conference division winners. Then the "actual" playoff is the 8 conference winners, seeded the same way we seed now. Use 8 bowls, with the NYD bowls being the first round. Then you give two sites the semis on a rotating basis, and the same for one bowl site getting to be the title game also every four years.

Does that tighten up the number of teams in the "big" division? Maybe from 140+ to 132, but really, screw the rest of those teams. This gives everyone a shot, AND it means you can schedule THREE kickass non-conference games because they in no way keep you from having a chance at the 16 (eight) team "playoff".

You could play rivalry games (Texas v A&M, etc.) every year, really at any time, because they wouldn't affect your ability to be in the playoff because they don't affect conference standings.

I was told to shove it. The SEC and Big10 will never let it happen because it limits their power and money. It's the right thing to do, but it'll never go down.

---

Didn't read all that…just wanted to say congrats on all your free time.

Might as well just say "pick these teams to make the playoff" and be done with it OP. All you managed to do is expand teh 4 team pre-selected "playoff" that we had last year into 8 teams.

Also, last I checked, the Rocky Mountains were on the western third of the US, and definitely not where Tennessee, etc are located. I wasn't aware that Colorado and Minnesota were in the same geographic region either.

schmellba99 said:

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Might as well just say "pick these teams to make the playoff" and be done with it OP. All you managed to do is expand teh 4 team pre-selected "playoff" that we had last year into 8 teams.

Also, last I checked, the Rocky Mountains were on the western third of the US, and definitely not where Tennessee, etc are located. I wasn't aware that Colorado and Minnesota were in the same geographic region either.

---

I think he got "Rocky Top" confused with the "Rocky Mountains"......

"Rocky Mountain Division"

Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Memphis
Middle Tennessee
Alabama
Auburn
Troy
UAB

Hill08 said:

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Did anyone actually read this????

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no lol ..the first paragraph and that was all

Jawbreaker said:

---

@zooAI

Please sumerize OPs post

---

ZooAI can't possibly out do the op's hallucination…

Not saying "never gonna happen," but it would take more than one step to get from here to there. I favor a playoff that is completely determined by math, but the problem is that instead of franchises in a league you are dealing with colleges who form voluntary associations (athletic conferences) for their own benefit. It would take a lot of change to get to the place where they'd all agree to a playoff plan like yours OP. It's not just a matter of coming up with the right selection scheme. Everybody has one of those and the powers-that-be have heard them all. Small wonder they didn't give your idea any real consideration.

Top 16 teams (or even 32 if you can do away with one regular season game) Go. Period.

No byes. No conference champion stuff. Top 16. (Conference championships are still played, but in no way are considered).

How about we just use espn FPI to choose playoff teams. Then we could have playoffs at the beginning of the season.

I attempted to fix all the conferences last year. 16 teams max per conference, large conferences have to have divisions (still working on those). 8 team play off, top 4 conf champ, top 4 at large.

American Athletic Conference
1. Army Black Knights
2. Tulane Green Wave
3. Navy Midshipmen
4. Memphis Tigers
5. East Carolina Pirates
6. South Florida Bulls
7. UTSA Roadrunners
8. Challotte 49ers
9. North Texas Mean Green
10. Rice Owls
11. Temple Owls
12. UAB Blazers
13. Florida Atlantic Owls
14. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
15. Northwestern Wildcats
16. Air Force Falcons

Atlantic Coast Conference
1. Clemson Tigers
2. Miami Hurricanes
3. Syracuse Orange
4. GA Tech Yellow Jackets
5. Duke Blue Devils
6. Virginia Tech Hokies
7. Boston College Eagles
8. Pittsburgh Panthers
9. NC State Wolfpack
10. North Carolina Tar Heels
11. Virginia Cavaliers
12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
13. Florida State Seminoles
14. Maryland Terrapins
15. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
16. UCF Knights

