Quote:
Originally Posted by frankbmd
Thanks for your input Al, not that it matters, and Peter, your points are valid and appreciated.
In defense of a relegation system, it seems to have worked very well for decades across the pond. With the increased shuffling of teams and players recently in college football, the conference identity is lost and the portal option has a negative impact on competitive balance.
So why not give relegation a whirl. In the premier division, the top ten or twelve teams would all have similar schedules, virtually identical. Having the cream rise to the top would establish a national champion.
Or is it better to have 6, 8 or 10 undefeated teams via for a playoff slot by a committee of 4 dudes who know that their choices will upset Ohio State and Florida State.
I say let the top 12 teams use the playing field to sort themselves out.
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Since it is your thread, I guess I should focus my comments on your suggestion. I am a fan of the English football relegation system, and think it could work in Major League baseball, where there are several teams that can't consistently compete (Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Miami, Oakland/Las Vegas/Mexico City) and strong AAA cities that could move up to take their places for a few years. For the fans, relegation lessens the chance of tanking, so that games are more competitive. It also gives bottom half teams, with no hope of the playoffs, something to compete for, and creates interest.
As far as extending the concept to college "non-professional" sports, I think as I understand it, what you are advocating for is more of a Super League, where the top teams from all conferences would move to a (newly created?) conference. These top teams would then duke it out with each other.
All the remaining teams I guess would stay in their current conferences, play schedules that exclude the 12 Superteams, and at the end of the season play conference championships and bowl games, but all without the opportunity of competing to be the National Champion, the best they could hope for would be to move their school into the SuperLeague for the following year.
And I am also guessing that this would just be for football. For basketball, tennis or lacrosse, for example, those 12 teams I assume would go back to their old conferences and compete there.