Cuban Will Try To End BCS

[MickeyDavis]

Obviously he's doing this to try to make money, there are kinks in his plan and there are many hurdles but at least he's trying to do something.

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."

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."

[jakecronus8]

Cuban is awesome. I wish he owned the brewers

[jakecronus8]

I didn't realize it could potentially be this easy to end the bcs. Hats off to cubes. He's a legend if he gets this done

[JayMKE]

Cuban is awesome. I wish he owned the brewers

word.

I love Cuban

[MickeyDavis]

He knows money talks. Many of the university presidents go on and on about how a playoff system will take kids away from class more, be a greater injury risk etc... But if you offer them more money than the current BCS system they'll jump at it.

[MickeyDavis]

I still think you could use the 4 major bowls in a playoff system. Under Cuban's 16 team plan the first round could be held at the home field of the top 8 seeds (which, as he said, does make the regular season important because you can get an extra home game). In the second round the remaining 8 play in the 4 major bowls. After that you could have a neutral site for the semis and the championship. These sites would be bid on like the Super Bowl. The networks would pay big money for this. Cuban would make money and all college football fans would be very very happy.

We could debate about the final seeding, we could debate about whether the #17 team deserved to be in but we would no longer have to debate who the champ is every year.

[MickeyDavis]

Under Cuban's plan, round 1 would be:

Alabama at Auburn (GREAT first round rematch)

Nevada at Oregon

Oklahoma St at TCU

Virginia Tech at Stanford

Missouri at WIsconsin

LSU at Ohio State

Boise State at Oklahoma

Michigan State at Arkansas

[BucksRuleAll22]

Bowl games and the bcs is such garbage. I can't even beleive this is the system for college football which makes the whole sport a joke in general. I hope playoffs happen sooner than latter.

[Flames24Rulz]

Mark Cuban is such a man. Get this done.

[Newz]

Cuban is awesome. I wish he owned the brewers

+1

[trwi7]

Under Cuban's plan, round 1 would be:

Alabama at Auburn (GREAT first round rematch)

Nevada at Oregon

Oklahoma St at TCU

Virginia Tech at Stanford

Missouri at WIsconsin

LSU at Ohio State

Boise State at Oklahoma

Michigan State at Arkansas

That's easily better than the BCS, especially this year where one of the games is a four loss Connecticut team.

[Siefer]

I love it. Let's hope Cuban gets it done, or at the very least, gets the ball rolling.

[MickeyDavis]

Don't expect Mark Cuban's money to break the BCS.

Bowl Championship Series executive director Bill Hancock doubts "financial inducements," such as the one the Dallas Mavericks' outspoken owner is considering, will lead to a major college football playoff.

Cuban told reporters before the Mavs' game Wednesday night that he was "actively interested but in the exploratory stage" of trying to bankroll a 12- or 16-team playoff to replace the often-criticized BCS.

He thinks about $500 million might do the trick.

Hancock responded to Cuban's comments in an e-mail to the AP on Thursday, saying, "Given how much support our current system has among university presidents, athletics directors, coaches and athletes, I don't think any amount of financial inducement will make people abandon" the BCS.

Cuban, who has made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers in recent years, said he's spoken to two athletic directors from conferences with automatic BCS bids who were enthusiastic about his idea. He intends to contact several school presidents and state senators to determine whether the idea is worth pursuing.

"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban was quoted by ESPNDallas.com. "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."

The BCS, using polls and computer rankings, matches the top two teams in the country after the regular season in a national title game. No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Oregon meet on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

The BCS is wildly unpopular among fans, but the leadership of the six most powerful conferences -- the Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, ACC, SEC and Pac-10 -- support it and the bowl system, making any radical changes in the near future highly unlikely.

"It speaks to the power and popularity of college football that a successful businessman and innovator like Mark Cuban would have this level of interest in investing in college football," Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said in an e-mail.

"But the fact is that college football has never been more popular in its current format, and it's a mistake to assume the impediment to a playoff is money. We could get a lot more money tomorrow from lots of folks by moving to an expansive playoff; this is about a broader set of priorities benefiting schools and student-athletes."

Cuban suggested trying to persuade major donors to college athletic programs to cut off financial support until their presidents approve a playoff system. He said he thinks it would take about three or four years of planning to get a playoff up and running.

He called the BCS "an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way."

"The only thing that's kept them from doing it is a lack of capital," Cuban said, "which I can deal with."

Hancock, of course, disagrees.

"College football is so popular today," he said, "because we have a great regular season and because we have an important bowl tradition that provides a meaningful experience for the students and fans -- all of which would be at risk if this concept were implemented."

[Mags FTW]

I didn't realize it could potentially be this easy to end the bcs. Hats off to cubes. He's a legend if he gets this done

Cuban is awesome. I wish he owned the brewers

word.

I love Cuban

Mark Cuban is such a man. Get this done.

Cuban is awesome. I wish he owned the brewers

+1

I haven't seen this many guys with a Cuban in their mouth since I went to a cigar bar.

I like MD's version. First round at the higher seed's field, quarters at the 4 BCS sites, semis and title game at neutral sites. Not sure about having both the semis and title game at the same site though.

[MickeyDavis]

Potentially you could have the 2 semis and the championship game in 3 different cities. You could have the semis in the same city if it wasn't on grass I guess. January weekends are tied up with NFL playoffs, they would have to do weeknights. Monday nights always work well for football.

First round of 16 team playoffs in early December. Then the quarter finals would all be around New Years, in 4 major bowls. Semi finals could be mid January and the championship game could be the week before the Super Bowl. With a 2 week gap before the Super Bowl you have that weekend wide open.

[Newz]

I haven't seen this many guys with a Cuban in their mouth since I went to a cigar bar.

HEYYYYYOOOOOOO!