By Rick Shade

The real college football season has started. Not the one that's been going on for the past two months on campuses around the country, but rather the yearly debate season pitting those in favor of a championship playoff system against proponents of the Bowl Championship Series and its inherent shortcomings.

Fans, coaches and writers from Lafayette to Los Angeles are dusting off their yearly BCS gripe arguments and columns, and with good reason. Can anyone believe that this year's national title game may pit a rebuilding Ohio State team against a University of South Florida squad that did not even exist 11 years ago?

Most would agree that some sort of playoff system is necessary, but the scenarios most often suggested involve a field of four to eight teams -- systems that would create more controversy and solve nothing. If the NCAA Basketball Selection Committee cannot select 65 teams without considerable debate, imagine the clamor over the BCS Playoff Selection process!

The math simply does not work. Four births in a country with nine conferences and at least one influential independent is a prescription for disaster and never-ending grievances.

The playoff system is not the answer. What college football needs is a major tune-up.    Here, for your review and consideration, is the greatest solution that  WILL NEVER HAPPEN.

There are currently 120 Division I football teams. These 120 teams will be divided into three 40-team conferences with four ten-team divisions. The divisions will be segregated geographically: East, South, Midwest and West.

Each season, each team will play 12 game regular season games -- nine inter-division contests and three out-of-division games -- with each school maintaining some control over the out-of-division schedule.

At the end of each season, a playoff will be used to determine the championship of each conference. The four teams selected will be the four division winners. Since each team will be required to play each division opponent there will be zero debate over who goes to the dance.

This playoff system would exist in each of the three conferences -- providing viewers more compelling bowl match-ups then they could ever imagine.

Now, here is where it gets interesting! Using the English “football” model, the bottom eight teams (in Conference 1 and Conference 2) would be relegated to the conference below.   Conversely, the top eight teams (in Conference 2 and Conference 3) would be promoted to the conference above.

The eight teams to be relegated would be the tenth place plus either the eigth or ninth place team (determined in a “Relegation Bowl”).

The teams that would be promoted would be each of the four division champs plus either a # 2 or # 3 team (to be determined in a “Promotion Bowl”).

Additional bowls could be used to reward the fourth and fifth place teams in each division.   In the upper division, a bowl game would be provided for the sixth and seventh place teams.

The initial conference distribution presented below was derived using the current rankings and strength indexes. Some teams have been moved around based on historical performance and prestige (do you think Notre Dame would have accepted a spot in Conference 2?). Certainly you can argue the placement of a few teams, but for the most part it a good initial proposal.

Obviously many would view the eradication of the existing conference system as heresy.   Regardless, as you can see, many of the existing conference rivalries remain intact. Also, if a team does not face a traditional rival, those games could be accommodated with the three out-of-division games allotted each team.

One argument that denies us a playoff system today is that it would dilute the meaning of the regular season. I would argue this system makes the regular season more meaningful because every loss could mean the loss of a championship, a coveted bowl game or potential relegation.

Everyone wins with this proposal:

The Colleges:  This system ensures that every conference game is critical. The teams will be evenly matched and there should be few “laughers” on any team’s schedule. More compelling games translate to increased TV revenue and higher attendance nationwide, while the cash derived from the bowl season will increase dramatically (see below).

Naming rights to the conferences and bowls could be sold easily and for large sums of money. I can envision Ohio State playing in the “Toyota Eastern Division within the “All State Insurance Conference”.

The Bowls:  All the bowls benefit.  The big boys are guaranteed compelling playoff and championship games, with the real benefit being that the number of “critical” bowl games are increased from one to 17. Bowls will be used to determine playoff games, championship games and the now critical promotion games. This means more attention and viewers – thus higher sponsorship money!

I will most likely not watch this year’s version of the GMAC Bowl, but if a Conference 2 Promotion is on the line for the winner there is no way I'd miss it!

There is probably room for even MORE bowl games. Using the existing bowl schedule as a guide, I developed a hypothetical bowl schedule (see below). As you can see, 32 of 48 games will be critical games -- playoffs, championships, promotions or relegations. Only 16 of the bowls would be played simply for bragging rights.

TV:  More critical regular season games will mandate more TV coverage – including Pay- Per -View opportunities. In the current system we have one critical bowl match-up. In my system this increases to 32!

Can you imagine a January Super Saturday showcasing two conference championships and an undisputed national championship? This could rival or even surpass Super Bowl Sunday!

The last Saturday in December could showcase all of the promotion games. Evenings during the week of Christmas could be reserved for the all important Relegation bowls. It is a TV exec’s dream!

The Fans:  We will be treated to a season full of competitive games (where every game is critical) and a full slate of compelling bowl games with big stakes on the line in most of them.

Despite all it's merits, this system will obviously have its detractors. At the top of that list  will be the big money schools chaffing over the potential loss of their annual bowl season bonuses and the fear of being relegated to lower conferences. Things are not broken for these schools – so why would they look to change the system?

Conference officials and bowl reps whose very bloated incomes depend upon the current structure will hold their breath until such a system is dismissed, while the Big Bowls will opt out for fear of the unknown.

It's the fans however that make college football the amazing sport it is, and this system will give the fans what they want -- more games, more compelling games and a chance at a legitimate national champion each and every season.

Rick Shade is a regular contributor to BarkBackNews.com

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