Big 12 Conference
1. Arizona State Sun Devils
2. BYU Cougars
3. Iowa State Cyclones
4. Colorado Buffaloes
5. Baylor Bears
6. TCU Horned Frogs
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders
8. Kansas State Wildcats
9. Wst Virginia Mountaineers
10. Kansas Jayhawks
11. Cincinnati Bearcats
12. Houston Cougars
13. Utah Utes
14. Oklahoma State Cowboys
15. SMU
16. Louisville Cardinals

Big Ten Conference
1. Oregon Ducks
2. Indiana Hoosiers
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Illinois Fighting Illini
6. Iowa Hawkeyes
7. Michigan Wolverines
8. MN Golden Gophers
9. Washington Huskies
10. USC Trojans
11. UCLA Bruins
12. Nebraska Cornhuskers
13. Michigan State Spartans
14. Wisconsin Badgers
15. Purdue Boilermakers
16. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Conference USA
1. J State Gamecocks
2. W Kentucky Hilltoppers
3. Sam Houston Bearkats
4. Liberty Flames
5. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
6. FL International Panthers
7. Middle Tenn Blue Raiders
8. Kennesaw State Owls
9. UConn Huskies
10. Massachusetts Minutemen

Mountain West Conference
1. UNLV Rebels
2. Colorado State Rams
3. New Mexico Lobos
4. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
5. Wyoming Cowboys
6. Nevada Wolf Pack
7. Arizona Wildcats
8. Stanford Cardinal
9. Cal Golden Bears
10. UTEP Miners

Pac 12 Conference
1. Washington State Cougars
2. Oregon State Beavers
3. San Diego State Aztecs
4. San Jose State Spartans
5. Utah State Aggies
6. Fresno State Bulldogs
7. Boise State Broncos
8. New Mexico State Aggies

Southeastern Conference
EAST
1. Missouri Tigers
2. Georgia Bulldogs
3. Tennessee Volunteers
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. S Carolina Gamecocks
6. Auburn Tigers
7. Florida Gators
8. Kentucky Wildcats
WEST
9. Texas A&M Aggies
10. LSU Tigers
11. Ole Miss Rebels
12. Texas Longhorns
13. Arkansas Razorbacks
14. Vanderbilt Commodores
15. Oklahoma Sooners
16. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Mid American Conference
1. Ohio Bobcats
2. Miami (OH) RedHawks
3. Buffalo Bulls
4. Bowling Green Falcons
5. Western Michigan Broncos
6. Toledo Rockets
7. Northern Illinois Huskies
8. Akron Zips
9. Eastern Michigan Eagles
10. Central Mich Chippewas
11. Ball State Cardinals
12. Kent State Golden Flashes

Sun Belt Conference
EAST
1. Marshall Thundering Herd
2. Georgia Southern Eagles
3. James Madison Dukes
4. Old Dominion Monarchs
5. Cstl Carolina Chanticleers
6. App State Mountaineers
7. Georgia State Panthers
WEST
8. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Texas State Bobcats
10. AR State Red Wolves
11. South Alabama Jaguars
12. UL Monroe Warhawks
13. Troy Trojans
14. S Miss Golden Eagles

Demo_Slug said:

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How about we just use espn FPI to choose playoff teams. Then we could have playoffs at the beginning of the season.

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Might as well since they bake into their projections what they prefer to talk about rather than what is actually happening in front of their eyes. FPI anchors their talking points all season long???

ThatGuyFromWayBack said:

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Old South Division

Tulane
Louisiana Monroe




Palmetto Division


UL-Lafayette

4

---

Where's Louisiana Tech? Now what score will my father in law check during the LSU game commercials?

Take the best 16 teams in the country, period.

Screw conference affiliation. The ACC may actually have a 5 loss team in the playoff this year. 5 losses in a BAD conference.

The point is to find out who the best team is.

If all 16 teams come from the same conference, so be it.

Enough of this everyone gets a trophy crap.

What BS? So you want generic NFL like format? I like the rivalries and most traditions