I agree 100%. I'm not in favor of anything more than 4 teams actually. I love the importance college football has in the regular season. Having 4 teams go does not significantly reduce the importance of the regular season. To address the concerns of those who think this would somehow deminish the importance of the regular season, how many years do you think a 2-loss team is going to finish in the top 4 in the final BCS? Michigan in 2003 is the last one I can think of. Fact of the matter is in most years you will have one or more 1-loss teams on the outside looking in in a 4 team playoff. If you want a shot at the national title, you'd better win every game or play a damn hard schedule with only one loss. To those who will say that if you make it a 4-team playoff instead of 2, then you're just going to have #5 complaining when they don't make it: You know what? So what! If you did not finish in the top 4, you probably are THE BEST team in the country. The point is to make sure any team that finishes undefeated in a major conference (ala Auburn 2004) gets a shot at the title. If you lose a game, you no longer have a right to complain if you don't make it (yes, that even goes for us this year). The thing that needs to stop is when a team does everything they can do (play a hard schedule [yes I'm looking at you Hawaii], go unbeaten, dominate all year) and still not have a chance to play for the title.
the best scenario to get a playoff from this years craziness is for OhioSt to go undefeated and not make it to the NC---and at the expence of one or two nontraditional powers. say, kansas and s florida.
I'm conflicted... on one hand, I completely agree with you. On the other hand, I have a philosophical problem with the concept of any team going undefeated and not even having a chance to play for the national title (see Marshall and Tulane back in the late 1990s). Sure, their schedules were weak, and most people who aren't huge fans of those teams admit that they probably wouldn't have won the championship if they had been given a chance, but we'll never really know. So the problem, which may be unsolvable, is how can the regular season be kept important, while still letting a team that finishes undefeated but outside of the top 4 have a chance?
Money. We would have a playoff now if there would be more money made with a playoff and it would not hurt the Bowl games money. If everyone could be guaranteed more money they would have a playoff system. Did I say Money?
Yes, exactly. They would be less significant. In fact, bowl games outside of a playoff system should be absolutely insignificant. Why? Because that's the way high school, D1-AA, and the Pros do it.
It's just sad how money is stopping the greatest thing in the world. Do you realize how awesome college football would be with a playoff?
The top four teams in a playoff would make sense, but I doubt if any of the BCS conferences would accept an expanded playoff that may exclude their conference champion. And, I might add, there is an undertone here that a playoff would somehow only benefit the SEC in some manner. I would guess it would still vary year by year. Last year Wisconsin fans were besides themselves because the Wissies were "odd man out" due to the BCS allowing only two teams from one conference in BCS bowls. My guess is the fans of all conferences would vote for some kind of expanded playoff, either because they think somehow it would benefit their team or conference... or, deep down, they know it's just the right thing to do. I can tell you right now, if we do have an expanded format, that the very first year, in the very first round, some star player's gonna get injured, some team's gonna win on a controversial call, some team is gonna lose on the other team's home field..... and the outburst from the losing team's fans will be at the same decibel level as the year's prior when they just missed being in a BCS bowl. You can bank on it.:wink:
True. Someone please tell me just how "significant" is the Peach Bowl? It would certainly lose no significance in a playoff scenario. Nor would any other bowl that's already insignificant. Those bowl games are only significant to those fans whose teams are in them. By that logic...every bowl game THIS year is insignificant other than the BCSNCG. With a playoff, say using the major bowls as the playoff games...rotating them like they do now...where every few years, one of them is the NC...then ALL of the major bowls would be even MORE significant to ALL fans. As it is, I don't really care any more about the Rose Bowl than I do about the Peach Bowl. I don't have a team in the Rose Bowl. At least the Peach Bowl does contain an SEC team.
One thing I wouldn't like about it is this. Would there be some foul play trying to get teams from particular conferences in the playoffs? You can bet that...even if not...there would be conspirancy theorist coming out of the woodworks when their team didn't make it in.
the great john feinstein recently wrote an article with his solution. 12 team playoff, with the top 4 getting byes. the regular season is still important because the byes for the top4 and home field adv for the top 8 is a huge determinant of winning the NC. i dont buy it when people say a playoff will make the reg season meaningless. because, at least as it pertains to winning the NC, it is already basically meaningless to all but about 5-10 teams.
