APUPDATED 4/26 @ 2:45 p.m. ET: To steal a line from SI’s Andy Staples: happy V-BCS day.
In an announcement that is surprising to probably no one, yet is nevertheless important, the BCS has recommended that there be a playoff in major college football beginning in 2014.
Or, a four-team event. Whatever. I don’t care. It’s a playoff.
The BCS announced Wednesday that there are between two and seven variations of a four-team playoff being considered, with plus-one, eight-team and 16-team options officially off the table (for now).
It’s also worth noting the three-semifinal option (i.e., the Rose Bowl plan) has been given the pink slip as well.
How the selections for the four teams will be made, not to mention other logistics, are still to be determined, but we do know that automatic qualifying status is officially dead starting in 2014, according to BCS executive director Bill Hancock.
We’ll have more on this later, but for now, we want to hear your thoughts on the decision:
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No one is quite sure yet — not even the BCS committee — what major college football’s postseason will look like in the foreseeable future.
One thing is for sure, though. It won’t look like the current system.
Thank. You.
On the first of a two-day set of meetings over the BCS/playoff discussion, college football got perhaps its most explicit news to date regarding how a national champion will be decided.
Of all people, the news came from BCS executive director, Bill Hancock.
“I can officially say that the status quo is off the table,” Hancock (pictured) said. “The BCS as we know it with the exact same policies will not continue.”
Meanwhile, Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports and many others with a brain rejoice in the streets.
The BCS committee, composed of all 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, has been whittling down as many as 50-60 postseason ideas since January with a final decision expected to be made in July.
Earlier this month, the committee announced it had narrowed discussions into four primary preferences. Of those four, it appears a true plus-one or a “four team event” (which is really a playoff for normal people like you and me, but a four-letter word for BCS supporters) with semifinal games hosted at neutral locations are the most likely choices — with an emphasis on the latter.
But don’t get too ahead of yourself. Selection criteria (the BCS committee spent four hours going over that today) and the definition of “neutral” (in other words, does neutral mean a bowl game site? A site bid? A combination?) are still some of the items up for debate. The 11 BCS committee members will reportedly take two or three “finalist” ideas back to their conferences for further discussion.
Although it sounds as though the primary options have been decided.
I have been against a plus-one playoff ever since I heard of it. Not because its necessarily a bad idea, but because its not good enough. A four-team playoff is better.
Logistics-wise, a plus-one is better for the current BCS. But a four-team playoff is better for schools and the players, and all college football fans.
Ideally, I’d like to see each conference champion make it to some type of playoff, but due to time constraints, bowl monies, and whathaveyou, it seems unlikely for now.
So I’ll settle for a four-team playoff, even if it means three SEC schools.
The best part about a four-team playoff, is it leaves that slight chance that your team can still win a championship, and it will surely make for some sweet and unlikely match ups.
I have to assume that they’ll maintain some similar formula to what they have now to determine the top four teams. Just as an aside, if this four-team playoff were in affect the past five years, these are some of the match ups we would have seen:
2007
Oklahoma v Ohio State
Virginia Tech v LSU
2008
Alabama v Oklahoma
Texas v Florida
2009
TCU v Alabama
Cincinnati v Texas
2010
Stanford v Auburn
TCU v Oregon
2012
Stanford v LSU
Oklahoma State v Alabama
Status quo is off the table but apparently bad ideas are not. A plus one system is not the best system but may well be adopted because the BCS does NOT want to change much.
Chances are great that if they adopt a plus one system, it will be changed after a year or two as some wisdom prevails to modify it into a better system. It took this long to change anything, so it may be taken some time longer to actually get something fans can embrace.
i do not understand a plus one system but agree on a playoff system
My enthusiasm is tempered. The douchebags will find a way to screw whomever needed for the $$. Most of all the kids. Mizzou in da SEC !! You r shitting me!!
