I love it when a plan comes together!

For the second time this season, my 10 team playoff selection criteria has worked perfectly. Selecting the 6 BCS conferences champions and the 4 highest ranked non-champions in the BCS rankings has produced a playoff which allows all ten of the top ranked teams into the playoff. Perfect. I'll say it again.

I love it when a plan comes together.

With this the last full week of play and championship week the next, it is beginning to look more and more like we have identified all the teams which will play in the playoff. Of course, there are a few teams which could find themselves left out. If I had to identify which teams are locks for the playoff it would be Florida, Texas, Alabama, TCU, Boise State, and Ohio State. All of these teams either have a high enough BCS ranking to protect them from an unexpected loss or their remaining schedule is weak enough that they should win out. Of course, Ohio State is a lock because they've already clinched the Big Ten conference title.

With 6 teams virtually guaranteed a place at the table, I would have to say Georgia Tech and Cincinnati remain the two teams most at risk. Georgia Tech plays Georgia this week and then Clemson for the ACC Championship. A loss to Georgia would remove them from the top 8 of the BCS and out of position for an at large bid if they were to lose to Clemson. A loss to Clemson would move them out of the conference champions category, but with a win over Georgia, they will likely be able to secure an at large bid. Cincinnati is the only undefeated team who with one loss can fall out of the running for the Campus BCS Bracket. I still maintain that the BCS won't accept a one loss Big East champion into the national title over an undefeated TCU if they right combination of losses occurred with Texas, Florida, and Alabama. If the Bearcats drop their final game against Pittsburgh, which is completely possible looking at their rushing defense, then Cincy could wind up being the odd team out in the BCS top 10 not in our playoff. For both Paul Johnson and Brian Kelly, they control their own destiny and that's the best position to be in.

And now, the Week 13 BCS Playoff....

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Here is my prediction of what the final BCS playoff will look like in three weeks. I know it isn't that radical, but cut me a break.

The Concept:

A hybrid system that incorporates the current bowl system with an expanded playoff. Playoff would take 4 weeks to complete utilizing the same amount of time as the current bowl system.

Background:

Anyone even remotely interested in college football knows there is a problem with the current way in which the nation crowns the NCAA football champion. While most major websites and analysts vote for a complete revamp of the BCS system, we believe that the pieces and parts of the solution have already been created waiting for someone to put them together. We have done that and what you see above is the result: A 10 team playoff which incorporates

- BCS Rankings

- Current BCS bowl layout

- BCS Conference Champions with At-Large Bids

- Maintains the tradition of bowl season

We think it is a solid assumption that the current BCS ranking system can identify the top 10 teams in the country, but no amount of human input and computer analysis can pinpoint the top two teams in the nation. It’s this belief that pointed us to a 10 team playoff.

Additional Bowl Locations Selection:

The four BCS Bowls (Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose) are on center stage and the current BCS Bowls plus National Championship format will be maintained. BCS Bowls will have rights to Semi-Final games and 2 of the 4 regional games.

The BCS Bowl which hosts the national championship, will be required to host a regional round game to facilitate preparations for the National Championship.

In order to fill the bracket, the BCS will host a "BCS Playoff Bowl Location Selection Show" where they will invite four non-BCS bowls to participate. These "smaller" bowls will be required to provided their payouts to the BCS payout pot in order to facilitate a graduated payout system which is addressed later.

New Bowl Schedule:

After rescheduling, only two bowls (not involved in the playoff) will have to move the date in which they play:

Hawaii Bowl will move from 24 DEC at 8:00pm to 23 DEC at 5:00pm

Emerald Bowl will move from 26 DEC at 8:00pm to 27 DEC at 5:00pm

GMAC Bowl would have the option of moving to 04 JAN at 8:00pm to accommodate a 3 day, bowl game free period before the National Championship

Team Selection:

6 BCS Conference Champions seeded 1 through 6 according to their BCS ranking. (AP Rank if too early in the season). If a BCS conference championship does not rank in the BCS rankings they will forfeit their guaranteed bid.

4 Non Conference Champions will be seeded 7-10 and will be required to play into the playoff. These will be the 4 highest ranked teams in the BCS rankings that did not win a BCS conference.

There is no limit to the number of teams any one conference can have in the playoff

Seed assignment is preset and permanent in the bracket. It cannot be altered to make for "better matchups" in the playoff.

Payout:

Payout will be graduated and will be determined by the round in which you lose and exit the playoff. A graduated system allows for the increased cost of sending teams to an increased number of games as well as paying for fan incentives to attend.

2009 Payout totals $186,260,000.00