I've been kicking this idea around for the last couple weeks, and want to try to get it out there and generate some discussion on it. Maybe that will get it to stop bouncing around in my head. :tongue2:
The idea is a Champions League for college football, similar to the ones they do in soccer at the club level.
The idea is based on a few things that I hold to be true:
A spring league seems doable as long as the will is there. It's not as if football players are not participating in football-related activities throughout the year. The issues with heat and cold would really be no different than what's faced in the fall - they'd just occur in reverse order. Most programs that would be in contention for such a Champions League would likely have indoor practice facilities they could utilize to prepare just before the start of the competition.
More so than any other attempt at spring football in the past (XFL, USFL, etc.), this could take off because the market for these teams is already established. They could hold games at neutral sites across the country - bowl stadiums and even NFL stadiums since it's the offseason. I think people would attend these games in stronger numbers than many of the bowls, because there would be more venues available and a better chance of finding something convenient to each team's fanbase.
Meanwhile, it would be an opportunity for college football in the fall to go back to its roots - emphasis on regional matchups and conference championships.
There's another option too, if the haves wouldn't want to play nice with the have-nots on something like this: A home-and-home round robin with the champions of the six current BCS conferences. That would get the games back in the home stadiums of the participating programs and minimize home-field advantages. In the case of an inevitable tie, the first tie-breaker could be head-to-head aggregate, the second tie-breaker could be overall scoring differential, etc.
I felt like this belonged in its own thread rather than being lumped in with the College Playoff discussion. I don't think I'd be satisfied with a single-elimination playoff, especially in bastardized form that the bowl-conference cabal is bound to come up with. On the other hand, I've had it completely with the BCS. To me this is an alternative to both.
The idea is a Champions League for college football, similar to the ones they do in soccer at the club level.
The idea is based on a few things that I hold to be true:
- Single-elimination playoffs are a lousy way to determine a champion. In the US we are obsessed with them, to the extent that anything the does not involve a bracket is considered inferior - even if it makes regular season, round robin-style play completely meaningless or even if it means giving mediocre, undeserving teams a shot to get hot and make a run winning it all.
- Conference championships have been devalued, and that takes some of the luster off of college football.
- The BCS is lousy and MUST GO
A spring league seems doable as long as the will is there. It's not as if football players are not participating in football-related activities throughout the year. The issues with heat and cold would really be no different than what's faced in the fall - they'd just occur in reverse order. Most programs that would be in contention for such a Champions League would likely have indoor practice facilities they could utilize to prepare just before the start of the competition.
More so than any other attempt at spring football in the past (XFL, USFL, etc.), this could take off because the market for these teams is already established. They could hold games at neutral sites across the country - bowl stadiums and even NFL stadiums since it's the offseason. I think people would attend these games in stronger numbers than many of the bowls, because there would be more venues available and a better chance of finding something convenient to each team's fanbase.
Meanwhile, it would be an opportunity for college football in the fall to go back to its roots - emphasis on regional matchups and conference championships.
There's another option too, if the haves wouldn't want to play nice with the have-nots on something like this: A home-and-home round robin with the champions of the six current BCS conferences. That would get the games back in the home stadiums of the participating programs and minimize home-field advantages. In the case of an inevitable tie, the first tie-breaker could be head-to-head aggregate, the second tie-breaker could be overall scoring differential, etc.
I felt like this belonged in its own thread rather than being lumped in with the College Playoff discussion. I don't think I'd be satisfied with a single-elimination playoff, especially in bastardized form that the bowl-conference cabal is bound to come up with. On the other hand, I've had it completely with the BCS. To me this is an alternative to both.