A Champions League Makeover: NCAA Basketball Style

About a month ago when I started this blog, I dug pretty deeply into the soccer blogosphere to see what people were doing, some of the approaches others took with different subjects and how it was presented. One of the first great ideas I saw was on Dave's Football Blog. He riffed on some comments from Harry Redknapp about the Champions League needing a makeover. In it, he suggested a new format based on the NCAA basketball tournament; 64 teams, brackets, selection shows, seedings, a Final Four.

Well, today. I play that scenario out. First of all, total kudos to Dave for the idea; it's brilliant. Anyone in the United States understands the mania of the NCAA Tournament, how everyone prints out a bracket, takes part in betting pools, fills out winners for every game and comes up with a champion. Imagine this on a global scale!

So what follows is a potential format based on this year's Champions League. I created four regions and seeded what I figured to be the top 64 qualifiers (there were 78 for this year's Champions League, counting the early qualifying rounds). I also tried to keep participants from the same country from at least the top 16 in separate regions. The format follows the NCAAs; No. 1 v No. 16, 2 v 15 and so forth. There end up being some juicy second and third round matchups and a dream final four.

Below is my format, followed by how I see each region playing out.

REGION 1

1. Manchester United
2. Porto
3. Schalke
4. Olympiacos
5. Seville
6. Ajax
7. Toulouse
8. Rangers
9. Sparta Prague
10. FC Copenhagen
11. Zaglebie Lubin
12. Besiktas
13. FK Sarajevo
14. NK Domzale
15. Linfield
16. Derry City

First round

Game 1 -- United v. Derry City
Game 2-- Porto v. Linfield
Game 3 -- Schalke v. NK Domzale
Game 4 -- Olympiacos v FK Sarajevo
Game 5 -- Seville v. Besiktas
Game 6 -- Ajax v. Zaglebie Lubin
Game 7 -- Toulouse v. FC Copenhagen
Game 8 -- Rangers v. Sparta Prague

Second round

Game 9 -- Game 1 winner v Game 8 winner
Game 10 -- Game 2 winner v Game 7 winner
Game 11 -- Game 3 winner v Game 6 winner
Game 12 -- Game 4 winner v Game 5 winner

Regional Semifinal

Game 13 -- Game 9 winner v. Game 12 winner
Game 14 -- Game 10 winner v. Game 11 winner

Regional Final

Game 15 -- Game 13 winner v Game 14 winner

Let’s play it out:

United v Rangers
Porto v Copenhagen
Schalke v Ajax
Olympiacos v Seville

United v Seville
Porto v Ajax

Porto v Seville

Regional winner: F.C. PORTO

REGION 2

1. Barcelona
2. Lyon
3. Roma
4. CSKA Moscow
5. Liverpool
6. Celtic
7. Benfica
8. Dinamo Bucaresti
9. Fenerbache
10. Beitar Jerusalem
11. Slavia Prague
12. Bate Borisov
13. Sheriff Tiraspol
14. MSK Zilina
15. Elfsborg
16. Pyunik

First round

Game 1 -- Barcelona v Pyunik
Game 2-- Lyon v Elfsborg
Game 3 -- Roma v MSK Zilina
Game 4 -- CSKA Moscow v. Sheriff Tiraspol
Game 5 -- Liverpool v Bate Borisov
Game 6 -- Celtic v. Slavia Prague
Game 7 -- Benfica v. Beitar Jerusalem
Game 8 -- Dinamo Bucaresti v. Fenerbache

Second round

Game 9 -- Game 1 winner v Game 8 winner
Game 10 -- Game 2 winner v Game 7 winner
Game 11 -- Game 3 winner v Game 6 winner
Game 12 -- Game 4 winner v Game 5 winner

Regional Semifinal

Game 13 -- Game 9 winner v. Game 12 winner
Game 14 -- Game 10 winner v. Game 11 winner

Regional Final

Game 15 -- Game 13 winner v Game 14 winner

Let’s play it out:

Barcelona v Fenerbache
Lyon v Benfica
Roma v Celtic
CSKA v Liverpool

Barcelona v Liverpool
Lyon v Celtic

Barcelona v Celtic

Regional winner: BARCELONA

REGION 3

1. AC Milan
2. PSV
3. Sporting
4. Arsenal
5. Marseille
6. Valencia
7. Werder Bremen
8. Spartak Moscow
9. FC Zurich
10. Red Star
11. Shakhtar Donetsk
12. Debrecen
13. Dinamo Zagreb
14. Astana
15. FK Zeta
16. Tampere United
    

First round

Game 1 -- AC Milan v Tampere United
Game 2-- PSV v FK Zeta
Game 3 -- Sporting v Astana
Game 4 -- Arsenal v Dinamo Zagreb
Game 5 -- Marseille v Debrecen
Game 6 -- Valencia v. Shakhtar Donetsk
Game 7 -- Werder Bremen v. Red Star
Game 8 -- Spartak Moscow v FC Zurich

Second round

Game 9 -- Game 1 winner v Game 8 winner
Game 10 -- Game 2 winner v Game 7 winner
Game 11 -- Game 3 winner v Game 6 winner
Game 12 -- Game 4 winner v Game 5 winner

Regional Semifinal

Game 13 -- Game 9 winner v. Game 12 winner
Game 14 -- Game 10 winner v. Game 11 winner

Regional Final

Game 15 -- Game 13 winner v Game 14 winner

Let’s play it out:

AC Milan v FC Zurich
PSV v Werder Bremen
Sporting v Shakhtar
Arsenal v Marseille

AC Milan v Arsenal
Werder Bremen v Sporting

Arsenal v Werder Bremen

Regional winner: ARSENAL

REGION 4

1. Inter Milan
2. Real Madrid
3. Stuttgart
4. Chelsea
5. Lazio
6. AEK Athens
7. Anderlecht
8. Dynamo Kiev
9. Rosenberg
10. Red Bull Salzburg
11. Steua
12. Genk
13. Levski Sofia
14. FH Hafnarfjorour
15. Ventspils
16. Levadia Tallinn

First round

Game 1 -- Inter Milan v Levadia
Game 2-- Real Madrid v Ventspils
Game 3 -- Stuttgart v FH Hafnarfjorour
Game 4 -- Chelsea v Levski Sofia
Game 5 -- Lazio v Genk
Game 6 -- AEK Athens v Steua
Game 7 -- Anderlect v Red Bull
Game 8 -- Dynamo Kiev v Rosenborg

Second round

Game 9 -- Game 1 winner v Game 8 winner
Game 10 -- Game 2 winner v Game 7 winner
Game 11 -- Game 3 winner v Game 6 winner
Game 12 -- Game 4 winner v Game 5 winner

Regional Semifinal

Game 13 -- Game 9 winner v. Game 12 winner
Game 14 -- Game 10 winner v. Game 11 winner

Regional Final

Game 15 -- Game 13 winner v Game 14 winner

Let’s play it out:

Inter v. Rosenborg
Real Madrid v Anderlecht
Stuttgart v. Steua
Chelsea v Lazio

Inter v Chelsea
Real v Stuttgart

Inter v. Real

Regional winner: INTER MILAN

FINAL FOUR

Porto v Barcelona
Arsenal v Inter Milan

Barcelona v Inter