Ben, don’t be too quick to thank them. A lot of people forget the BCS was supposed to be the great solution to all the previous controversies associated with naming a national champion. Instead, it’s left fans more frustrated than ever. I favor a playoff and would like to believe they can come up with a tournament that will have the best Div I teams in the nation vying for the championship. But my cynical self fears they’ll just wind up making a complicated mess.
4 team playoff is good, but still kinda blows. At least 8 or 12 with top 4 getting a bye.
A plus one or a four team playoff is the same thing. Big deal. Go to 16 teams. Play first two rounds at higher seeds home stadium.
Losers in round one and two (which would be 12 teams) would be bowl eligible.
Start the playoffs in early Dec. The only games played during the first two rounds would be playoff games-no bowl games. In reality though it would be defficult, the playoffs should start Thanksgiving weekend. This would enable every first round game to be televised without overlap.
Take a break for all the bowl games to be played. Make all bowl games be played by Jan 2.
Then play the final four. There would be three neutral site games. The two semi-finals and the championship game.
Do not incorporate the bowls into the playoffs. Let venues across the country bid on the privilege of hosting a semi-final game or the championship game.
Every conference would be required to have divisions and a championship game. Winners of the championship game get the automatic bid. The losers of the conference championship games would be the only teams eligible for an at large bid. This would keep focus on the regular season especially the conference season. You would have to win your division for a chance to get in. This also limits a conference to no more than two teams in the playoffs. Use the BCS poll to select the 5 at large bids and to seed the playoffs. This keeps the writers etc engaged.
Perfect – fair – equitable system with clear cut criteria to get in. No undefeated team would ever get left out.
Why bid on neutral sites? The NCAA and its sponsors only know where to get hookers and coke in NOLA, Tempe, Miami, and LA? The BCS director said that college campuses lack the infrastructure (french for hookers and coke??) to hold a semi final game. A conference commissioner said basketball plays its tourney games on neutral sites so football should too. Does Bill Hancock really think Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, USC, LSU lack “infrastructure”? The lameness of basketball does it so football should too argument speaks for itself. Just say the only reason this is getting done is to make money for the NCAA and its sponsors ( to get more hookers and coke).
“A plus one or a four team playoff is the same thing.”
Not quite. There is no true semifinal in a plus-one format.
Also, in regards to another comment, the NCAA doesn’t have anything to do with this process.
@takingbovadasmoney
The reason they say lack infrastructure is that classes will be out meaning there may not be enough people to work the games.
Lack of infrastructre does not mean an up to date stadium, it has more to do with motel rooms and such for the media. Thats why the SEC moved the CCG to Atlanta. Do you really think Boise, as a city and a campus, could handle a national semi? With Bama’s fanbase arriving on masse? I say pick the best city in the higher seeded league’s territory. Atlanta or NOLA for the SEC, Miami for the ACC, Indy for the B1G, Jerry World for the 12, LA or Tempe or even Vegas for the PAC, Philly?? on the off chance the Big East gets fiesty.
@normtide
Absolutely Boise could handle traveling Alabama fans. Is that a joke?
More people are in Boise on move-in day than there would be for a semi-final game.
20K people go to BSU. 200K people live there.
LOL! Like Boise has to worry about hosting a semi-final game. Jaysus people, get a grip.
This is just an attempt by the BCS to keep themselves in the picture.
Seven team player off … “the Magnificent Seven”
First Round: #1 LSU idle
This is the quarter final: #2 Bama vs. #7 Wisconsin (bama is the higher seed so game is played in the evening at the SugarBowl
#3 Oklahoma State vs. # 6 Oregan
(Oklast higher seed game is played at Jerry’s World this too can be an evening game, one kickoff at 5:45 that should be enough time for switch over for next kickoff)
….there’s only three games on Quarterfinal Saturday… That means this game has to @12 or @3 for national televising
Same day, quarterfinal : #4 Stanford vs. #5 Arkansas @ pasadena Rose Bowl
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Next week : Semi Final between “The Mighty Four”
#1 LSU (well rested and ready to play, the guys are pumped up!!!! They will have a rematch the Tigers after, hope the Ducks brought their running shows this time: right? You would think Knight would help out a little, either way it’s going to be a rematch of the century!!! Tonight the Ducks will walk into The Mez Sugar Ball Super dome, try saying that again three times real fast!!…., as the Mighty Ducks and proved, once and for all to the whole nation, with the win tonight over #1 Tigers, that you too are dependents of A Legend: Howard theDuck, be proud, live long, and quack!!!!
