Mark Cuban exploring BCS alternative

Jimbo

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I think this is a GREAT idea.


DALLAS -- After two failed bids to buy a Major League Baseball team, billionaire Mark Cuban is seriously considering trying to use his money to create a playoff alternative to college football's Bowl Championship Series.

Cuban, the outspoken owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, told ESPNDallas.com on Wednesday that he is "actively interested but in the exploratory stage" of creating and funding a playoff system to crown a champion for major college football.

"The more I think about it, the more sense it makes as opposed to buying a baseball team," said Cuban, who tried to buy the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers within the last few years. "You can do something the whole country wants done."

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Cuban said he has talked to two athletic directors from BCS conferences who were extremely enthusiastic about the idea. He intends to contact several school presidents and state senators in the coming weeks to determine whether the idea is worth pursuing.

Cuban said he envisions either a 12- or 16-team playoff field with the higher seeds getting homefield advantage. The homefield advantage, Cuban said, would ensure the college football regular-season games would not lose any importance.

The bowl games could still exist under Cuban's plan, but he said he would make it more profitable for programs to make the playoffs than a bowl.

"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban said. "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every five years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.' "

One way to push school presidents toward approving the idea would be to lobby major donors of college athletic programs, Cuban said. He suggested convincing the donors to cut off their donations until their presidents approved a playoff system.

Cuban, who is reading the book "Death to the BCS," said he thinks it would take about three or four years of planning before enacting the playoff system. He believes it's a better business opportunity than owning a baseball team, and he admits he's intrigued by the idea of revolutionizing a major sport.

"It's an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way of doing it," Cuban said. "The only thing that's kept them from doing it is a lack of capital, which I can deal with.

"The one thing every college football fan wants you can probably create for less than it takes to buy a baseball team."

Tim MacMahon covers the Mavericks for ESPNDallas.com. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his mailbag.
 
First I've read of it...

All of this is simply convincing the "FBS" (another acronym with one letter to many) to behave like the rest of NCAA sports.

We're already in the throes of a fairly decent playoff in "FCS" football. And can anyone imagine the TV money in December and January if a sixteen-team playoff is instituted? The amount of money CBS and Turner threw at the NCAA's for March Madness doesn't even scratch the surface.

And I don't need Mark Cuban to tell me that it would "revolutionize" NCAA football. For a group of academia, these university and conference administrators are pretty ignorant to keep the status quo.
 
First I've read of it...

All of this is simply convincing the "FBS" (another acronym with one letter to many) to behave like the rest of NCAA sports.

We're already in the throes of a fairly decent playoff in "FCS" football. And can anyone imagine the TV money in December and January if a sixteen-team playoff is instituted? The amount of money CBS and Turner threw at the NCAA's for March Madness doesn't even scratch the surface.

And I don't need Mark Cuban to tell me that it would "revolutionize" NCAA football. For a group of academia, these university and conference administrators are pretty ignorant to keep the status quo.

There not asking ANYONE to do it, what they are saying is it may take someone with the money and ability to stand up and do something about it, obviously they are not listening to you or me.

I think it's a great idea for someone of Mark's stature to stand up, people will at least HEAR Mark, when he talks vs us that no one hears.

Paul and I have had a playoff system set up for many years now if you go back far enough in the archives.
We had a 12-16 team set up figured out .... of course the NCAA would have nothing to do with it because the University Presidents want thier system.
 
I already gave my solution:

Eight conferences
16 teams in each conference
Every conference has a championship game and, of course, a champion
The eight champions advance to the playoffs

Bada-bing bada-boom.


Sandra
 
How would those 12 to 16 teams be decided?? Conference winners?? Top poll teams?? Which poll??

In this case, if I were him, I would get a group of people, previous players and coaches and possibly reporting and pay them to do the polling, at least then we would know WHO was doing the voting, unlike the secretive set up the BcS currently has.
 
Ohio High School uses the Harbin point system that generally works great to chose the top 8 in each region (4 regions) in each of the six divisions. It sometimes seems like a weak team is making it in at a high seed and an undefeated team is left out, but time after time it proves itself to be very accurate since it measures each victory against the vanquished record and and their opponents' strength throughout the season. Of course no system will be without its detractors. Even if every team were to make it to the first round t(as all other sports tournaments in the Ohio High School Athletic Association) hen the controversy is all about seeding. So there is never pleasing anyone. :)
 
In this case, if I were him, I would get a group of people, previous players and coaches and possibly reporting and pay them to do the polling, at least then we would know WHO was doing the voting, unlike the secretive set up the BcS currently has.
You would put the power in just a few hands?? BCS voting isn't secretive, it's just real complicated, using several polls and computer rankings.

