RULES AND POINTS  -    It explains the manner in which the CFCS Project uses Rules and Playoff / Invitational Points (P/I Points) to make the teams eligible, and to qualify them for a shot at a  national title.

CFCS RULES

   The Football Championship Series (CFCS) Playoff/Invitational will begin with the first game of the regular season. The "series" will commence with the "playoff" as taking place during the regular season and culminate with the crowning of a champion at a championship game to be held on the earlier date of the second Saturday or Monday of January of the following year. - The latest date would be January 12th.

At the end of the regular season, and with the final polls results being had (the Sunday or Monday following the regular season’s final Saturday), computer supported selections will be made and invitations extended to sixteen (16) teams that will participate in a four (4) round CFCS "invitational". Traditional bowl sites will be used for at least the three (3) last rounds of play. The CFCS Playoff/Invitational will be open to all (currently 133)  Football Bowl Series (FBS) Division football universities that are not under penalty sanction by the NCAA, and who are able to participate in conference championship games and/or post season football bowls.

    A.  Eligibility – To be eligible for invitation teams must play a minimum of eleven (11) regular season games vs. FBS Division opposition. This includes traditional conference “championship” games. The games will need to be scheduled within a fourteen (14) week period commencing with August 25th and ending no later than December 7th. Additional games may be scheduled vs. teams in either the FBS Division or in lesser divisions; however, no point credit of those types described in the P/I (Playoff/ Invitational) Point Section of this CFCS Project will be given for a "win" against the lesser division opponents. Neither will offensive points scored, nor defensive points allowed be factored into any equation regarding CFCS P/I Points pertaining to the "lesser division" opponents. Wins and losses regarding these games will only be recorded as part of the overall season record of the FBS team with no particular P/I point value.

     (A majority of the FBS conferences currently host regular season ending "championship games" between divisional conference leaders. The implication of the eligibility rule concerning lesser division opponents is such that if any FBS school schedules more than one game per season vs. this class opponent it may put at risk its required 11 game vs. FBS opponent clause. Should this be this case if the FBS team in question is fortunate enough to appear in their unscheduled conference championship game it could constitute the required "11th game" thereby fulfilling that part of the CFCS eligibility rule).

B.  Qualification - No eligible FBS Division football team will qualify for selection having lost more than three (3) games. Again, this includes games played both vs. FBS and lesser division opponents.

  C.  Invitations will be extended to teams having lost no more than three games per the following selection process. - Since beginning the project teams eligible and having lost no more than three games ranging thru the years covered 2004-2019; 2021-2022 were from least (19) in 2004 to most (33) in 2015. In 2023, there were 27 eligible from which sixteen (16) teams were invited.

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     1.  Automatic (CC) invitations go to the conference champions of which there are, as of the 2024 season, nine (9). The individual conferences will establish the number of intra-conference games to be played.  "Championship game conferences" will need to leave open the final week of the regular season in order to accommodate any intra-conference game needed to determine their guaranteed invitee. Conferences not determining their champion in such a manner will need to designate their invitee in the event of conference co-champions. Should any conference fail to do so the CFCS Project will determine its invitee by the highest number of Playoff/Invitational (P/I) Points accumulated during the regular season.

    2.  At large (A/L) invitations will total at least six (6). This total will be exceeded in order to bring the invitation field to sixteen (16) in the event should one or more of the "conference champions" fail to qualify under the three-loss rule.  Independent universities become "at large" candidates providing they meet the CFCS eligibility and qualification requirements.

     (Determination of "at large" teams ultimately to be invited will be made based upon the highest number of Playoff/Invitational (P/I) Points accumulated throughout the regular season. P/I points are credited for each game played vs. FBS teams and reflect good performance and consistency in the following four (4) areas of CFCS competitive efficiency. The four areas are weighted so that no one area has more than approximately 45-50% overall influence, this being "Poll Points").

      (a) Win Points - To include points credited for individual wins; for "away" games regardless of won or lost; value points if an "away" game is won; and, as the season progresses higher value points for "consecutive wins".