And the other two matchup: #2 Alabama vs. #4 Arkansas…. Oh my my what a match up, I’m telling you we did something good in our previous life, because there is no explaining this back to back!!!
God is Good, yes,!!!! Last week ‘s game of the week was the double over time win by Arkansas, that will live with them for the rest of their lives. Just amazing, I get choke up thinking about that game: Petrino’s Hogs are down three touchdowns, to Nation’s #3 team in the country and the most potent offense in college history… You are right on both points, hope Mike Gundy remembered what got here and continue with the onslaught !!! Are you kidding me!!! OkSt last three possessions, have been three and out! What the hell ? I know Weeden was old, how do you miss a wide open Blackmon in the is?!? Somebody please get my grandmother on the line, Please!!
“hello grandma! I’m good , now you know I don’t talk to myself anymore, or that much,…. Any way Grandma, are you currently using your bi-focal ? I got this old guy out here, thirty minutes ago looks Ike the second coming of Montana, and now he looks like,…. Wait shit! Is that JaMarcus?! What a game sat week indeed.
If LSU wins, theSEC will win the six straight BCSNCG! Thats Dominance!!!
After first week of January : The Final Two, as they would say in NCAAB. Not here!!! We don’t copy, we innovate : “There’s Only One”
Playoff andBcSNCG: in New Orleans AllState/Sugar Bowl….”trust me sugar, you’re in good hand with all state.”
The Game of theCentury: #1 LSU vs. Arkansas … LSU,They just win baby !! Solid, fundamental game plan, this is why they are what the are: LSU! LSU! LSU! The Tigers has been eating good as of late, last week they shared with the stadium on how to slowly roast a duck! And tonight the Hawaiian Chefs are flew in as honorary guess of the Tigers, I heard they are planning a Luau
Oh… Damn!!!!! It was all a f$)$$ing dream!!! Dammit
For all conferences, the regular season ends during the last weekend in November.
Use the 4 weekends in December for playoff games based on national rankings for the conference champions similar to the NCAA bracket system. Games played at school with higher rank.
The BCS Champ Bowl game to be played by the 2 remaining teams in bracket & played 2nd weekend in January. Other bowl games played during first 2 weeks in January & opponents determined by poll of teams in semi-finals or by status-quo.
…I’m sure my concept has plenty of holes, but seems the simplest.
Be Gone status quo!!! If we can’t have an 8 team playoff, A 4 team playoff is better than what we have now.
I am more in favor of a plus one than I am a 8 or 16 team playoff. No matter how many teams make a playoff, the first team out will think they got screwed, that will never end. It happens in Basketball and 68 teams make the tournament now.
I for one like the bowl games. I don’t watch them all, but I do watch the games with teams I care about. I am an alumni of a school that will not be playing for a National Championship on a regular basis if ever, so making it to a bowl game is a big deal for us. It’s extra practices for the team, it helps with recruiting, etc. It is must see TV for me if my team is playing. There are a few games I think attract national attention but bowl games, in my opinion, are for the fans of the 2 schools involved and maybe the fans of thier conference. Expanding a playoff too much does damage the bowl games and the regular season. Certain regular season games are huge because there is so much riding on it. I don’t want to lose that because both teams will make a playoff either way.
To say that Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, etc., do not have the infrastructure to handle a playoff game is the height of spin. Let’s call a spade a spade. The BCS people want another paid vacation to a big city where they can blow millions showing how powerful they are. Where does college football originate? Big cities or college campuses? The schools with the big stadiums handle 100,000+ 7-8 times a year without a hiccup. These BCS rock stars need to showcase college football and check their egos at the door.
