The Big Ten's recent expansion has everyone guessing how this will create a chain reaction of conference movements similar to the last Big Ten expansion with Nebraska. I have a proposition that I feel could solve the problem of money, competitive imbalance, and create a finished product that the fans and players would love. With that said, this will NEVER happen. There are too many traditions, bowl tie-ins, regional stigma, and over all fear of change to ever make this happen. However, it would be AWESOME. Warning: this is a long post and it will have multiple parts.
As you can guess from the title of this post, I think the NCAA should copy the English Football League System. If you want all of details regarding the system, CLICK HERE. The short and sweet version is: there are multiple levels within a league(1-4 and 1 being the best), at the end of the season the bottom three teams from Level 1 get demoted to Level 2, and the top three teams from Level 2 get promoted to Level 1. The same goes for Level 2 and Level 3. The same also goes for Levels 3 and 4. The best part is: the top team from each Level is the champion of that Level, the remaining spots for promotion are figured out in a PLAYOFF! That is right! That means within college football there would be multiple playoffs going on at the end of the year, multiple champions, and tons of change and excitement! Amazing, right? The Brits are really on to something. Multiple playoffs mean lots-o-$$$. Promotions and demotions (relegation if speak British English) mean you have competitive balance within each Level making a better product for fans, a goal for the lower tiered teams, and TONS of incentive to get better and see match-ups you could never dream of.
To really put this into perspective let's go to an imaginary place where people aren't afraid of: change, possibly losing a little bit of money (in the short term at least), and doing something Revolutionary. A place where the NCAA and University presidents decide they want to do what is best for the players and the fans. A place where a single school *cough* Notre Dame *cough* doesn't hold more power than some conferences. We are going to the world of "Spartanski". It is February 2011, Auburn was just crowned National Champion. Cam Newton will be the #1 pick in a few months and Michigan State just finished getting beaten like a Junior Varsity squad against a very NFL looking Alabama in the Capital One Bowl. After more complaining about the BCS system, a decision is made to copy the English Football League System (EFLS). This changes everything for NCAA football. It eliminates traditional conferences and bowl tie-ins, the football world is brand new. A BCS style rating system (similar to what will be used to determine the top 4 teams for the upcoming playoff structure) will be used to rank all FBS teams. Once all teams have been ranked, FBS teams are broken into three levels: Level 1 (the top 40 teams in the nation), Level 2 (teams 41-80), Level 3 (teams 81-below).
I broke out the FBS using Mike Hugueni's (from Rivals) rankings (NOTE: I chose his not because I think he is the best but because he is one of the few that ranks 120+ teams). You can see his final 2010 rankings HERE. Below is what the new Spartanski College Football Structure looks like prior to the 2011 season. Please ignore my poor formatting.
