My plan for the BCS Championship

The good news is that a college football national championship playoff is in the offing and should be in place by the 2014 season.  A true national championship game would then take place in early 2015 after two "semi-final" games pit the four top teams against each other.

The devil, though, is in the details.  And, indeed, there are details to be worked out.  Where should the two semi-final games be played?  Should they be played as part of the current BCS bowl system?  Should they be played on campus sites?  Or, should they stand alone on neutral sites in advance of the title game, also on a neutral site?  Those questions are but part of the puzzle as other issues include how to select the four final teams, who gets broadcast rights, and on and on and on.

Let's tackle the scheduling issue as I believe the process for how the teams get selected will actually be an easier one to solve--perhaps that's a combination of the current polls which are used as part of the BCS combined with the football equivalent of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee.

I believe that playing the two semi-final games on campus isn't realistic--college towns like Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, Eugene, Lawrence, Columbia, Knoxville and elsewhere would be hard-pressed to handle the press and fan contingent invading for these games.  And, like in the NCAA Tournament, I believe these final four teams need to play each other in neutral sites where the playing field (no pun intended) is as even as possible.

A case can be made to use the current BCS bowl system as a way to handle the two games.  For example, the two semi-final games could rotate each year between the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta bowls.  That approach could cause possible neutral sites which are less than neutral, e.g., USC playing in the Rose Bowl or LSU playing in the Sugar, but does utilize the bowls as part of the national championship solution.  The two featured bowls could be scheduled in a way that they take place a week, or two, prior to the national championship contest.

The national championship game site will be just like the Super Bowl as cities will vie for the chance to host this prestigious event.  And, just like the Super Bowl and other major events, the game will be but part of the pageantry--a fan festival will be a mandatory along with hospitality events in the host city in the days leading up to the national championship.

The whole prospect is exciting and long overdue.  Here's hoping that the conference commissioners who will decide these important questions can come up with a workable plan which keeps the two most important audiences top-of-mind--the athletes involved and the fans who have long clamored for a true national championship.