One year in and people are going to think this sucks worse than the BCS. Four is way too small.
You really think four is going to stop controversy?
What’s going to happen when there are five one loss teams?
What’s going to happen when Boise State is #4, then after the SEC championship game they’re suddenly #5 on the outside?
What’s going to happen when an 8-4 team wins the title by getting lucky for two games? (if it is only conference champions in the final four)
All these and more questions all lead to controversy.
It doesn’t end with four teams. It just moves the problem down from who is 1 and 2 out of a whole mess of teams to who is 1, 2, 3, and 4 out of a whole mess of teams. Not much difference. We aren’t talking about who to pick as the 68th team in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s a start. I’m hoping for an 18-team tournament.
“No matter how many teams make a playoff, the first team out will think they got screwed, that will never end.”
maybe, but there’s a difference between being screwed out of #2 and being screwed out of #4 or #8 or #16 ….
udub: nothing can suck worse than the BCS!
salmon88: You’re on the ball.
ALL games should be played at the higher seed’s stadium.
Or, with the visitor’s permission, Boise could choose to play its home game in seattle to make up for small stadium size.
Final at the Rose Bowl.
Every Year.
Jan 1.
Broad Daylight.
I think it’s a great start, but there will still be controversy. Instead of who should be BSC #2, the current #2 or the #3, blah blah, it’s going to get moved down to #4 and #5.
I also hope notre dame’s special treatment in the BCS process also got (or gets) eliminated along with the automatic qualifier status.
salmon88 says: Apr 26, 2012 11:36 AM
To say that Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, etc., do not have the infrastructure to handle a playoff game is the height of spin. Let’s call a spade a spade. The BCS people want another paid vacation to a big city where they can blow millions showing how powerful they are. Where does college football originate? Big cities or college campuses? The schools with the big stadiums handle 100,000+ 7-8 times a year without a hiccup. These BCS rock stars need to showcase college football and check their egos at the door.
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If you’re calling a spade a spade, then there are plenty of schools that don’t have the infrastructure.
If Washington State is going to host a semi-final game you’re talking about a 30,000 seat stadium in a 20,000 person town where people have to get hotel rooms an hour away when Washington State plays Cal in October…now we are talking about a semi-final or final for a championship.
TCU, Boise State, hell even schools like Oregon with 55-60K stadium don’t have enough space for this magnitude of a game.
What do you propose? On campus games, but only if the stadium is a certain size or more? You’ll never be able to have it both ways.
@seanmartin …
Seriously? I don’t care how big the town is, Boise doesn’t have a large enough stadium to host a playoff game, much less a championship game. Even when they enlarge the thing, it will be half the size of Alabama’s stadium. But on the subject of BSU, I’m with tuckfexas. Can we please stick to Division I?
Let the 5th ranked team discussions begin!
The SEC should nix the title game for sure so we can get 2 teams in each year.
I think everyone wants a playoff not much debate there. But be careful what you wish for you might just get it SEC haters. Having a playoff just about will guarantee the SEC a team in the big game almost every year and you will get alot of SEC vs SEC years. That will drive the SEC haters batty. What will they want next? A system that only lets the SEC in the playoffs every other year?
4 is too small. 8 would have been the right call.
I can imagine a team finishing 5th in the standings and everybody thinking they really should have been in the mix. Not so with a 9th-ranked team. That is just too far down the rankings to be able to make a good argument that you got screwed out of a title shot. I guess I’m just agreeing with udub and disagreeing with ripso8 here. 8 would have done it. This is a move in the right direction but just leaves you wondering why they didn’t do the obvious and draw the line at 8.
The thing about college football that makes everything so enjoyable and emotional are the fans.
And what seems to be lost on all the talk about which team is really number one and playoffs are: the fans – fans from an university or college – so STUDENTS.
