Three weeks, not three days. They aren't going to play back to back games over a few days. It'll be a week, minimum. The premise is "D2 doesn't it so why can't ..." No one accounts for D2 playing few games and the playoff starting three weeks before the season ends in the current format. RD1, D2, this year was November 21st. They were in RD3 by the Saturday the SEC was in ATL.
3 days but of course, 3 Saturdays. 4 games = 8 teams, then on the next week 2 games = 4 teams then you have a championship game which is essentially an already established bowl so really only 2 days. Bowl games run for 2 1/2 weeks as it is. This can be done rather easily.
Technically, that would mean the playoffs are starting this weekend. There's a few reasons that won't happen. One of which lies in what the kids were doing last week; school work. There's a reason for the break after the SECCG and the first bowl games ... finals. I seem to recall some hoopla surrounding the games being played on New Years Eve this season and ESPN being upset about it ... can't recall the details. Now, suggesting we throw a quarter final in the middle of December? I'd think there would be a lot of backlash from the attention being pulled from the smaller bowl games. My opinion ... This past week I was talking with a D2 coach, Jamey Chadwell, and we were discussing this same thing. One thing he mentioned to me was how he'd prefer to have the schedule the FBS teams do for no other reason than those extra 15 days of practice. Most teams don't spend all that time in "game prep," but use it to get reps for the 2's and 3's. I thought he had a pretty good point.
Not really. Playoffs would start on the Christmas weekend, semis on the New Years weekend and the final a week later. It would be adding a game at a time when school is out anyway.
There are some things that must be considered: 1. Desire to have an 8 team playoff 1a. More teams have a chance at a NC 1b. I even propose allowing in minor conference teams that rate high enough 1c. $$$ 2. 15 extra days of practice, guaranteed 2a. This does not change for the minor bowls already scheduled for this weekend and I don't think teams playing for a NC are giving bench players more reps 2b. Time between regular season and first playoff is reduced, with less rust to shake off 2c. College finals vary; LSU has them 12/7-12 (ie, still time to practice) 3. Quarterfinal may be detrimental to minor bowls 3a. Quarterfinal may be beneficial to minor bowls, making the weekend "must watch" vs "might watch" ($$$) 3b. Time slots can be made on TH 12/17 and F 12/18, allowing I believe 11 potential slots (vs the 5 that are currently in use) 3c. Fitting the quarterfinals into SA would be a stretch, but doable (11, 230, 6, 930); the benefit to the minor bowls is that desirable time slots are open (TH 730, F 700, SA 1, 430, 8) [ALL TIMES CST] I know ESPN can make it work. The NCAA is less creative, but I still think it could work. I think reason 1c and 3a (for those not following, $$$) are compelling reasons to consider it from the powerbrokers' point of view.
The elephant in the corner of the room has been there for years: finals week, kids studying and not having to worry about practice. Graduations fall into play. People mention the money extra games would bring in and don't consider the CFB PR campaigns (like the Heisman trophy award, your Nagurski's, etc. that bring in money to CFB as well. People scoff at the notion of student/athlete and I get why they do in some situations. However, I don't see schools making a move just to satisfy some fans wanting eight teams. The move from the bowl system to the BCS was considered a good move UNTIL those pushing it got upset they received exactly what they were asking for. The move from the BCS was considered (by some) a good move UNTIL now ...where we are seeing people bitch about getting exactly what they asked for ...
