Posted by Ian Meropol

Tim Tebow needs to be involved in an 8 Team Playoff

Another great college football season will end with, what if? College football is the greatest regular season with the worst post season. With the new BCS formula there is essentially a 2 team playoff. The top 2 teams in the BCS are guaranteed to play in the Nation Championship. It is better then what we have had in the past, but still not good enough.

ESPN and the BCS have agreed to a deal that will keep college football from having a playoff until at least 2014. The only reason for the BCS is money. Anyone who argues against a playoff is going to lose. Football players miss zero classes all year, aside from 1 Thursday night game a team might play. There are 12 games in a season, college football and hockey teams play over 30. The season last 3 months (September-November), College Basketball season lasts 5 months (November-March).
The answer to the problem is simple: an 8 team playoff.

Here is the format.

The BCS stays - it is used to decide the top 8 teams that will play off. Don’t give me the argument, “what about the 9th team?” That argument doesn’t hold water. People argue about the 65th and 66th team in the NCAA Tournament. Would you rather feel for the 9th ranked team that missed out or the 3rd ranked team that missed out. This also keeps the regular season relevant. The college basketball season is not as exciting or meaningful as college football’s. This will remain the same, as more then 2 loses will probably eliminate a team from the playoff.

All games are played at the home stadium except for the Nation Championship Game. You can’t ask fans to travel to bowl sites for 3 straight weeks. And here is the best part……We keep the bowls. Why keep the bowls now that we have a playoff? I’m glad you asked that question. Right now only one bowl matters, that is the BCS Championship Game. All the other bowls are just for the teams and their fans. I’m a fan of South Carolina. They are most likely going to play in the Outback or Peach Bowl (it will always be the Peach Bowl to me). This game means nothing in the race for the National Championship, but it is an extra game for me and my fellow Gamecock Fans. Plus it is an excuse to go away for New Years to a place I would not normally go. Nothing against Tampa or Atlanta, but I’m not ringing in 2009 in these cities unless my team is Bowling there.

That is it. End of discussion. There is nothing hard about this. It works. But alas, we have to wait for at least 5 more years before we see this happen.

In case you are against a playoff….here is the Opening Round if the season ended today.

Penn State @ Alabama
Utah @ Texas Tech
Southern Cal @ Texas
Oklahoma @ Florida

This would be the greatest weekend in the history of College Football. But it makes too much sense.