     (b) Offensive-Defensive-Spread Points - To include points credited in each of the three categories for cumulative averages during the regular season that exceed the last four (4) years' average of the forty (40) teams who ranked best in each of the categories.  For example, if the "Top 40" defensive teams over the past four years gave up a rounded average of 20 points per game, a team would be credited points during the season for each game cumulatively on or below that average. - As of the 2024 season, four year "Top 40" averages for Offense - 35 points; for Defense - 20 points; and, for Spread -15 points).

     (c) Rank Wins Points - To include points credited for "wins" vs. ranked opponents. Extra credit "bonus points" (which are not to be confused with bonus points awarded at season's end for upward progress from Week No. 4 thru Final Poll) are also awarded if the victorious team themselves are unranked in any of the below mentioned "polls" used in the determination of this area of "competitive efficiency". -

      (d)  Poll Points - To include points credited, beginning with Week No. 4 of the regular season, for appearing as a "Top 25" team in any one of the polls used in the CFCS project - currently, AP Writers and Coaches pre-season thru Final Polls; and, for CFP Ratings Week No.11 thru week before the Final Poll). - Points are based upon the highest ranking in any of the aforementioned polls. In order to be credited with "Poll Points", a team must win that week's game during which it is ranked, else the "Poll Points" are awarded the team that has defeated them - as outlined in (2c).

As the season progresses, and as in the case of "consecutive wins", items (b), (c) and (d) see higher point values being credited.

    After the season's "Final Poll" results have been published, P/I Bonus Points are awarded. These are points credited as an acknowledgement for any team's upward progression through the AP and Coaches polls. Progress is measured by determining the differential between a team's best rating in the AP and Coaches polls at Week No. 4 of the season and their best rating in the AP and Coaches Final Polls.  This raises "poll influence" by 2-3 points.

D.  Format - For the four rounds of the CFCS Invitational.

       1.  The first round of play will be scheduled for the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday following the final week of the regular season - no later than December 12th. - "Seeding", as seen in the NCAA's Basketball Tournament, will be by neighboring rival "Power Five" vs. "Group of Five" conference "seedings" wherever possible.  First round games will be played at the home sites of those teams that accumulated the highest number of P/I Points during the regular season.  At the end of the first round the "invitee field" will have been reduced to eight (8) teams.

     The first round "losers" will be eligible for invitation to play in any of the subsequent post season bowls that are not a part of the seasonal CFCS Invitational.

      2.  The second round of play will be scheduled for the second Friday and Saturday following the final week of the regular season - no later than December 20th - and at pre-selected existing bowls which are spread favorably across the country both by time zone and temperate climate (example only:  Citrus, Peach, Cotton,  and Holiday Bowls)  At the end of the second round the "invitee field" will have been reduced to four (4) teams.

     3.  The third round of play will follow approximately a 11 day to two-week period off for final exams, for the Christmas Holiday, and, for a period of time during which many of the non-participating bowls will have their games played.  Round Three will be played in a traditional New Year's Day/Night way. The major bowls:   Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta can negotiate for rotation among themselves as to who will host the New Year's games or who will host the CFCS Championship Game. Whatever major bowl sitting out any particular year are free to host a game between traditional inter-conference rivals of their own choosing. - This might be particularly favorable to the Rose Bowl. -  Whatever, at the end of the third round the "invitee field" will have been reduced to two (2) teams.

       4.  The CFCS Invitational Championship Game will be scheduled for the second Saturday or Monday of January - no later than January 12th. - Hosting the game will be one of the four major bowls to be determined as outlined above. - Left standing will be America's true college football "National Champion".

     E.  The Bowls - Traditional post season bowls not participating in The CFCS Invitational plus whichever major bowls that opted out for the year would be able to host any of the following:  the "first round losers";  those teams that qualified for invite but lacked the necessary P/I points to secure an invitation;  those teams that lost no more than five (5) games during the regular season;  lastly, those teams that were ineligible for failing to schedule 11 games vs. FBS competition. - Please, more than thirty-five (35) post season bowls, including the CFCS Playoff/Invitational bowls, are simply too many. It reduces the quality of competition with six-game losers currently being invited.

