NFL Realignment: What to do, what to do...

[Ingrid]

Hey Devilrays...I moved your thread here for a little "extra" attention... <i>Edited by: Ingrid  at: 10/11/00 5:35:11 pm<
></i>

[The Great Butcher]

This all sounds too screwed up to me - I say just throw the Texans in the NFC and leave things how they are!!! I am <i></i>

[DEVILRAYS]

So, Butcher says throw the Texans in, say, the NFC Central. As partial as I am to a system with two or three divisions in a conference, it won't work. It doesn't solve the problem of having the Cardinals in the East, the Falcons, Panthers, and Saints in the West, and the Bucs in the Central.<
>What I would like to see done is four 8-team divisions, but that can never happen. Even if the schedule is expanded to 20 games, the most interconference games that can feasibly be played is 2, meaning that the Broncos will host, say, the Buccaneers only once every 16 years on average. Or maybe they could abolish interconference play altogether.<
>The AFC East would have the Bills, Colts, Jets, Patriots, Dolphins, Ravens, Jaguars, and Titans. The Steelers, Browns, Bengals, and the five AFC West teams all play in the neo-AFC West. The NFC is a little more complicated. Obviously the Giants, Eagles, and Redskins join the East, with the Bucs, Falcons, Panthers, and Saints. The other team to join this division probably should be the Cowboys. The Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings join the Texans, Cardinals, Rams, and 49ers in the neo-NFC West.<
>In the playoffs, the top 3 from each super-division go to the playoffs, with each division champion being able to skip the first round. DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I><B>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</B></I><i></i>

[The Great Butcher]

Actually Devilrays I agree with what you're saying, after all why should east coast teams be in the NFC West and the Cardinals not I am <i></i>

[urobbie]

Fortunately there are mathematicians who get paid big bucks to sort out messes like this!! Most likely it will all depend on how easy it is to schedule games and which way will involve the least change as to who goes in what division and how many divisions there are. Personally I'm glad someone else has to do it and not me!<
><
>Now what <i> I</i> don't understand why they can't fix is the championship system for the <i> college</i> football teams. Why do they have to listen to all those old-school coaches who are so afraid of losing the good ol' bowl system. They convince everyone that you can't have a playoff and have bowls at the same time. Few people realize that's not the case at all.<
><
>Here's what I think:<
><
>OK, the big controversy is over crowning the national champion, right? Right now, if your school is traditionally a national contender, (FSU, Ne
aska, K-State, Tennessee, Florida, etc.) a loss can mean your season is essentially over, and two losses means you can certainly forget it, because only two teams actually make the "playoff." Then a couple dozen others get featured in a bunch of bowl games around the first of the year just to signify they had a good season. Now of course some old-school people will argue that it's tradition, some will argue that a playoff makes the season too long, and others argue that money would be lost by schools that used to host bowl games. <
><
>I know it's a money thing with the bowl schools, but consider this: They already have a "Bowl Championship Series" (which is not a series at all) which incorporates 4 major bowls, Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta. Why not incorporate 3 more bowls, let's say Cotton, Peach, and Outback, and use the BCS ratings system to pick 8 teams for a national championship playoff? Let's face it; there will never be more than about 8 teams that really have a shot at being the best in any given season, anyway. Use 4 of those bowls for the first round, 2 for the semi, and the final one for the title game. That allows more room for error in the regular season, and it would allow teams that stumble early then come on strong to have a chance. Go ahead and start the playoff in the second week of December, then have the semifinal in the third week. Hold off until the first weekend in January to have the title game. That will also ease the big layoff that the big bowl teams currently experience between the season and their bowl game. Forget about the extended season issue; I'm sure they'd rather be on the field some rather than on the practice field during all that time. Then leave the rest of the bowls alone. Keep doing them just as before, just be sure and replace any teams that happen to be in the top 8. Those bowls were never national title hopefuls before, so nothing's changed, right? <
><
>It seems so simple. Is there a flaw in that reasoning, or is college football so set on not changing that they don't care what the costs are? <i><b>~Rob</b><
>"So close no matter how far<
>Couldn't be much more from the heart<
>Forever trusting who we are<
>And nothing else matters" </i><
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[DEVILRAYS]

