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Flex schedule playoff systemRelated Patent Categories: Games Using Tangible Projectile, Playing Field Or Court Game; Game Element Or Accessory Therefor Other Than Projector Or Projectile, Per SeFlex schedule playoff system description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060154750, Flex schedule playoff system. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application relates to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/642,433 filed Jan. 7, 2005. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to playoff systems for determining a champion from a large pool of sports teams. More specifically, the invention is a scheduling method well suited for situations in which it is desirable that playoff teams play a limited number of post-season games, such as the situation currently facing NCAA Division 1A football. BACKGROUND [0003] It is widely known that NCAA Division 1A football does not determine its champion through an elimination post-season playoff tournament. Most Division 1A football teams play 11 regular season games, possibly a conference championship game and, if invited, a bowl game. College presidents and chancellors have made it clear that the Division 1A colleges are not interested in extending the season by implementing a multi-tiered playoff system. In recent years, the Bowl Championship Series.RTM. has selected one of four major bowls to host a national championship game on a rotating basis. The theory being that the BCS uses a ranking system in order to match the first and second ranked teams in the national championship game. [0004] The BCS system is also used to select match ups for other three major bowl games that are not hosting the national championship game for that particular year. The fairness of the ranking system has been the subject of great debate, and in fact the BCS ranking system has been modified from year to year in order improve its fairness. [0005] The BCS ranking system has the benefit of not extending the number of games that Division 1A teams would need to play if the NCAA were to adopt a post-season playoff tournament, like it does for Division IAA football as well as other sports. The BCS ranking system has also generally preserved the importance of college bowl games, and the college bowl system in general. [0006] On the other hand, the current BCS system appears to be somewhat arbitrary especially when two or more teams vying for the second place rank have the same win-lose record, or a lower ranked team actually has a better record than a higher ranked team. It is especially difficult under this system, if not practically impossible, for teams from some conferences to be selected to the national championship game, let alone a major bowl game, even if the team is undefeated. To improve access to major BCS bowls, it has been suggested to add a fifth major bowl to the BCS. [0007] Several methods have been suggested to improve the BCS system. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,823 and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2004/0157684 A1. Many suggestions to date relate to ways of improving the fairness of the BCS ranking system, such as requiring that voting in all BCS polls be open to public inspection, or that BCS polls cannot begin until several games have been played. It has also been suggested that the polls and rankings be merely advisory, and that a selection committee pick the teams. Other suggestions include the so-called plus-one format, in which the top four ranked teams (or four selected teams) play semi-final playoff games that are played either before the major bowl games, or as two of the major bowl games with a national championship game to follow. The plus-one format has the obvious advantage of including four teams in a small playoff for the national championship game, rather than two teams, thereby reducing the risk of ignoring a legitimate contender. [0008] Nevertheless, none of the above suggestions provide a way to accommodate a larger number of legitimate contenders in a national championship elimination tournament, without extending the season, and without disrupting the college bowl system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] The invention is a method of scheduling an elimination playoff tournament in which games in at least one round of the playoff tournament are played during the regular season in lieu of a regular season game. In this way, an elimination tournament can be played without extending the season more than is desirable. While the method may be adapted to any sports league, it seems to be well suited for NCAA Division 1A football inasmuch as it enables the current bowl system to be preserved with vigor. [0010] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each team in the pool has a full regular season schedule at the beginning of the season. For example, 11 or 12 regular season games are scheduled for each team participating in NCAA Division 1A football. The regular season games are played in accordance with the regular season schedule (or as close as possible) for most of the regular season, much like as is now conventional. Late in the regular season, playoff teams are selected from the pool, preferably after most teams have played 9 or 10 games depending on whether one or two rounds of the playoff games will be played in lieu of scheduled regular season games. The number of selected playoff teams is a matter of choice, ranging from three or four teams for a mini two round tournament, to as many as 8 teams for a three round tournament, as many as 16 teams for a four round tournament, to as many as 32 teams for five round tournament, or more if desired. The selected playoff teams are then scheduled to play games in a first round of the elimination tournament, unless