The Football Bowl Subdivision will have a college playoff in 2014. Believe it or not, it's official.
On Tuesday, June 26, conference commissioners met with an oversight committee of university presidents and chancellors to end the debate that has dominated college football talk for the past 14 years.
However, the debate has not ended; it has just begun.
A committee of "experts" that have yet to be chosen will select the participants of the four-team playoff, set to start at the end of the 2014 season.
Who qualifies as an expert that can be trusted to put aside personal agendas? Surely conference commissioners will not be part of the chosen few for obvious reasons. Athletic directors should fall into that same category. But will that be taken into consideration?
The tools to decide the teams should be obvious. BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said there will be some sort of computer metric similar to the Rating Percentage Index to judge strength of schedule. It can be assumed that head-to-head matchups, conference champions and records will also be included in the discussion.
With all of these tools in play, the committee must each select the four best-qualified teams to compete for the national championship.
This step in the process throws up a slew of red flags that will have mid-majors and conference runner-ups complaining well into the off season.
Take 2010 for example. Auburn was the obvious favorite for the national championship and Oregon was a shoe-in at No. 2. There would have been two more teams to make the playoff. Here is a list of potential candidates in order of their BCS rankings from Nos. 3-13.
No. 3 TCU, MWC champion (12-0); No. 4 Stanford (11-1); No. 5 Wisconsin, Big Ten co-champion (11-1); No. 6 Ohio State, (11-1); No. 7 Oklahoma, Big 12 champion (11-2); No. 8 Arkansas (10-2); No. 9 Michigan State, Big Ten co-champion (11-1); No. 10 Boise State, WAC co-champion (11-1); No. 11 LSU, (10-2); No. 12 Missouri (10-2); No. 13 Virginia Tech, ACC champion (11-2).
The problem is if they go with the conference champions of the top four conferences, assuming they all stay together, there will be some major players left out. In that scenario the remaining two teams in the playoff would have been Wisconsin/Michigan State and Oklahoma or Virginia Tech. Now undefeated TCU has a gripe.
This is where the human element comes into play to make an educated decision based on each team's specific case, also where consistency will become the recurring argument.
Do you take the conference champions or the top four teams based on their resumes to make a case?
In 2011, the arguably best two teams were Alabama and LSU with a third SEC team in Arkansas not far behind with two losses. The committee would then be faced with the issue of picking the top teams or conference champions. In that scenario Oklahoma State would definitely be chosen, but the last spot would be left to Stanford, Oregon, Arkansas, Boise State, No. 10 Big Ten champion Wisconsin or No. 15 ACC champion Clemson.
It's a lot to swallow, but it's the unavoidable truth. ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd said it best when he compared the playoff system to a debate between what is fair and what is even.
Having four teams compete for the national championship is even, not fair. The Big Ten and the Big 12 are not facing SEC level competition. Mid-majors may play one or two "national championship conversation worthy" opponents per year. In week 13 of last year, the SEC held all three of the top spots in the BCS rankings. It would be a big surprise to see more than two, if even two in this playoff system.
Let's not forget about Notre Dame. Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick has been in almost every meeting to decide this playoff. The Irish may have been quiet the past few decades, but it would be foolish to think they will not be part of the conversation. Expect an 11-1 Irish team that has no conference and dictates their own schedule to make the playoff over a second SEC team.
A playoff in college football is not a bad thing. If anything it gives fans and the media that much more to get excited about. The water cooler conversations during the December and January months will hold much more weight than those of the past that covered the winner of the Capital One and Gator Bowls.
Anything is better than the flawed BCS, including a four-team playoff. But we will have to wait 12 years for this system to play itself out before it moves to an improved six- or eight-team playoff.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
