And so we come to the end of the BCS era. Thank goodness! Let’s hope that whatever they come up with next is a little easier to follow, or make sense of.
It is a bit worrisome that the same guys who were in charge of the BCS process will also be ram-rodding the new system. We can only sit back and hope for the best.
The folks in charge of the college football playoffs have been working on setting up a four team playoff system for almost two years now… and it’s still not ready. To make matters worse yet, many fans and writers are already speculating that the four team set up is not good enough and are pushing for eight. Now how would that work out?
On the surface, an eight team playoff system for NCAA college football teams seems to be a great idea. Including eight teams would take care of all the conference champions that really matter and also include the very best of the at-large teams that failed to win their respective conferences but have still impressed us enough to warrant a playoff spot. That sounds well rounded, right?
Nay sayers are telling us that including eight teams in the playoff system would somehow dilute the process quoting the law of diminishing returns. The more games, the less interest in each one or so goes the theory.
Money wise, the extra 4 playoff contests would be worth around only about $50,000,000 each and not the $90-$100 million that they rake in for each of the championship series games now. While the $50 million still sounds like a lot of money, the networks are not likely to be quite as eager to jump on board with such a plan if they do not see a clear and substantial profit involved.
There will be some changes to be sure. For example, under the new system Alabama, even after losing to Auburn, would have been included in the playoff series.
Of course, from an academic standpoint, the added games would further cut into an already overcrowded spring semester for the players and college presidents are going to be against any additional second semester football games.
Then there is the NFL, which is in the middle of a crowded schedule of its own at that time of the year. What about scheduling conflicts with the pros?
College football fans across the nation are waiting expectantly for a better playoff system to be put into place. Will that be in 2014?
