NCAA Football: The Time For a Tournament is Now

Here we go again. Another football season ends with more than one undefeated team who are not playing each other in a bowl game.

We presently have five unbeaten squads entering the bowl season, and if Cincinnati beats Florida in the Sugar Bowl, we will be left with three undefeated teams to argue over.

This is no good fans. No good.

The FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) needs to have a tournament similar to the FCS.

If there was ever a time for a serious public outcry for a tournament to choose the national title, this year is it!

Are we to think that because the coaches picked Alabama and Texas, first and second respectively, that these are the two best teams in the country?  I am sure fans in Cincinnati, Boise and Fort Worth would beg to differ. Gator fans would probably like to have another whack at the Crimson Tide as well.

I have been an advocate of a tourney for years. The plan I propose would be easily pulled off and very few people would have reason to cry.

Job one would be to select eight teams to participate, all undefeated teams would be included. Teams would not be able to include games from the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Div. I-AA) on their schedule if they plan to participate in the new format.

The Major Bowl and Conference affiliations would be totally severed, they aren’t in good shape at any rate.

Week one of the playoffs would start the week after the scheduled games have been played. The bowls which I am using as an example are only that, they could be interchanged at will.

Round one would have the No. 1 team playing the No.8 team in the Sugar Bowl. The No. 4 squad would play No. 5 in the Cotton Bowl. No. 3 would play No. 6 in the Gator Bowl. The No. 2 team would play No. 7 in the Outback Bowl.  Coverage for television could split the games into two double-headers, maybe Friday night and then Saturday, or all four on Saturday.

The winners of Round one would advance the very next week to play in the National Semi-finals. The 1-8 winner would meet the 4-5 winner in the Fiesta Bowl, while the 3-6 winner would play the 2-7 winner in the Orange Bowl.

The winners would play the following Saturday in the granddaddy of them all, The Rose Bowl, for the National Championship, on New Years Day, or the day after. It is getting later and later into January to pin a prize on the national title winner.

The other bowl games could be played as they would see fit without disrupting the Championship Tournament.

This format could be completed in as little as three weeks after the season ends. A true, undisputed champion could be recognized. There would be no more than one undefeated team in the country and I can’t see why anyone would not be willing to accept this.

What do you say? Are you with me or against me?

Cliff Eastham is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report where this article was first published.

Notre Dame Fans: Is Brian Kelly really Rich Rodriguez ?

Many Notre Dame fans are clamoring for the ND Muckety Mucks to obtain one of the brightest shining stars in the college football solar system. Cincinnati Bearcat head coach Brian Kelly, 48 is by far, the choice of most for the vacated job left by the firing of Charlie Weis.

If the Fighting Irish faithful is certain Kelly will bring instant success to a mediocre team, they need look no further than Ann Arbor.

Near the end of the 2007 season The University of Michigan was feeling that since Lloyd Carr was retiring, maybe they would be able to find someone who could beat the Ohio State Buckeyes. Carr was 9-4 his last year at Big Blue, but most “fairweather” fans just remember that he lost six of his previous seven games to the Buckeyes.

Stay with me Notre Dame faithful, I am painting a portrait for you.

Michigan honchos began looking at other nests they could pillage from. West Virginia, a Big East school which was one of the country’s elite, much like the Bearcats are now, had a young coach named Rich Rodriguez. Rich was one of the most successful coaches in Mountaineer history, and was even courted by the Alabama Crimson Tide the year before, whose advances he flirted with but then just said NO.

Surely, Big Blue fans thought, this would be the key. A man just coming off a season where he at one point drove the #1 car in NCAA football. Clearly this would be their guy to beat Jim Trussell and Ohio State.

Rodriguez has been with the Wolverines for two seasons, has compiled a record of 8-16 while just winning three of 16 Big Ten matchups. He has guided Michigan to the biggest football shipwreck in school history. For the record, Rich is 0-2 against the Buckeyes with a combined score of 63-17.

Why do I tell you this, you ask? Because, by looking at Brian Kelly they are truly looking at Rich Rodriguez in 2007.

Kelly was 19-16 in three years at Central Michigan, before being hired by Cincinnati of the Big East. You do not need be a football historian to know what a jump it is from the MAC Conference to the Big East.  Almost as drastic as going from Grand Valley State to Central Michigan. Mr. Kelly handled the move to the Queen City rather nicely. He has lead the Bearcats to a 33-6 record in three complete seasons.

There are a handful of jobs that a college football coach dreams of.  Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, USC, Oklahoma and of course Notre Dame. There are others but I digress.

Most NCAA head football coaches would “sell their soul” to coach at Notre Dame, especially if they are catholic.

The Irish has already decided to decline any invitations to a bowl game this post-season.

So, what is the moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for. You may go from 6-6 to 3-9.

Cliff Eastham is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report where this article was first published.