Playoff system

Abstract

A method of determining a championship in a playoff system in which a qualifying tournament includes teams of higher ranking playing teams of lower ranking, and in which the highest ranked teams that win a game against a lower ranked team advance to a playoff.

1 . A method of determining a college football national champion comprising the steps of: 
 obtaining a final regular season ranking of the eligible college football teams in which the eligible teams receive a numerical ranking from highest to lowest;    placing a selected subset of the eligible teams in a qualifying round, in which each team whose ranking is in the upper half of the selected subset plays a team whose ranking is in the lower half of the selected subset; and    conducting a championship tournament in which a selected number of teams whose ranking is higher than the highest ranked member of the selected subset plays against a selected number of winning teams from the qualifying round in a single elimination format until only one team remains undefeated in the championship tournament;    wherein a selected number of the highest ranked teams in the upper half of the selected subset that win their game against a lower ranked team advances to the championship tournament;    and further wherein the one undefeated team in the championship tournament is determined to be the national champion.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the top 4 ranked teams in the final regular season rankings are placed as the top four seeds in the championship tournament.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the 4 highest ranked teams from the qualifying round that win their games advance to the championship tournament.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the selected subset consists of the teams ranked #5 through #44 in the final regular season rankings.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the qualifying round comprises 4 qualifying tournament brackets of 10 teams each in which the highest ranked team from each qualifying tournament bracket that wins its game in the qualifying round advances to the championship tournament.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the games of the qualifying round and the championship tournament are played in the context of bowl games.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the final regular season ranking is determined by a combination of factors comprising: ranking in one or more opinion polls, ranking in one or more computer generated polls, strength of schedule, schedule ranking, number of losses and number of quality wins.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the top 2 ranked teams in the final regular season rankings are placed as the top two seeds in the championship tournament.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the 2 highest ranked teams from the qualifying round that win their games advance to the championship tournament.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the selected subset consists of the teams ranked #3 through #42.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the qualifying round games are played sequentially so that the lower ranked teams from the upper half of the selected subset play before higher ranked teams from the upper half of the selected subset.  
     
     
         12 . A method for selecting a tournament champion in a field of competitors in which the competitors are ranked from highest to lowest, the method comprising: 
 conducting a qualifying tournament comprising one or more brackets in which each competitor ranked in the top half of a qualifying tournament bracket plays a lower ranked competitor in the qualifying tournament bracket; and    conducting a playoff tournament in which the highest ranked one or more competitors from the field of competitors play a tournament including a selected number of competitors that advance from the qualifying tournament;    wherein the highest ranked competitor from each qualifying tournament bracket that wins a game against a lower ranked competitor advances to the playoff tournament;    and further wherein the winner of the playoff tournament is selected as tournament champion.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the field of competitors consists of college football teams.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the playoff tournament includes the competitors ranked #1 through #4 and the highest ranked competitors from each bracket that win a contest in the qualifying tournament against a lower ranked opponent.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the qualifying tournament consists of four brackets, and wherein the playoff tournament includes the competitors ranked #1 through #4 and the highest ranked competitor that wins a contest against a lower ranked opponent in each bracket of the qualifying tournament.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the playoff tournament includes the competitors ranked #1 and #2 and the two highest ranked competitors that win a contest in the qualifying tournament against a lower ranked opponent.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the qualifying tournament consists of two brackets, and wherein the playoff tournament includes the competitors ranked #1 and #2 and the highest ranked competitor that wins a contest against a lower ranked opponent in each bracket of the qualifying tournament.  
     
     
         18 . An improved method of conducting an athletic competition among competitors wherein the competitors are ranked and wherein at least a portion of the competitors each compete in a qualifying tournament, in which selected winners of contests in the qualifying tournament advance to a final tournament, wherein the improvement comprises the step that one or more of the highest ranked competitors that win a contest against a lower ranked opponent in the qualifying tournament advance to the final tournament for determining a winner of the competition.  
     
     
         19 . A method for conducting a championship playoff among a plurality of competitors comprising: 
 ranking the eligible competitors from highest to lowest;    seeding competitors ranked #1 through #4 into an eight team, single elimination playoff bracket;    seeding competitors ranked #5 through #44 into a four bracket qualifying tournament in standard tournament fashion such that each competitor competes in a single contest against a higher or lower ranked opponent;    seeding the highest ranked competitor from each bracket in the qualifying tournament that wins a contest against a lower ranked opponent into the single elimination playoff bracket; and    conducting the single elimination playoff to determine a champion.    
     
     
         20 . A method for conducting a championship playoff comprising: 
 ranking the eligible competitors from highest to lowest;    selecting a specified number of competitors from among the highest ranked competitors;    conducting a series of qualifying games, in each of which a competitor ranked in the top half of the selected competitors plays an opponent ranked in the bottom half of the selected competitors; and    conducting a championship game played by the two highest ranked competitors that win a qualifying game.    
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the competitors are college football teams.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the playoff comprises 3 qualifying games.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the playoff comprises 4 qualifying games.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the top 3 ranked teams play their qualifying games sequentially such that the third highest ranked team plays first, the second highest ranked team plays second, and the first highest ranked team plays third.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the top 4 ranked teams play their qualifying games sequentially such that the fourth highest ranked team plays first, the third highest ranked team plays second, the second highest ranked team plays third, and the first highest ranked team plays fourth.