May 21, 2013
Playoffs Coming to College Football
Rick Devens
College football is king in the Southeast and it looks like pretty soon there will be a new method of handing out the National Crown.
Since 1998, college football has been using the current BCS system. Critics of that system, of which there are many, would say that college football has been handcuffed by the BCS since '98.
On Wednesday, we got a new solution. The BCS Commissioners along with Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick came to terms on a seeded four-team playoff that would begin in 2014.
"We have developed consensus behind a four-team seeded playoff. We also discussed various selection methods for seeding that four-team playoff," says Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame Athletic Director.
Sources say that under the proposed plan, four teams would be chosen by a selection committee that would judge on criteria like strength of schedule and Conference Championships.
While a four-team playoff is great news for most conferences and especially for small conference teams like Boise State, it may be bad news for Georgia fans. Georgia is in the Southeastern Conference which has things pretty good in the current BCS.
In fact, an SEC school has played in each of the last six BCS National Championship games. Last year's Championship game between LSU and Alabama featured two SEC schools. That means an undefeated, or even one loss, Georgia team would be practically guaranteed a spot in the title game under current BCS rules. Under the new rules they would still have to make it through the playoffs.
"We're meeting with the presidents advisory committee next week. We will present our views so the presidents can make their decisions," says Swarbrick.
The presidents will meet this Tuesday in Washington, DC. At the meeting they could vote on whether to adopt the four-team playoff.
A four-team playoff would increase the competitive balance in college football but that's not necessarily why the BCS Commissioners made their decision. According to some sources Conferences could make $400 million to $500 million annually from a four-team playoff.