Take the conference winners and if needed fill in the rest with x number of remaining top teams like in the current BCS standings that didn't win their conference. If you rely on the polling of just a few there will be a bigger outcry from teams left out then we have now in the current system....
 
Ohio High School uses the Harbin point system that generally works great to chose the top 8 in each region (4 regions) in each of the six divisions. It sometimes seems like a weak team is making it in at a high seed and an undefeated team is left out, but time after time it proves itself to be very accurate since it measures each victory against the vanquished record and and their opponents' strength throughout the season. Of course no system will be without its detractors. Even if every team were to make it to the first round t(as all other sports tournaments in the Ohio High School Athletic Association) hen the controversy is all about seeding. So there is never pleasing anyone. :)

My High School (Toledo Whitmer) was to the final 4 this year in the Ohio HS playoffs !!!!
 
You would put the power in just a few hands?? BCS voting isn't secretive, it's just real complicated, using several polls and computer rankings.

Take the conference winners and if needed fill in the rest with x number of remaining top teams like in the current BCS standings that didn't win their conference. If you rely on the polling of just a few there will be a bigger outcry from teams left out then we have now in the current system....

I never gave a number of people involved ...
With the BcS you have several computers that are being programmed by several people ... thus those few people are getting the teams in that they want......
 
I like his idea too, but the Presidents will never go for it.
 
I never gave a number of people involved ...
With the BcS you have several computers that are being programmed by several people ... thus those few people are getting the teams in that they want......
So, in trying to make sense about what you're saying, it seems like you want to go back to the old coaches and writers polls. There are many reasons why that method alone is no longer used. Also, you should read up on the BCS process. The image you portray of some nerds sitting around their computers determining the college football postseason is pretty amusing....

While I'm not defending the BCS ranking process, it would work as a fill-in approach that I mentioned earlier.
 
So, in trying to make sense about what you're saying, it seems like you want to go back to the old coaches and writers polls. There are many reasons why that method alone is no longer used. Also, you should read up on the BCS process. The image you portray of some nerds sitting around their computers determining the college football postseason is pretty amusing....

While I'm not defending the BCS ranking process, it would work as a fill-in approach that I mentioned earlier.

The BcS only cares about getting two top teams... it doesn't care at all what the teams 3-10 end up or decide about thier games, the other games should not even be called BcS games.

The Presidents idea of keeping the current bowl games is just plain dumb, seeing none of the alliances are there any more with the larger bowls anyways, when the team that goes to the MNC game has a team replace it's spot in the bowl and it doesn't have anything to do with thier bowl commitments, they can throw thier "Keeping the Bowls" right out the window.



To address your comments from above, No I don't want the Coaches poll to be involved at all, I'd rather the Coaches concentrate on THIER teams than worry about seeing all the other teams, most of the time the SID's fill them out anyways.
 
The BcS only cares about getting two top teams... it doesn't care at all what the teams 3-10 end up or decide about thier games, the other games should not even be called BcS games.

The Presidents idea of keeping the current bowl games is just plain dumb, seeing none of the alliances are there any more with the larger bowls anyways, when the team that goes to the MNC game has a team replace it's spot in the bowl and it doesn't have anything to do with thier bowl commitments, they can throw thier "Keeping the Bowls" right out the window.

To address your comments from above, No I don't want the Coaches poll to be involved at all, I'd rather the Coaches concentrate on THIER teams than worry about seeing all the other teams, most of the time the SID's fill them out anyways.
You're totally missing the point.

I'm not talking about the BCS bowl games, I'm talking about the BCS rankings. A playoff system that qualifies conference winners and filling in any remaining slots with the highest x number of non-conference winners from a BCS ranking type formula just might work...

BTW - Look again, you did mention including coaches in the polling process...
 
You're totally missing the point.

I'm not talking about the BCS bowl games, I'm talking about the BCS rankings. A playoff system that qualifies conference winners and filling in any remaining slots with the highest x number of non-conference winners from a BCS ranking type formula just might work...

BTW - Look again, you did mention including coaches in the polling process...

This, I agree with ...

What pisses me off most is the Pres. refusal to look into it while keeping the Bowls the way they were and failing to realize that they are not the way they were at all anymore anyways.
 
Just another reason you won't see a playoff any time soon:

Thirteen bowl executives make more than $240,000 annually, including three bowl officials who make more than $500,000 a year, according to salary figures obtained by the Sports Business Journal.

Outback Bowl president/CEO Jim McVay heads the list, earning $808,032 a year, followed by Allstate Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan ($645,386) and Chick-fil-A president/CEO Gary Stokan ($504,444).

Bowls Pay Bowl Officials Big Bucks -- NCAAFB FanHouse
 
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