This is a two-part series by KRUI Sports Staffer Cody Goodwin.  The second part is entitled, “What We All Want: Part 2” and is available on the sports page.

Having to put my BCS rant aside, it’s time I come to terms and grips with the fact that the BCS will always be a broken machine. But I must also acknowledge that it’s the perfect motor for some of the best writers in the business.  Looking past that, it’s time we get to what we really want. And a national consensus, and Facebook, tells us that we really want a playoff.

But how do we go about this? How will it be constructed? Who will be in it?

Luckily for you, I’ve answered all of these questions in five consecutive years of schooling. It’s called a research paper. And it’s only been expanded upon since I first wrote the thesis in eighth grade.

And with my layout, we’d have a 16-man, single-elimination playoff for the national championship. Check it out.

What we would first need to determine is who would be invited to the big dance. According to my paper, we’d invite the top two teams in the country; letting the BCS keep it’s main job of establishing number one and two. They would receive byes.

Next, we’d fill in the remaining seeds that fall in by the following criteria.

1. Conference Champs receive seeds three through eight, with the conference champions coming first, in order by the BCS Rankings.

2. Those teams that met the at-large criteria for a BCS Bowl game would file in the remaining seeds. With this factor in place, we would be excluding those teams from mid-majors (Boise State, Houston, TCU, etc.). We would also aim to include two teams from each conference in the BCS playoffs. Instead of receiving the BCS death-sentence, those who qualified for their respective conference title game, and lost, will earn a bid, as well as others who may not have won their division, but still met BCS at-large requirements (Stanford, Alabama).

3. Assuming there’s at least one spot remaining for an at-large bid, we would give it to the highest ranked mid-major, assuming they met the BCS rules for their at-large appearances.

With these rules in place (and a tad hard to follow, I admit), the field of 14 would be set and ready to go. Since we couldn’t plan this better before the BCS, and Alabama, screwed things up, we’ll play it off of what we have to work with. Here are the teams and their seeds:

1. LSU (BCS #1 – SEC Champions) – will receive a first round bye.

2. Alabama (BCS #2 – SEC at-large) – will receive a first round bye.

3. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champs)

4. Oregon (Pac-12 Champs)

5. Wisconsin (Big Ten Champs)

6. Clemson (ACC Champs)

7. West Virginia (Big East Champs)

8. Stanford (Pac-12 at-large)

9. Kansas State (Big 12 at-large)

10. Virginia Tech (ACC at-large)

11. Georgia (SEC finalist)

12. Michigan State (Big Ten at-large)

13. Cincinnati (Big East at-large)

14. UCLA (Pac-12 finalist)

So you see, under this format, Boise is indeed robbed of a BCS appearance, simply because other teams made the given criteria, but only they come last. And again, Alabama comes in to screw everything up.

But Boise isn’t the only team that gets hosed under this format. Note that Michigan, Arkansas, South Carolina, Baylor, Oklahoma, and even TCU are all left out. But due to these rules, it’s fair that way. Arkansas and South Carolina are left out simply because the SEC spots were filled with the better teams. The same goes for Baylor and Sooner nation, and the Wolverines out of the Big Ten. TCU falls under the same rules as Boise State.

Hosed? Probably. But fair? Absolutely. In a more perfect world, there’d be four super conferences, that would hold 16 teams, with 8-teams in each of the conferences two divisions. Under this format, each division would send their top two teams to the big dance, with the conference title game to decide the seeding for the first two of each conference, and the others thrown in at a blind draw.

It would create a full 16-man football playoff to decide the best team in the nation.

Continued on…”What We All Want: Part 2″

The post What We All Want: The 2011-2012 BCS Playoff Scenario appeared first on KRUI Radio.

After the national college football bowl announcements Sunday night, the Iowa Hawkeye football team learned it would play the Oklahoma Sooners (#14 BCS, #19 AP) in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona.  The December 30th bout will mark the second straight appearance for Iowa in the Insight Bowl, where last year it defeated #12 Missouri, 27-24.

Oklahoma (9-3), the one-time #1 team in the country, comes into the bowl game having bowed out in their last game of the season, drifting away 44-10 to #3 Oklahoma State and handing the Big 12 championship to their cross-state rivals.  Despite being held to ten points, the Sooners still average 40.3 points per game and are lead by quarterback Landry Jones (4,302 passing yards, 28 touchdowns).  Jones averages 365 passing yards per game, which is 4th nationally.  While Iowa played in and won the Insight Bowl last year, Oklahoma went 12-2 and beat Connecticut as Big 12 champions.  Oklahoma is lead by head coach Bob Stoops, a former Rose Bowl defensive back for Iowa in 1981.

