The Goat Pen

This is unworkable due to the widespread "these poor kids play way too many games" argument, but what do you think of this?

16 team playoffs, with 11 conference champions and 5 at large teams, but instead of the standard, placing everybody on a level playing field in an even 16 team bracket. The top 4 seeded teams in the get a bye through two rounds of the playoffs. Teams 5-8 get byes through the first round. The first round of games features the teams seeded 9-16.

3 rounds of games played at home/campus sites, and since the home teams in the 2nd and 3rd rounds have byes straight to those rounds, there is (in general) more than one weeks preparation to put those games together logistically.

This sytem also rewards teams that outperform in the regular season by establishing 3 different seed lines where your chances of doing well (by getting home games and byes) go up dramatically. Its important to get a top 4 seed, or a top 8 seed, so you better win games. In addition winning your conference still has meaning as an avenue to get into the playoff picture, though with a very difficult road.

The national semi-final games and national championship game would either be bid out to 3 different cities, or played at rotating bowl sites.

Here's how this would look this year.

First Round

Game #1
#16 Arkansas St (Sun Belt) at #9 Wisconsin (At Large)

Game #2
#13 West Virginia (Big East) at #12 Southern Miss (CUSA)

Game #3
#15 Northern Illinois (MAC) at #10 Clemson (ACC)

Game #4
#14 La. Tech (WAC) at #11 TCU (MWC)

Second Round

Game#5
G1 Winner at #8 Kansas St (At Large)

Game #6
G2 Winner at #5 Oregon (Pac 12)

Game #7
G3 Winner at #7 Boise St (At Large)

Game #8
G4 Winner at #6 Arkansas (At Large)

Third Round

Game #9
G5 Winner at #1 LSU (SEC)

Game #10
G6 Winner at #4 Stanford (At Large)

Game #11
G7 Winner at #2 Alabama (At Large)

Game #12
G8 Winner at #3 Oklahoma St (Big 12)

National Semifinals (Neutral sites)

Game #13
G9 Winner vs G10 Winner

Game #14
G11 Winner vs G12 Winner

National Championship Game

Game #15
G13 Winner vs G14 Winner

eCat wrote:anyone catch wind of this?

Saw it on the ND boards. I'm sure it must have had alot to do with why Kiel doubled back and chose ND. He is already in school for the 2nd semester at ND. I though it was strange for an Indiana boy to be at a deep south SEC team.

About 3 hours before the game T-Bob Hebert, Russell Shepard, 2 other receivers and a hand full of linemen got into a heated argument with Les Miles and the Offensive Coordinator about Lee getting more playing time and possibly starting the BCS Championship game. It got so heated that Miles benched T-Bob, RS, and 3 other players. He called Lee into his office and told Lee that he would not be playing in the game. The Offensive CO told Miles that he thought that Lee gave the team the best chance to win the game. Miles told the OC to start looking for a new job after the game and Miles will be calling the plays for the championship game. Apparently the O Line sided with T-Bob and Lee. They did not give their all in the game to prove to Miles that the players are more important than the coach. Now I know that this is hard to believe but when you look at some things it kind of explains a few things: I will list some:

Playcalling: Read option pass on 3rd and 10 – 4 times. Running the same 5 plays over 90% of the game. Overall, Horrible play calling. Running the ball in the 4th quarter with 9 mins and down by 21. T-Bob Hebert not taking a snap in the game. RS only playing 3 snaps and not touching the ball or getting looked at. Lee getting off the bus and walking 10 feet behind the team with his head down and looking dejected while walking into the Dome. Heated argument between receivers and JJ and O Line with O line coach on sidelines. And the kicker, reports that 2/3 rds. of the plays that were practiced up to the game were not run and the players were not told why. Again I do not know if this is entirely true but there seems to be a lot of truth in it just by seeing what happened in the game.

The LSU team did not arrive at the dome until shortly after 6:00 PM. It seems that T-Bob Hebert & Russell Shepherd met with Les & told him that they were not happy with Jefferson’s preparation & attitude leading up to the game. He was purportedly at Harrah’s a couple of nights & drinking heavily. Most of the receiving corp has been on Miles to play Lee & throw more. Well Les evidently took the criticism the wrong way & all [bleep] broke loose at a team meeting. Hebert & Shepherd never got in the game. The offense was pissed. Jefferson lost the heart & soul of many of his teammates. Les was stubborn. Something evidently happened earlier between Miles & Lee & possibly Lee’s father after he was benched and Miles essentially dismissed him from the team for all practical purposes. Now not only is Claiborne leaving for the draft but so is Randle, Brockers & Shepherd (who may have no other choice but to leave LSU). Kadrone Boone ( a promising young receiver) has indicated that he will transfer from LSU. This is one of the worst internal problems that I have ever seen at LSU. This is not a black & white issue. It is an issue of team leadership (or lack of) & a coach that won’t listen to tenured upperclassmen.

Jungle Rat wrote:That team needs a total rebuild. I don't think they would have made the playoffs this year with a healthy Peyton.