Maybe This Would Work

I don't have much use for football.  Sure, the fans are passionate (some would say borderline insane); the games draw huge television audiences; people live and die with their teams on-the-field success; and the female fans are incredibly hot.  But the games are downright boring.  No, not College Football.  I'm talking about that other football, soccer.  The sport that seems to revel in low scoring ties, limited action and world-class "athletes" rolling on the ground after a casual bump like they were hit by an M82 Barrett Rifle.  I've tried watching the World Cup but it just can't hold my interest.  They don't ever appear to be really trying to score a goal.  And if they're not really trying to win, why should I really try to get interested?

Now, playing soccer on the Xbox and beating your brother is a different story.  And while playing FIFA 10, I noticed they do one thing in soccer that would be extremely interesting if applied to college football.  Depending on how you fared the previous season, you can get relegated to a higher or lower league.  The way it seems to work is the top two teams in the lower league get moved up to the higher league and the bottom two teams in the top league get moved down to the lower league.  Yes, I realize the NCAA and their forward thinking conference commissioners, who know the public doesn't know what they want by continuing to deny us a playoff, would never go for this, but imagine the possibilities and opportunities.

Let's take last year as a sample.  To start, we need to rank the conferences.  Okay SEC, with your four straight national titles, and five in seven years, you're on top.  I'll go with the Big-10 next (four 10+ win teams and 2 BCS bowl game wins plus Penn State beating an SEC team in LSU and Wisconsin tuning Miami in Florida), followed by Big-12, Pac-10, MWC, ACC, Big East, WAC and Conference USA.  Based on last year's results, the SEC's favorite whipping boy, Ohio State, moves into the SEC along with Iowa.  Vanderbilt and Mississippi State...thanks for playing, you're now in the Big-10.  Ahh, but the Big-10 isn't done.  Since they aren't the top league, their bottom two teams are moving out to the Big-12.  Goodbye Indiana and...holy crap!  Michigan!  Well, you've sucked for a couple of years now and are dragging the Big-10 down.  You're getting replaced by Texas and Nebraska (hmmm, that particular move is happening soon anyway).

To carry it on further, the Big-12 gains Oregon and Arizona from the Pac-10 in exchange for Baylor and Colorado (overall record moves them out...eerie...this also is happening soon).  The Pac-10 loses Arizona State and Washington State to the Mountain West and gets TCU and BYU (with Utah just missing...again, scary how this is actually already happening).  The MWC jettisons New Mexico and Colorado State to the ACC and gains Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech (again, overall record decided who moves).  The ACC sends Virginia and Maryland on a short trip to the Big East and gets Cincinnati and Pitt;  the Big East gives Syracuse and Louisville their parting gifts and receives Boise State and Nevada; the WAC lets New Mexico State and Colorado State head to Conference USA and snags East Carolina and Houston.

Now the fun begins.  South Carolina and Kentucky...you are now bubble teams in the SEC and if you finish in the bottom two, you're moving down to the Big-10.  Texas and Nebraska...prove yourself as the best of the Big-10 and you'll be moving up to the SEC.  Best of all, TCU and Boise State, you get your shot to play with the big boys and prove you belong (and you too, Utah...I'm predicting in 2010 that they're going to do some damage in the Pac-10 very quickly).  If the Horned Frogs and the Broncos keep winning and keep finishing first or second in their conferences they'll move up, perhaps eventually getting to the SEC.  Sustained excellence is rewarded; sustained crappiness (looking at you Syracuse, Washington State, Iowa State, etc.) is punished.

Yes, there are a ton of problems with this proposal.  First and foremost are the traditional rivalries.  What happens to Alabama vs. Auburn if the Tigers have a bad year and end up in the Big-10?  Well, this isn't really a problem, as I see it.  Instead of scheduling Chattanooga as an out of conference game, Auburn can choose Alabama.  So, now the decision is Auburn's.  Do you want to play a cupcake or do you want to play your most hated rival?  And what if, and it's a big if right now, your win over Alabama lifts you into the SEC and knocks them down to the Big-10?  How sweet would that be?  To have 365 days of not just gloating about a win over the Crimson Tide, but that they suck so much that they're now in the Big-10?  This goes for all rivalry games.  Not only is it bragging rights for a year that you beat them, but also that you potentially sent them to a lower conference. 

The next problem is that eventually the SEC will become top heavy with all the best teams.  Well, if you listen to Lee Corso and ESPN, the SEC already has all the best teams, so it's status quo.  Every year though, the two bottom feeders are moving out and two new teams are coming in.  One solution is to go to mega-conferences, maybe a Premier Eastern Conference, a Premier Midwestern Conference and a Premier Western Conference, each with 20 teams and then Secondary Conferences in each region with 20 or more teams.  Then movement would be between the Premier and Secondary conferences in each region, possibly three teams each year moving up and down.

Which leads to the next problem.  Who plays for the National Title?  With three premiere conferences, one team is getting left out.  That's not much different than the current situation where one or more teams gets left out of a shot to win it on the field.  But it's still not satisfying.  How about a Plus One game?  Each Premier Conference winner gets into the four-team field and then the highest ranked second place team also is in.  Number one plays number four, number two plays number three and then the winners of those games play the following Saturday to see who hoists the crystal football.

Could this ever happen?  No.  We're not even any closer to a playoff to determine a National Champion, let alone a plus one game.  But it's an interesting option to think about while the various SportsCenter personalities talk about the merits of this team's strength of schedule or conference and quality of their team.  At least this option would let teams soar as high as they can, even if it took them a couple of years to get there.