Rethinking my support of the Bowl system

Go Gophers Rah

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I have always been a supporter of the Bowl system as it exists. Having attended 3 bowls, I would really hate to see the fan bases of the non-elite teams to miss out on the fun of the bowl experience. To those who have said that there are too many bowls, I have always recommended, "don't watch them all." For fans of teams like Louisiana Tech or Rice or Vanderbilt, the bowl represents a way to end the season as a winner. In a playoff system, all but one team ends its season as a loser.

BUT, I really think that USC is a better team than Florida and should be the National Champion. I also believe Utah deserved a crack.

The "plus one" playoff system that has been discussed wouldn't have changed anything this year, because the National Championship would still likely have been played between Oklahoma and Florida as the winners of the Okla vs 'Bama and Florida vs. Texas playoff games - thus still leaving out USC and Utah. So then is the answer an 8 team playoff? This would equate to 7 games. In this year's BCS rankings the games would have looked like this (based on who I think would win):

week 1
#1 Oklahoma vs #8 Penn State
#2 Florida vs #7 Texas Tech
#3 Texas vs #6 Utah
#4 Alabama vs #5 USC

week 2
#1 Oklahoma vs #5 USC
#2 Florida vs #3 Texas or #6 Utah (I can't call this - I never saw Utah play)

National Championship
#5 USC vs #2 Florida

Would this take awy from the bowl system? The more I think about it, the more I say "no." Over 4 million people watched each of the following games this year: Ok. State vs Oregon, Mizzou vs. Northwestern, LSU vs GT and South Carolina vs Iowa. Would fewer of these people have watched in the event of this 8 team playoff? I seriously doubt it. Would I have enjoyed our bowl game any more or less? I doubt it.

So, I am now offically endorsing an 8-team playoff with additional "invitational" bowls for as many cities as want to host them for teams with a non-losing record.
 


Oops, I missed that one.
Did anyone ever see the skit on Saturday Night Live where the guy (it might have been Dana Carvey) alwys comes up with a witty retort to a topic after the conversation has moved on to a new topic? I'm like that guy.
 




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