CFCS POINTS - (Table of Playoff / Invitational Points applied via computer spreadsheet)

This point system applies to the four areas of “competitive efficiency” and is inherent to the determination of the At Large (A/L) Invitees as described in the CFCS Project Rules. Of additional significance is that the weekly cumulative P/I point compilation serves as a valid basis for playoff team selection, anywhere from two (2) to a much preferable sixteen (16) teams. This point system lends itself to logical fan discussion and argumentation - What is more important is It gives credibility throughout the college football season to the eventual determination of a "National Champion." 

Presented below are the P/I Point values and the rationale for them to be credited. - Remember, no points 

whatsoever are credited for games played vs. teams other than the current one hundred thirty-three (133) FBS members.

(a) Win Points (Wn Points)

For each "win" a team is credited with - 1.00 point.

    For each "away game" team credited with - .50 point.

        For each "away win" a team is credited with - .75 point.

                                     For 2nd thru 3rd consecutive wins team credited - .50 point.                     

                      For 4th thru 9th consecutive wins a team is credited - .75 point.

                               For 10th and "over" consecutive wins team credited with - 1.00 point

                   (b) Offensive-Defensive-Spread Points (O-D-S Points)

Each 2nd and 3rd game team betters Top 40 team Offense and Defense four- year average - .25 points.

Each 2nd and 3rd game team meets Top 40 Spread four-year averages - .50 points.

Each 4th thru 9th game team points credited increase to - .50, .50., and .75 points O-D-S respectively.

Each 10th plus game team points credited increase to - 1.00, 1.00, and 1.25  O-D-S  respectively.

We pause here to speak in defense of "polls". Whereas the basic problem with the polls in regard to college football is that they carry far too much weight in the eventual determination of teams to play for a national championship, we still need those polls. Why? Because those polls are what flavor our coffee breaks with the spirited emotion so distinctive to collegiate sports. They act as an expression of our own biases and emotions when it comes to college football. The idea is to not allow bias and emotion to become so passionate as to override common sense and cognitive reasoning, nor should the bias of the existing polls continue to so negatively influence the financial well-being of teams belonging to the smaller conferences,  indirectly as it may seem to be.

Our first two levels, Win Points (a) and Offensive-Defensive-Spread Points (b), of competitive efficiency deal with cognitive reasoning based purely upon team performance and with little to no emotion involved. The third level viewed, Rank Wins Points (c), gets us away from a strictly computer "purist" philosophy since it gives a mix of both computer and emotion input. What we see in the fourth level, Poll Points (d), is that bias and emotion are kept in play. - However, their level of influence is kept at approximately 45-50% of the total P/I Points weight, as opposed to the near 100% influence they presently have.

"Polls" used herein and in future discussion are The A.P. Writers Poll and The Coaches Poll (Both pre-season thru Final Polls). The College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee Poll is added for Week Nos. 11-15. - It is not used beyond that, nor for the Final Poll of the season. 

(c) Rank Wins Points (Rnk Wn Points)

 If any team unranked in the Top 25 wins a game from a Top 25 ranked team, their "bonus" is - 2.00 points. 

  During Weeks 4 thru 10 and if opponent is ranked 01 thru 06, the winning team credited - 2.50 points. 

   During Weeks 4 thru 10 and if opponent is ranked 07 thru 12, the winning team credited - 2.00 points.  

   During Weeks 4 thru 10 and if opponent is ranked 13 thru 18, the winning team credited - 1.50 points.  

During Weeks 4 thru 10 and if opponent is ranked 19 thru 25, the winning team credited - 1.00 point.

During Weeks 11 plus and if opponent is ranked 01 thru 06, the winning team credited - 3.50 points.

During Weeks 11 plus and if opponent is ranked 07 thru 12, the winning team credited - 3.00 points.

During Weeks 11 plus and if opponent is ranked 13 thru 18, the winning team credited - 2.50 points.

During Weeks 11 plus and if opponent is ranked 19 thru 25, the winning team credited - 2.00 points.

(d) Poll Points (Pol Pts) are credited with points:      IF WIN          IF LOSING           OPPONENT "GETS" 

        During Weeks 04 thru 10 and team rank 01 thru 06          2.50 points           0 pts.              2.50 points + due from (c).

