Change the bowls, but no playoff

I basically took this from College Football News and their traditonal Tuesday Question.

Q: (Forgetting about a playoff) How do you change the college bowl system?

A: I do miss the true tie-ins. The Rose Bowl being the Pac-1o versus Big 10 (11) and the Sugar Bowl always getting the SEC champion. I enjoyed that sort of thing, however it is the root cause for the need for a BCS to decide a true champ.

I also miss the New Year's Day power lineup of the Citrus-Cotton-Gator at 1, the Rose-Fiesta at 5:00 p.m. and the Sugar-Orange between 8:00 and 8:30. Seven games on one day and you knew the champion when your head hit the pillow that night. Wonderful. Now you have a stretched out bowl schedule with the big four bowls being played in three days. Word is that Fox (who takes over in 2006 except for the Rose Bowl) will move the other three bowls to its own day. I understand the title game being set apart but, using this year for example, the Orange Bowl having its own day is worthless. Granted, if they could rearrange it, the Fiesta Bowl by itself would be a good idea.

Fewer bowls? Nah. I like the smaller schools getting their 3+ hours in the sun. Some of the pre-New Year's bowls have excitement as each year I find myself catching the Peach, Alamo, Sun, and Holiday bowls. Last year's Liberty Bowl between Louisville and Boise State was thrilling.

In short, I wouldn't change much, if anything just eliminating the extra day needed for the BCS bowls. However, I understand business. No way will Fox go head-to-head with the Rose Bowl with either the Sugar or Orange Bowls next year.

The good part is that we get the "plus one" model next year. The bad part is that traditional slots will be all jumbled. As best I understand it, if the plus one was this year, USC would play Ohio State in the Rose with Texas and Penn State in the Fiesta. That would leave the Sugar and Orange open with Notre Dame, West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida State to choose from.

Give the Sugar, Notre Dame vs. Georgia and the Orange, Florida State vs. West Virginia.

Sound good?