I like your idea, urobbie. But I have a few of my own ideas as well:<
><
>A playoff must be implemented. But how many teams, and how to pick them are the questions. Personally, I believe that automatic bids are the stickiest scenario. They need to have an automatic bid for all the conferences or not for any. There are, what, 12 conferences? Then those 12 teams plus four wild cards get in. It can be argued that only 8 teams have a legitimate chance, but the same can be argued in basketball and it doesn't stop the NCAA tournament. So 16 teams it is.<
>In addition, no more wussy 11-game seasons. Everyone plays 12. And everyone plays at least 6 road games. That means you too, big colleges that woo small colleges in with special bonuses just so you can whoop the snot out of them. Also, you Notre Dames out there, JOIN A GOD DAMN CONFERENCE ALREADY! Notre Dame looks like a good fit for the Big East, just 'cuz that's where their basketball team plays. The other teams can join or form conferences however the hell they please.<
>An advanced formula that calculates strength of schedule, wins and losses, and ability to put a game away in regulation will be included. (Basically, 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime win, 1 for an overtime loss, and jack-shizam for a regulation loss.) Using this formula, the NCAA selects its four wild cards and seeds the teams, favoring conference champions, of course.<
>Obviously teams ranking #17 and below can still have a postseason, and that's where some of the bowls are kept in. And every conference in the nation will be assured two bowl bids.<
>Now, for the playoffs:<
><
>Seeds #1-8 play at home in this round. This round occurs in the first weekend of December. And then begin the bowls series. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship will be played as bowl games, and each bowl will host the championship every seven years and no more no matter how the hell much the sponsors can dish out. The quarterfinals are played on the second weekend of December, and the semifinals during the third. Then the other bowl games are played out from Christmas to New Year's Day, with the championship game being in the evening on New Year's Day.<
>And scrap the BCS format - basically, all it does is take the most important factors over and over again, like wins, strength of schedule, etc. and toss them in with the immediate emotion of letdown losses. The NCAA needs a formula that takes into account all 12 games equally, thereby giving the regular season more meaning. This format may make the regular season a little more meaningless for some superpowers, but for underappreciated conferences and even for those looking for wild card berths (one to a conference max, of course) it
eathes life back into the game. DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I><B>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</B></I><i></i>

[urobbie]

The only problem I see is sometimes there's more than one team in the same conference that have an excellent record and a shot at beating anyone (Florida and Tennessee in '98 for example). That's why I think the teams should be seeded according to their national rank rather than it having anything to do with their conference. There can still be conference championships just like before. I know my system is still exclusive; I'm just looking for the best way to implement a new system without damaging the old one. <i><b>~Rob</b><
>"So close no matter how far<
>Couldn't be much more from the heart<
>Forever trusting who we are<
>And nothing else matters" </i><
><b>EZboard - R.O.B. Posting Service</b><i>Edited by: urobbie  at: 10/9/00 5:03:35 pm<
></i>

[urobbie]

Actually, now that I look alittle more closely, you COULD enter 16 teams that way. I didn't notice the wildcard situation. You'd just have to push your scheduling back so that you wouldn't interfere with major games like the SEC and Big XII Championships, which are traditionally the first week of December. <i><b>~Rob</b><
>"So close no matter how far<
>Couldn't be much more from the heart<
>Forever trusting who we are<
>And nothing else matters" </i><
><b>EZboard - R.O.B. Posting Service</b><i></i>

[urobbie]

