Monday, December 05, 2016

The College Football Eight Team Playoff

I was very pleased when college football decided to go with a playoff system.  It is much better than the BCS system that it replaced, which was itself much better than its predecessor.  A four team playoff is good for the game.  However, were I given the reins from the NCAA, I would expand the field to eight teams, and then put a system in place that does not rely on the discussions and opinions of a playoff committee to determine which teams made the final eight.

Right now, that playoff committee chooses what four teams make the field.  They can take many things into account, including a team's ranking, impressive wins, and who they lost to.  They can think about injuries and off the field issues.  They can think about tough road games and bad refereeing.  They can look at the whole picture to choose which four teams they see as most deserving.  The problem with this, in my eyes, is that everything is based on opinion.  I would propose a system where most of the field is selected not by opinion, but by the champions of the five major conferences.  You win your conference, you get into the playoff.  It's just how it works in college basketball, and pretty much every other sport in the country.  Leagues are made up of divisions; you win your division, you get into the playoff.  The same theory should apply here.  Many sports have wildcard or at-large playoff entrants, but in the end, teams who do not win their conference or division are never guaranteed a spot in the playoff.  Just ask the 2008 New England Patriots, who finished 11-5 and missed the playoffs.  Fair?  Maybe not, but conference and division championships are the only way to guarantee a playoff spot.

The three remaining spots of the playoff would be filled with the three highest ranked non-champions.  Yes, there is opinion in the creation of the poll, of course, but going this route will leave no question as to who will make the field.  Win your conference, get in the playoff.  If you don't win your conference, be one of the top three non-champion teams in the country, get in the playoff.  There would be no guessing, no who-will-the-committee-select type questions.  You then take the eight teams that made the playoff, and you order them based on their ranking, and that gives you the eight teams, seeded from 1 to 8.  Done, let's play some football.

The 2016 playoff committee has just released its playoff bracket, which looks like this:


As an Ohio State fan, I am very excited that the Buckeyes are in the playoff.  However, I'm not sure I would have given them the spot over Big Ten champion Penn State, considering the Nittany Lions beat the Buckeyes during the regular season.

Using the above described eight team playoff method, the playoff would look like this (I am using the AP poll for the rankings):



Conference Champions:
Alabama (SEC)
Clemson (ACC)
Washingon (Pac-12)
Penn State (Big Ten)
Oklahoma (Big 12)

At-Large Births:
Ohio State
Michigan
Wisconsin

This year's bracket would create a few oddities: all three at-large teams are from the Big Ten, meaning that four of the eight playoff teams are from that conference.  In theory, there could be a rule in place that limits the number of teams from any particular conference.  The bracket also creates a repeat matchup between Ohio State and Oklahoma.

However, I believe this eight team playoff provides the most straight-forward and fair way to determine a national champion for college football.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Vote on the Title of my Book! Yay!

I have continued work on my fantasy novel, presently titled Praeteran.  I have just hit 71,000 words, which, while still a little short, is in the range that I wanted to hit.  While I do have a few more edits planned, I am hoping to have the first person other than me read it in the very near future, which should be easy enough, because she lives in the same house I do.  :) I will likely then have more edits based on her feedback.

For now, however, I have been thinking about the title, and I thought I'd see what my legions of loyal followers think about it. And thus, please vote in the poll! Yay for democracy in action! (In a non-binding way!)  

What should I name my current novel?

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Praeteran Update 2

I have recently completed the rough draft for my current novel project, a fantasy novel currently titled Praeteran.  I seem to write rough drafts short, as I have been quite under my final target word count each time.  This rough draft was less than what I'd like it to be at the end by at least half.  It ended at about 35,000 words, and I will get it to between 70,000 and 90,000 words by the time I am done with it.

One thing I have done is rework the outline for the whole series.  I initially envisioned and outlined The Anarchist Chronicles as a five book series, but I have since shortened it to a trilogy, allowing me to move a bit from what was previously book two into book one.  I am in the middle of revisions of the whole manuscript, as well as writing additional chapters for these outline changes.  I have a lot more work to go, but I have upped the draft from 35,000 words to 47,000 words.  There is a lot more work to do - extra chapters to write and lots of detail to add.  But I am on my way.

One thing that I realized I did not fully explain in the last blog entry was about the viewpoint and tense of the book.  Like I said, I am doing the book in first person, like I did with my previous book, Override.  However, unlike that book, there will not be a single viewpoint character, but multiple, and the viewpoint character will change at every chapter break.  This will be interesting, as this is considered by authors to be a more difficult way to write.  The top of each chapter will list the viewpoint character for that chapter, but you also have to give each of the viewpoint characters a distinct voice.  I am trying to do that, but we will see how successful I was when I have other people read it.  (Which will be a while, of course.)  Most of the book will also be in present tense instead of past tense, except for a few choice chapters.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The Aspiring Author

I've been upping my writing work recently, on two fronts. First off, I have sent off query letters for my recent science fiction novel, Override, to literary agents. If any of them have their interest piqued, they will ask for a full manuscript, which would be fantastic. I sent off such query letters for my first two novels, The Second Shadow and Queen of Men, never getting a request for a manuscript. In theory, my writing is getting better, and so my chances keep going up. So we shall see. :)

I am now working on my fourth book, a young adult fantasy novel tentatively titled Praeteran.  This is actually related to my first novel, The Second Shadow.  I have outlined a five book series titled The Anarchist Chronicles, with Praeteran being book one and The Second Shadow being book three.  If I manage to write the whole series, I would rewrite that book three.  I am doing something a little different this time around.  Override was the first book I wrote in the first person point of view, and I am continuing that strategy with Praeteran (and likely with the rest of the series).  I am hoping to hit 90,000 words with this book, which would make it the longest I've written.  I'm presently at 12,118 words and moving forward.