U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[FVD]

You can still have three way ties in the division, which determines who plays for the title.

True, but at least all 3 of those teams will have played each other, as opposed to this year where MSU didn't play OSU at all.

[CGVT]

[gjdodger]

The Canadians always have more fun than we do.

[dsred]

Not always....

But most of the time. :-)

[jaadam4]

only because of all the dick jokes it spawned

lol

[Cody_Russell]

Mark Cuban is AWESOME!

Mark Cuban exploring BCS alternative

DALLAS -- After two failed bids to buy a Major League Baseball team, billionaire Mark Cuban is seriously considering trying to use his money to create a playoff alternative to college football's Bowl Championship Series.
Cuban, the outspoken owner of the NBA's told ESPNDallas.com on Wednesday that he is "actively interested but in the exploratory stage" of creating and funding a playoff system to crown a champion for major college football.
"The more I think about it, the more sense it makes as opposed to buying a baseball team," said Cuban, who tried to buy the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers within the last few years. "You can do something the whole country wants done."

Cuban said he has talked to two athletic directors from BCS conferences who were extremely enthusiastic about the idea. He intends to contact several school presidents and state senators in the coming weeks to determine whether the idea is worth pursuing.
Cuban said he envisions either a 12- or 16-team playoff field with the higher seeds getting homefield advantage. The homefield advantage, Cuban said, would ensure the college football regular-season games would not lose any importance.
The bowl games could still exist under Cuban's plan, but he said he would make it more profitable for programs to make the playoffs than a bowl.
"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban said. "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every five years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.' "
One way to push school presidents toward approving the idea would be to lobby major donors of college athletic programs, Cuban said. He suggested convincing the donors to cut off their donations until their presidents approved a playoff system.
Cuban, who is reading the book "Death to the BCS," said he thinks it would take about three or four years of planning before enacting the playoff system. He believes it's a better business opportunity than owning a baseball team, and he admits he's intrigued by the idea of revolutionizing a major sport.
"It's an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way of doing it," Cuban said. "The only thing that's kept them from doing it is a lack of capital, which I can deal with.
"The one thing every college football fan wants you can probably create for less than it takes to buy a baseball team."
[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=5924399"]Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban pursuing plan to implement college football playoff system - ESPN Dallas[/ame]

[chemiclord]

I wish I had millions of dollars to throw away on crazy schemes like Mark Cuban apparently does.

For every dollar Cuban would actually put towards this, the Big Bowl Fat Cats would throw in twenty to keep things just as they are.

[gjdodger]

Yeah, I don't know who the hell he thinks will defy the NCAA to participate in an outlaw championship series. This sounds like a Texan who is pissed about TCU.

[chemiclord]

Yeah, I don't know who the hell he thinks will defy the NCAA to participate in an outlaw championship series. This sounds like a Texan who is pissed about TCU.

For what it's worth, Cuban wouldn't be defying the NCAA, as the NCAA doesn't recognize the BCS champion as the national champion in their record books. I'd dare say that if the NCAA was given the choice without any consequences, they'd set up a playoff format just like in all the other divisions. But at the end of the day, the NCAA really doesn't care enough for it to be worth the fight. They'd accept just about any scenario as long as it followed NCAA bylaws.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Personally i want no part of a playoff. Bowls and bands are part of what makes college different from the pros.

I don't watch minor league baseball. I don't know why I'd watch minor league football.

[chemiclord]

Personally i want no part of a playoff. Bowls and bands are part of what makes college different from the pros.

I don't watch minor league baseball. I don't know why I'd watch minor league football.

I have no problems inherently with the bowl system. I merely get miffed when they try to use those bowls and subjective judgment to claim one team is the national champion like the BCS does and make it the center of the entire debacle.

In the old bowl system, being the "national champion" by some poll was a big deal... but it wasn't the reason they played. You played to win your conference, get a nice trip out somewhere warm for one more game against a reasonably equal opponent. If some poll decided you were the best team they saw that year, great.

The BCS takes what was a pretty good deal and turned it into an abortion. The polls were fine... using them to try and determine what two teams are most deserving doesn't do it for me. At all.

College football has become something more akin to politics than athletics now.

[jaadam4]

Bowls and bands

I like that better than Leaders / Legends and you weren't even trying!

[Masspartan]

I'm just shocked that they haven't figured out a way to combine the two ... Bowls and Playoffs.

Let the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton bowls rotate the Championship game every 5 years and use the other 'bowls' for the semis. Teams that don't make the 'playoffs' can still get invited and attend the poulin weedeater bowl and what not.

I'd much rather have a champion determined on the field .... then have one 'crowned' on paper because they were deemed prettiest.

The regular season remains important because it gets you into the playoffs.

A team like TCU & Boise should have the opportunity to win a National Championship. If they can run the gauntlet against the Alabamas, Ohio States, Auburns of the country then they should be champions.

[chemiclord]

That has been proposed, Mass. The Big Bowl Fat Cats shot it down because the possibility was there that they'd have to share the biggest payouts with the TCU and Boise States of the world, and they can't have that.

As it was, those "mid-major" schools had to concede to get less than half of what "power conference" school get in BCS bowls just to get the opportunity to play in them.

At the end of the day, that's what it's really about. The Big Bowl Fat Cats don't want to share their money.

[Masspartan]

Perhaps ... although I think they are being short sighted. There is a LOT more money to be made in a playoff system in my opinion. Which is why Cuban is feeling it out.

The BCS system as devised has eliminated national interest in nearly every game except one. The Championship game.

Take a look at the games this year

Auburn vs Oregon ... a great NC game
Wiscy vs TCU ... somewhat interesting becuase of TCU playing a Big 10 team
Ohio State vs Arkansas ... good game if it were in September, now it's a crappy exhibition.
Stanford vs Virginia Tech ... blah.
Oklahoma vs Connecticut ... seriously? What an absolute dud.

However, if those were playoff matchups ... even OU vs UConn is interesting due to the fact that perhaps UConn can advance.

It would equal March Madness easily and likely surpass it.