Iowa (7-5), meanwhile, should feel sensational knowing the caliber of opponent that awaits in Tempe.  The Hawkeyes had an up-and-down year, beating Sugar Bowl-bound Michigan (10-2) for the third year in a row while losing to rebuilding Minnesota on the road and Legends division champion Michigan State at home in ugly fashion.  A season that saw Iowa’s greatest-ever comeback (31-27 win over Pitt while down 24-3) also unveiled frustrating offensive games against Penn State and Nebraska.  Iowa was outrun and outgunned in their loss to the Cornhuskers to close the season, losing 20-7 to finish 7-5 and 4-4 in the Big Ten.

Iowa’s opponent in their consecutive Insight Bowl seems  eerily similar to the first one the second time around.  Like Missouri, Oklahoma is a mid top-25 ranked team playing in a bowl they would probably rather watch in their hotel room waiting for a BCS game.  Much like Missouri, Oklahoma throws for a ton of yards, scores a lot of points, and just like last year, everyone will pick the yard-eating Big 12 team over the rigid Iowa Hawkeyes.  Iowa beat a Missouri team last year that had knocked off the #1 Sooners midway through the season, yet Iowa still came out victorious over the Tigers.  This year, Iowa’s defense is a sieve and will be vulnerable to OU’s speed and athleticism, but Iowa’s offense matches well with Oklahoma’s defense if it can get hot.  Iowa, once again, will be the little guy.  And like last year, they will play better than you imagined.  We will continue to break down this game in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Meet your typical Oklahoma Sooner fan…

Big Ten 2011 Bowl Participants and Opponents (and Sam Kienzle’s insta-grades)

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Purdue (6-6) vs. Western Michigan (7-5)

Grade: C

Comment: Purdue doesn’t mind that this bowl is cold (Detroit) and lowly.  The Boilermakers are looking forward to trying to stop Western Michigan’s high-class offense.  Danny Hope runs to toilet at halftime after ingesting Little Caesars pizza.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Northwestern (6-6) vs. Texas A&M (6-6)

Grade: C+

Comment: Northwestern has a great shot of winning its first bowl game in more than 60 years when it faces the disappointing Aggies of Texas A&M. 

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Illinois (6-6) vs. UCLA (6-7)

Grade: F

Comment: This could be considered the worst bowl of ALL BOWLS for a number of reasons.  Illinois started the year 6-0 before losing the rest of their games.  UCLA got bullied in the Pac-12 championship game and has a losing record.  The teams are a combined 12-13, playing in a bowl.  I believe teams should get to 7-5 to be bowl eligible, and now teams with losing records are being rewarded for their substandard play.

TicketCity Bowl: Penn State (9-3) vs. Houston (12-1)

Grade: B+

Comment: With the Jerry Sandusky scandal raging, Penn State fell to a less prestigious bowl against a very good Houston team that nearly made it to a BCS game.  Penn State has a great defense, and Houston has a great offense.  The resulting stew is entertainment.

Outback Bowl: Michigan State (10-3) vs. Georgia (10-3)

Grade: -A

Comment: Michigan State was a near Big Ten champion, they showed that against Wisconsin.  They have a great defense, while Kirk Cousins and his wide receivers are playing at a high level.  They will look for  Mark Dantonio’s first bowl win as Michigan State’s head coach.

Capital One Bowl: Nebraska (9-3) vs. South Carolina (10-2)

Grade: B

Comment: This game isn’t that interesting to me.  Nebraska’s offense is a grinding, slogging, sloppy unit.  South Carolina doesn’t do very well in bowls.  When the Gamecocks lost Marcus Lattimore earlier this year, who did they become?  We shall find out.

Gator Bowl: Ohio State (6-6) vs. Florida (6-6)

Grade: -B

Comment: Once upon a time these two teams faced off for the national championship.  Now, it’s an in-between time as Florida’s “retired” coach, Urban Meyer, becomes Ohio State’s new coach.

Rose Bowl Game: Wisconsin (11-2) vs. Oregon (11-2)

Grade: A

Comment: Wisconsin gets back to the Rose Bowl for a consecutive year and this time wants to finish the job.  Oregon wants to win its first bowl game under head coach Chip Kelly.  It’s the “smooth as I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Butter spread” offense of Oregon against the power rushing and high efficiency of Wisconsin and quarterback Russell Wilson.

Sugar Bowl: Michigan (10-2) vs. Virginia Tech (11-2)

Grade: -A

Comment: Michigan is, frankly, lucky to get into a BCS game.  Nonetheless, it will be an entertaining game as they face ACC title game loser Virginia Tech.  Michigan State probably deserved this more than Michigan, but sponsors don’t like selecting teams coming off losses–and Michigan’s brand is still strong.

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