the team is given a bye in the first round. For all teams playing in a first round playoff game, the playoff game is played in lieu of one of its regularly scheduled games that remain to be played. The previously scheduled game is automatically cancelled. For teams not selected to the playoffs that were scheduled to play in a game that was automatically canceled, a substitute game is scheduled against a substitute opponent, most likely chosen from the teams that were previously scheduled to play a different team that was selected to play in a playoff game. Teams eliminated from the tournament play the next scheduled game on its regular season schedule unless the scheduled game is against a team that remains in the playoffs. For NCAA Division 1A football, it is preferred that first round playoff games be played on the same weekend, as well as the substitute games for previously scheduled non-playoff opponents. The same is true of second or third round games if it is desired to play additional rounds of playoff games in lieu of regular season games. [0011] Using the invention, the number of surviving playoff teams can be reduced to a manageable number by the same date or near the same date as the regular season wound normally end. For NCAA Division 1A football, it may desirable to have no additional games between the regular season and the bowl games. In this case, the number of playoff teams and number of playoff rounds played as rescheduled games during the regular season are selected so that only two teams remain for a championship game after the regular season ends. For example, if 8 teams are selected for the playoffs, playing two playoff rounds during the regular season leaves two teams for a title game at the end of the regular season. Or, up to 16 teams can be selected for the playoffs with three rounds being played during the regular season. [0012] For NCAA Division 1A football, it is believed that a plus-one or a plus-two format (in which one or two additional playoff rounds are played between the end of the regular season and the final bowl games) may be more desirable. With the plus-one format, four (4) playoff teams would remain after the regular season leaving two (2) semi-final games and the national title game to be played in post-season playoffs. Most likely, the semi-final games will be played before the college bowls, with the title game being one of the major bowl games. With the plus-one format, up to 16 teams can be chosen for the playoffs while requiring only two rounds of rescheduling during the regular season. [0013] In the plus-two format, eight (8) playoff teams would remain after the regular season leaving four (4) quarter final games, two (2) semi-final games and the national championship game to be played post season. In this format, the semi-final games could be played in bowl games, perhaps major bowl games, with the national title game to follow; however, it may be more desirable to play the semi-final games prior to the college bowl week, with the national title game being played-in one of the major bowl games. With the plus-two format, up to 32 teams can be selected to the playoffs with only two rounds of rescheduling during the regular season being required. [0014] While the venue of playoff games is a matter of choice, it is contemplated that the national title game will be played in a major bowl game, and that any plus-one and plus-two games be played at a neutral venue, preferably on a regional basis. While playoff games played during the regular season can also be played at a neutral venue, it may be desirable to give home field advantage to the higher seeded team. [0015] As an alternative to automatically canceling games for the teams participating in the playoffs and rescheduling substitute non-playoff games for the opponents, the invention can be implemented by providing a shortened regular season schedule for the teams in the pool. In this embodiment, the length of the shortened schedule depends on the number of playoffs rounds that are intended to be played during the regular season. Using NCAA Division 1A football as an example, the shortened schedule might have 9 or 10 games if two rounds of playoffs are played during the regular season. The playoff teams are selected based on the results of the shortened schedule, and scheduled to play playoff games. The other teams, as well as the teams eliminated from the playoffs, are scheduled to play non-playoff games during the final weeks of the regular season. [0016] As should be apparent from the above explanation, the invention enables an elimination playoff for NCAA Division 1A football without increasing the number of games, or without increasing the number of games more than is desirable. In addition, it should not disrupt the current college bowl system. The bowls will still be free to extend invitations based on regular season results. [0017] The invention can be used initially on a small scale, say selecting up to eight playoff teams, in order to test the acceptance of such a playoff. On the other hand, the playoff system can be expanded as is reasonably necessary to provide fair and adequate access to the playoffs for all teams in the pool. In any event, it would be desirable to televise all tournament elimination games, including the championship game. [0018] Various other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of an eight-team elimination championship playoff tournament implementing rescheduled regular season games as playoff games in accordance with the invention; Continue reading about Flex schedule playoff system... Full patent description for Flex schedule playoff system Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Flex schedule playoff system patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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