Whatever concoction of a four team playoff, you are extending the season by at least 3 weeks. If your team is headed to the championship – that’s three additional games to budget travel/lodging/food and most importantly – study time.
Can you imagine being a student – let’s just say you’re a band member. Kill an entire month of studying as you’re traveling back and forth across the country.
Education is more important than bragging rights.
Just watch. My prediction is that the criteria for a “neutral site” game will look an awful like the site selection criteria for a NCAA Men’s Final Four in basketball (which is for a domed stadium seating 70,000 for basketball), except maybe the stadium size might be bigger. It will essentially be limited to NFL stadiums in NFL cities. Even if they forego the “dome” requirement, it’s going to be difficult to match large on-campus facilities in much of the country with places that have enough lodging to take a crowd of mainly out-of-towners. Big college football crowds are great – but they tend to be made up of lots of students and day-trippers, not folks from all over the country who might need a hotel room.
About the only two places in the country that currently fit the criteria I’d establish for a semifinal or final game in what I would consider “currently great college football territory” (advance apologies to you who feel slighted) are the Superdome and Jerrah’s Big TV Lounge. There would certainly be shenanigans called if you had Texas, Oklahoma, LSU or Alabama playing at those sites over other sites if they ever get a playoff going.
Replacing one mess with another mess. We’ll all be able to argue until we die. I tihnk I’m going to write a note right now to my own as yet unborn grandchildren so they’ll understand why their grandpa went crazy.
@poopfictionado…
You almost had me … Until the RoseBowl talks!!!!
Seven out!!!!
If it must be four teams instead of six (two with first round bye), then it should be the top four teams using existing or modified ranking system. # 1 vs. 4, #2 vs. 3, except if two teams from the same conference are in the top 4, they should be opposite sides of the bracket.
Don’t get your hopes up folks, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors going on here. The BCS contract with ESPN ends in 2015, which means the ratings better not take a dive. The money train can’t be stopped for this to work. Overall this moved makes zero sense! Why would the SEC be for change? The have won 6 straight titles, if it isn’t broke why fix it? Why did ND support this, this makes there titles hopes harder. The BCS doesn’t care about fans otherwise they would have come up with this sooner. These conference commissioners are making a boat load of money why change it? This should be celebrated, it should be questioned.
edit my previous comment last sentence:
“Shouldn’t be celebrated, it should be questioned.”
The other thing that doesn’t make sense is Bill Hancock has done a total 180 on this playoff thing. Something else to keep in mind.
First, college football is interstate commerce, therefore, eligible to be regulated by the federal government. Get rid of NCAA and BCS. Place all D1 schools in 8 conferences with 2 divisions each. Conference championship game is first round of playoffs. Eight winners proceed. Incorporate bowls into the mix, but teams not in playoffs play in bowls not used in playoffs and teams not in semi-finals or finals bowl eligible. This is simple, easy and fair.
College football was far more interesting before the BCS and now it continues down the path of getting worse.
At least now the SEC or any other conference can have more than 2 Teams in the BCS based upon won loss records and not voting by Special Interest or weaker conferences. Every year the top 10 or 12 teams are pretty evident without too much controversy. The top 6 Teams at the end of the regular season should be an automatic bye in the playoff system and the next 4 should compete for a wild card slot in early minor bowls making a final 8 Team playoff system. The Wild Card Bowls would increase their stature and worth. The top 10 at the end of the regular season are usually realistic and the bubble would be who is left out at number 11 for the end of that season. At least all the crying and complaining would be between the number 10 and number 11 team and not the system.The number 10 or 11 Team should not be playing for a championship shot anyway and the bottom 4 of the top 10 would have to win a wild card game to advance. 8 Major BCS type bowl games would become the first round of the playoffs. The Semi-final and the final should rotate across the Country to competing venues. The Controversy would then shift to the match up selections for the BCS Playoff Bowl games. The playoff system should have at least 8 Teams at a minimum.