When Big Ten commissioner and long-time status quo supporter Jim Delany indicated earlier this month that his conference was kicking around the idea of a four-team playoff, the anticipation of change in college football’s postseason gained substantial momentum.
Now, another college football power broker is adding his two cents to the playoff discussion. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott spoke with the New York Times on Friday and echoed the idea of having four teams play semifinal games on campus with a championship game alternating among bidding host cities.
“There’s a reason that in the N.F.L. they only play the Super Bowl as a neutral-site game,” Scott told the Times. “There’s a reason they play playoffs and A.F.C. and N.F.C. championships with home hosting.”
Scott didn’t say explicitly he supported a four-team playoff, but added he didn’t like the idea of an eight-team playoff. You can put two and two together on that (see what we did there?). But whether it’s a newly adopted championship format, or raising the minimum requirement to participate in bowl games, Scott concedes it’s time for a fresh start.
“So much of the passion of a move to a playoff is to see it earned on the field,” Scott said. “What more clear way to have intellectual consistency with the idea of a playoff than to earn it as a conference champion? It would de-emphasize the highly subjective polls that are based on a coach and media voting and a few computers.”
Eleven conference commissioners plus Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick just completed the second of several meetings last week to discuss the future of major college football’s postseason. A playoff of some kind could replace the current BCS system by 2014.