|
2010 Final Rankings LEVEL 1 |
1 |
Auburn |
2 |
Oregon |
3 |
TCU |
4 |
Stanford |
5 |
Ohio State |
6 |
Boise State |
7 |
Oklahoma |
8 |
LSU |
9 |
Oklahoma State |
10 |
Alabama |
11 |
Wisconsin |
12 |
Arkansas |
13 |
Michigan State |
14 |
Virginia Tech |
15 |
Missouri |
16 |
Florida State |
17 |
Nevada |
18 |
Utah |
19 |
Texas A&M |
20 |
Miss State |
21 |
Nebraska |
22 |
NC State |
23 |
South Carolina |
24 |
UCF |
25 |
San Diego St |
26 |
Air Force |
27 |
Iowa |
28 |
Notre Dame |
29 |
Northern Illinois |
30 |
Maryland |
31 |
West Virginia |
32 |
USC |
33 |
Tulsa |
34 |
North Carolina |
35 |
Florida |
36 |
Connecticut |
37 |
Pitt |
38 |
Arizona |
39 |
USF |
40 |
Illinois |
|
2010 Final Rankings LEVEL 2 |
41 |
Penn State |
42 |
Michigan |
43 |
Navy |
44 |
Texas Tech |
45 |
Miami |
46 |
Baylor |
47 |
Hawaii |
48 |
Syracuse |
49 |
Kansas State |
50 |
Northwestern |
51 |
Georgia |
52 |
Boston College |
53 |
Washington |
54 |
Miami of Ohio |
55 |
Louisville |
56 |
Georgia Tech |
57 |
Southern Miss |
58 |
Arizona State |
59 |
BYU |
60 |
Clemson |
61 |
Oregon State |
62 |
Tennessee |
63 |
Kentucky |
64 |
Army |
65 |
SMU |
66 |
Fresno St |
67 |
Cal |
68 |
Iowa State |
69 |
Texas |
70 |
FIU |
71 |
Troy |
72 |
Ohio |
73 |
Temple |
74 |
Toledo |
75 |
East Carolina |
76 |
UCLA |
77 |
Colorado |
78 |
Cincinnati |
79 |
Ole Miss |
80 |
Houston |
|
2010 Final Rankings LEVEL 3 |
81 |
UTEP |
82 |
Louisiana Tech |
83 |
Marshall |
84 |
Indiana |
85 |
Purdue |
86 |
Tulane |
87 |
Rutgers |
88 |
Virginia Tech |
89 |
Idaho |
90 |
Minnesota |
91 |
Middle Tenn |
92 |
Western Mich |
93 |
Rice |
94 |
Kent State |
95 |
Louisiana Monroe |
96 |
Washington State |
97 |
UAB |
98 |
Arkansas State |
99 |
Duke |
100 |
Utah State |
101 |
Kansas |
102 |
Ball State |
103 |
Florida Atlantic |
104 |
Central Mich |
105 |
Wake Forest |
106 |
Wyoming |
107 |
North Texas |
108 |
Colorado State |
109 |
Louisiana Lafayette |
110 |
Vanderbilt |
111 |
UNLV |
112 |
Bowling Green |
113 |
Western Kent |
114 |
New Mexico State |
115 |
Eastern Mich |
116 |
Akron |
117 |
Buffalo |
118 |
New Mexico |
119 |
Memphis |
120 |
San Jose St |
Notable missing teams from Level 1 are traditional powerhouses: Penn St, Michigan, Miami and Texas. Surprising Level 1 teams are: USF, Tulsa, UConn, Arizona, Northern Illinois, and UCF.
For the 2011 football season the teams will follow a scheduling structure the below:
LEVEL 1 |
LEVEL 2 |
LEVEL 3 |
|
Week 1 |
L3 Team |
L2 Team |
L1 Team |
Week 2 |
L3 Team |
L2 Team |
L1 Team |
Week 3 |
L2 Team |
L1 Team |
L3 Team |
Week 4 |
L2 Team |
L1 Team |
L3 Team |
Week 5 |
L1 Team |
L3 Team |
L2 Team |
Week 6 |
L1 Team |
L3 Team |
L2 Team |
Week 7 |
L1 Team |
L2 Team |
L3 Team |
Week 8 |
L1 Team |
BYE |
L3 Team |
Week 9 |
BYE |
L2 Team |
L3 Team |
Week 10 |
L1 Team |
L2 Team |
L3 Team |
Week 11 |
L1 Team |
L2 Team |
BYE |
Week 12 |
L1 Team |
L2 Team |
L3 Team |
Week 13 |
L1 Team |
L2 Team |
L3 Team |
Teams will sprinkle bye weeks in the second half of the year. In terms of which teams each school schedules I will leave that up to University AD's (I think they will keep it honest due to the inclusion of strength of schedule in the BCS style formula used to determine rankings). This will also likely preserve rivalries that have always existed.
This ends Part 1. Part 2 will discuss the 2011 Season outcomes and the post season solution that will excite all fans and rival March Madness for basketball.