After six consecutive seasons of witnessing the Southeastern Conference continually win national championship after championship (including one where a non-conference champion brought home the title), it seems that the powers-that-be have decided that enough is enough. To paraphrase the great J.G. Wentworth, "we need a playoff, and we need it now!"
Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas seems to like the idea of having a four-team college football playoff, with each of the four teams being conference champions.
Chuck Neinas had a candid discussion with Berry Tramel of the Daily Oklahoman about his thoughts about a potential playoff in the future of college football, and not only does Neinas seem okay with it, but he seems eager to push it through before his interim tag runs out on June 1. Here is Neinas being asked about the potential downside and upside of a four-team playoff:
"Don't know of any," Neinas said.
The upside?
"Looking at it very broadly, we've agreed, we've got to do something to maintain public interest," Neinas said. "We want a vibrant postseason. We have to explore ideas that will make it better. There's obviously strong support of a four-team arrangement."
While everyone seems to be clamoring for a college football playoff, which is something that I personally wouldn't mind seeing, the reasoning behind why they want this to flourish is something I can't stand behind.
Maintain public interest? Really? What competition does the NCAA have for their game? No one's playing on Saturday but the NCAA, the ratings are steadily going up across the board, and to me this sounds like a reactionary position by decision-makers who weren't happy with the end result.
The national champion Alabama Crimson Tide won the title with the following scenario: a) being a team that didn't win their own conference, b) being a team that didn't win their own division, c) playing in rematch game that the general public didn't want to see again, d) being a team from the conference that now has won six in a row.
The NCAA built this system, a system that's been running since 1997. For years they've told us why the BCS is so great, and we've rebelled against it. Now, in a time where one faction of folks seem to have figured out the formula, now its time for the BCS to end? No, I'm not going for it.
The NCAA has more to worry about, like the skull-duggery tactics that goes on behind the scenes by universities and their boosters, agents and the predatory system that is the acquisition of talent for a non-profit organization. Of course, that pales in comparison of injustice that is a non-conference, non-divisional winning national champion that smoked the No. 1 team in the country convincingly. Yep, that's the real travesty.