       During Weeks 04 thru 10 and team rank 07 thru 12          2.00 points           0 pts.              2.00 points + due from (c)

      During Weeks 04 thru 10 and team rank 13 thru 18          1.50 points           0 pts.              1.50 points + due from (c

      During Weeks 04 thru 10 and team rank 19 thru 25          1.00 points           0 pts.              1.00 point + due from (c).

        During Weeks 11 plus and team ranked 01 thru 06           3.50 points           0 pts.              3.50 points + due from (c).

         During Weeks 11 plus and team ranked 07 thru 12           3.00 points           0 pts.              3.00 points + due from (c).

         During Weeks 11 plus and team ranked 13 thru 18           2.50 points           0 pts.              2.50 points + due from (c).

         During Weeks 11 plus and team ranked 19 thru 25           2.00 points           0 pts.              2.00 points + due from (c).

 If appearing in "Top 25" for Final Poll of the season, no "win" is necessary. They receive anywhere from 2.00 points to 3.50 points depending

on where they are ranked 01 thru 25 in the participating polls on that particular day.

 Upward progression "Bonus Points" are added to "Poll Points" after Final Poll. That is the differential between Week No. 4 best poll ranking and best poll ranking at the Final Poll by AP Writers and Coaches Polls. For example, if any team is unranked at Week No. 4, however, attains Final Poll ranking of "7", the bonus equation would be (unranked "26" minus ranked "7") times .25, or (26-7) x .25 = 4.75 "Bonus Points."

(a) Realistic maximum number of team "Win Points"   - 28.50

 (b) Realistic maximum number of team "ODS Points" - 22.25

 (c) Realistic maximum number of team "Rank Wn Pts.- 16.25

                                      *(d) Realistic maximum number of team "Poll Points"   - 35.00                                       

 Realistic maximum P/I Point total for season approx. - 102.00

So, a team having had 81.5 P/I Points credited them for the season would have a competitive efficiency rating of 81.5/102.0, or 79.9%. -  It's sort of like baseball where any (batting) average over .300 would be considered very good.

Rationales

(a)  It's a disadvantage to play away from "home." Added credit should be given for winning away from "home".

Progressive credit needs be given for "stringing of wins", each successive win being more difficult.

                           (b) Each season offensive point totals normally increase as do the defensive point total allowed. Any team maintaining a pace set by the FBS "Top 40" offensive and defensive teams four-year averages deserves extra credit for their effort.

                            (c) "Strength of schedule" is a factor to the extent that games won vs. ranked teams need be given extra credit. It makes little                 sense to reward any team for scheduling tough opponents ultimately to see them losing those games during the season.

      As seasons progress, we should expect to see a team's performance improve. Accordingly, point values need to reflect that

 progress. History has shown where at various times during the regular season, and at any given time, more than one team might 

 be good enough to be rated "No. 1"; or, more than a single team is rated by different polls as being a "No. 1", a "No. 8", etc. -

                   For that reason, the CFCS P/I Points are assigned to "ranges" of rankings rather than to pinpoint a team to an exact rank. Polls are hardly an exact science.

     *(d) Since performance data becomes increasingly meaningful with subsequent weeks of play, and by Week No. Four

 most of the "meaningless" one hundred plus ineligible lesser division games were played, no

 "Poll Point" credit is given until Week Four through the weeks to follow. -  Under the philosophy of "no work, no pay,"

 - open dates (except for Final Poll) within any team's schedule are not credited with "poll points"-

                        with no regard to a team's ranking.

AGAIN NOTE:  Any Top 25 poll rated team must win its game during the week it has been rated, else losing that game will result in their opponent receiving the published point credit which would have gone to the original Top 25 rated team.

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College football currently suffers anathema of having nearly 20% of the first four-week games of the regular season played versus lesser division teams. Sandwiched between those games and the many meaningless post-season bowl games played is the "conference season".  Thankfully, that manages to salvage interest for loyal regional fans who hope to see their favorite team win a conference championship.

      - Unfortunately, for five of the nine existing conferences (The Group of Five Conferences), the present four team playoff system fails to provide a consistent pathway for any one of their membership "champions" to qualify for "expert" CFP Committee "selection". It also poses a "big question" of whether future administrative schemes will continue to include "the underdog conferences" at all? Certainly, the recently proposed "12 team playoff" will only lessen the opportunity for the underdog conferences.