One system that might work for strength of schedule is to use a system of plusses and minuses according to the wins and losses of a team's opponents, as well as its own wins and losses. Award a team a point for each win of each team it has defeated and deduct one point for each loss of each team it has lost to.<
><
>For example, let's say Kansas State finishes 9-2, losing to, say, Ne
aska and Oklahoma. Add up the combined total of wins of all the teams they've beaten. We'll say it comes up to 31 total wins. So give them a +31 for their first number. Now let's say Ne
aska goes undefeated and Oklahoma ends up with 4 losses. add the 0 and the 4 together and deduct it, giving KSU a -4 for their second number. Then add and deduct according to KSU's own wins and losses (a 9-2 record = +9 and -2).<
><
>That gives them a set of (+31, -4, +9, -2) or a rating of +34. If a computer could do all the teams that way, then you could rank teams, at least pertially, by their "+" rating. You might even throw in some sort of bonus for beating a ranked team by a certain amount or a penalty for losing badly to a not-so-good team.<
><
>That would only be a foundation for a strength-of-schedule ranking, but I think it would be a pretty good one. <i><b>~Rob</b><
>"So close no matter how far<
>Couldn't be much more from the heart<
>Forever trusting who we are<
>And nothing else matters" </i><
><b>EZboard - R.O.B. Posting Service</b><i></i>

[DEVILRAYS]

The schedule could be pushed back a week, sure. But if you think about it, if you have Florid and Tennessee in the same conference, and both have a high rank, you figure that once in a while, a third team will challenge for the SEC. Let's say that in the SEC title game, it's Alabama against Florida. If Florida wins, logically they and Tennessee should go. But if Alabama wins, they have to make room for them, meaning only one of the two superpowers can go. This makes the regualr season all about control of a team's own destiny, thereby giving it even more meaning. The biggest flaw is that conferences with two divisions have a slight disadvantage, with a championship game that doesn't count in national rankings. This can be solved by making conference championship games the norm. The SEC and Big 12 do them; the MAC also does. Add another team in the Big Ten, go to 2 divisions, and they're up to date. Another possibility is a conference title game even for conferences with only one division, making it a No. 1 vs No. 2 within the conference, and college football loves No. 1 vs No. 2. Obviously for a team to get into the NCAA championship tournament, they would have to be in the top two in their division, and the only way to get in without playing in a conference championship is to be in a two-division conference, which may make for a system where a school in a two-division conference must finish first in its division in order to go to the Big Dance. DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I><B>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</B></I><i></i>

[urobbie]

I t seems so easy. I wonder why the NCAA is so afraid to try something different? <
><
>Lord knows the BCS system isn't much better than the old Bowl Alliance. All it did was ensure that No. 1 plays No. 2, but it still does nothing for the fairness of how they are chosen and for how costly it is for a championship-calibur team to lose a game. It just doesn't make any sense why all the coaches and NCAA leaders are so afraid of the idea when it would be so easy to implement. <i><b>~Rob</b><
>"So close no matter how far<
>Couldn't be much more from the heart<
>Forever trusting who we are<
>And nothing else matters" </i><
><b>EZboard - R.O.B. Posting Service</b><i></i>

[DEVILRAYS]

I would think there would be an easy way to get MORE money out of a playoff, not less. So there really is no harm in doing that. So it shuts the money-grubbers up, gives smaller conferences a ray of hope, and decides a true national champion. What more can the NCAA ask for? Screw tradition. This is one of those traditions the NCAA can do without. DEVILRAYS Rad Stadium<
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><I><B>I'm having a wonderful time but I'd rather be whistling in the dark.</B></I><i></i>

[Protocool]

I've been to the Houston Texans' webpage, and one of the things the NFL are considering is.. umm, add a new division, South, they might put the Texans in there with 4 other teams or so, I don't know how it will go though. I gotta check on that. Secret AgentMan... Hell, I'm going old school! </b><
>To view my old sig, click here.<i></i>

[Ingrid]

up. <i>Edited by: Ingrid  at: 11/15/00 1:11:09 am<
></i>