This is of my own creation. I do not have ties to the BCS or College Football.
The College Championship System
Reasoning
Almost no one supports the BCS System. Nearly everyone supports a playoff system.
My problem is, playoffs almost never crown the best team as a champion. Often, the hottest team, or the one that peaks at the right time is crowned. Does anyone want to make the argument that the St. Louis Cardinals were the best team in baseball this past season? Conversely, outside of Texas, is there anyone that doubts Auburn was the best team in the country? The BCS System DOES leave doubt, but it never leaves you completely dumbfounded. (Or does it, Oklahoma?)
The Poll
The main problem with the BCS formula is that it is intentionally too complicated for the general public to understand. Secret computer algorithms are not how you choose a champion. The formula used for this improved CCS has to be simple. A selected group of former coaches and media members will be asked to rank the top 68 teams in the country, and an average will be created. This poll will be taken each week, so the importance of certain games on a team’s schedule is still apparent. No computers will be used in the rankings.
Voters will be asked to rank teams based on, but not limited to: Wins/Loses, Locations of wins/loses, margin of victory, improvement during the season, and performance under high-pressure circumstance like night games, highly ranked games, and rivalry games. With this system, a lot has to be trusted to the eyes of the few.
Any voter that shows a clear bias toward or against a specific team, conference, or region will be removed and replaced.
For equity purposes, the voters will be evened out throughout the country to try to avoid a bias.
Automatic Qualifiers
The top 6 Conferences shall yield an At Large Bid, qualified by which conferences are able to have the highest point values of teams in the top 68 ranked teams in the selected poll, with each team getting points based on the reverse of their rank. The #1 ranked team has a point value of 68, and so on.
If there is a tie, the team with with the most ranked teams in the top 68 teams should break the tie. If that is a tie, the conference with the highest ranked team shall break that tie.
In order to benefit from your conference being considered an Automatic Qualifying Conference at the end of the year, the winner of the Automatic Birth MUST win at least 9 games. If there is a conference that has an automatic qualifier, but their champion does not meet the required win total of 9 games (Counting the Conference Championship Game.), then that At Large Bid is withdrawn, and a 7th At Large team will be selected.
Automatic Destinations
-If the SEC is AQ – They receive automatic spot in the Sugar Bowl unless they’re playing for the NC.
-If the Big 10 is AQ – They receive automatic spot in the Rose Bowl unless they’re playing for the NC.
-If the PAC is AQ – They receive automatic spot in the Rose Bowl unless they’re playing for the NC.
-If the Big12 is AQ – They receive automatic spot in the Fiesta Bowl unless they’re playing for the NC.
-If the ACC is AQ – They receive automatic spot in the Orange Bowl unless they’re playing for the NC.
The highest ranked Automatic Qualifier from the remaining conferences (Sun Belt, Conference USA, Big East, Mid-American, Mountain West, Western Athletic, ect.) will receive an automatic bid to the Fiesta Bowl.
All other automatic qualifiers (If there are any) will be placed in the same pool as the At Large selections.
At Large Selection
At large selections should not be the choice of the bowl games. The teams that receive the remaining 6 spots should be the 6 highest ranked teams that either did not win their conference or are in conferences that did not result in an AQ.
No conference is allowed to have more than 2 total teams that are not ranked #1. That means only conferences that are represented by the #1 team in the country can have three total selections.
Because they do not have a conference, independent teams are only eligible for At Large bids.
Selection Process
To keep tradition, Bowl precedent will be kept. If one of the 12 teams are historically connected to a bowl, they should get that spot before the Selection Process protocol should take place.
The SEC should have one spot in the Sugar Bowl if they meet the requirements.
The Big Ten and the Pac 12 should both have spots in the Rose Bowl if they meet the requirements.
The ACC should have one slot in the Orange Bowl if they meet the requirements.
The Big 12 should have one slot in the Fiesta Bowl should they meet the requirements.
The remaining chosen by the polls are added to any Automatic Qualifiers without Automatic Destinations, and are selected by a cyclical order to be randomly selected for entire five year cycles.
National Championship Game
The National Championship game will be held at rotating venues that include only warm-weather areas and domes. The location of the game will be selected several years in advance, like the Super Bowl.
The National Championship game can not be a rematch under any circumstance. A rematch will only leave more doubt. If a team wins a head-to-head and is forced to play the game again, we’re left wanting a rubber match.
No team that does not win it’s conference can compete for the National Championship.
If the #2 team in the country would be a rematch for the #1 ranked team, then the #3 team will take it’s spot.
Playoff Scenario
If at the end of the season we’re left with three or more undefeated teams from conferences in the AQ Conferences from that year, there shall be a playoff scheduled for the week before the rest of the CCS Games. In this scenario, the Cotton Bowl, which is the only CCS Game that does not have a Conference-Tie Automatic Destination will be moved up a week, and used as the playoff host. If multiple games are to be played, they will be played on consecutive days.
There can only be incidents of playoff games with three or four teams involved. If more than four teams are undefeated and from one of the six AQ Conferences that season, the Conference Rankings will be averaged with the Final Rankings to determine the four teams most qualified to go.
Any more than four teams in a playoff system would prolong the season beyond a reasonable amount.
In scenarios with 3 qualified teams, the #1 ranked team according to our polls will be given the bye unless they have somehow played one less game than the other two teams.
The only way a playoff will take place is if more than two teams from AQ Conferences go undefeated. In no scenario will a 1-loss team be involved in a playoff.
Example: (I used CBS Sport’s Rankings for the Conference Rankings. I used my own projected rankings for the BCS projections.)
Final Conference Rankings
Big 12 – 390
SEC – 349
Big 10 – 311
Pac 12 – 271
ACC – 258
USA – 149
MAC – 148
EAST – 134
MWC – 126
BELT – 62
WAC – 30
Independent – 76
Current BCS Projections
BCS National Championship
LSU(1) vs. Alabama(2)
Fiesta Bowl
Stanford(4) vs. Oklahoma State(3)
Rose Bowl
Michigan State(10) vs. Oregon(8)
Sugar Bowl
Michigan(13) vs. Houston(6)
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech(4) vs. Louisville
CCS Projections with New Rules (Before Selection Protocol)
NCAA National Championship
LSU(1) vs. Alabama(2)
Fiesta Bowl
Houston(6) vs. Oklahoma State(3)
Rose Bowl
Michigan State(10) vs. Oregon (8)
Sugar Bowl
Arkansas(7) vs ???
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech(4) vs. ???
Cotton Bowl
??? vs. ???
For this example, the protocol will be (at random, and if needed): Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, Rose.
All 12 Qualified Teams
LSU(1) (SEC AQ)
Oklahoma State(3) (Big12 AQ)
Virginia Tech(4) (ACC AQ)
Houston(6) (USA AQ)
Oregon(8) (PAC AQ)
Michigan State(10) (B1G AQ)
Alabama(2) (SEC AL)
Stanford(5) (PAC12 AL)
Arkansas(7) (SEC AL)
Boise State(9) (MWC AL)
Kansas State(11) (Big12 AL)
Michigan(13) (Big10 AL)
Entire College Championship System Projections
CCS National Championship
LSU(1) vs. Alabama(2)
Fiesta Bowl
Houston(6) vs. Oklahoma State(3)
Rose Bowl
Michigan State(10) vs. Oregon (8)
Sugar Bowl
Arkansas(7) vs. Stanford(5)
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech(4) vs. Kansas State(11)
Cotton Bowl
Michigan(13) vs. Boise State(9)