Playoff coming to college football? Matt Hayes says so.

Clemson won the ACC and got the AQ, not Virginia Tech. You'd send Clemson to LSU and Alabama would host WVa in that scenario.

 

You're also going to be playing in front of a lot of empty seats.

 

I'm not arguing that. I am saying the controversy will not go away with a four-team field. Might as well keep it like it is because it's just shifting the focus of the argument.

 

I don't know if I'd agree totally, four teams probably is better than two, but it certainly will not solve all the problems. And once they take the step, the calls for full-on playoff are only going to get louder. They sure aren't going away.

In a vacuum, eight is about right. I doubt if there has been a single team in the history of college football that was ranked #9 or lower but would have been a serious title contender. I just don't think they're getting to eight.

 

That is the point I was trying to make - that Oregon likely would have been No. 4 if people were paying attention to the top four spots like they do the top 2.

There is no question that media influence nudged Alabama over Ok State in the polls and had they been 20 and 21 Ok State - based on the merits of its schedule and the wins it had - would have been ahead of Alabama.

 

Yup. Bitching either way, but four is way better than 2. Light years better.

 

A plus-one is about as far as you will realistically get after the current contract ends.

Three years ago, most conferences wouldn't even discuss the plus-one model. At least now folks like Jim Delany are willing to discuss the plus-one. But you can forget about any eight or 16-team playoff. No way the FBS is going to go from a national championship game to any playoff structure. Conference commissioners and university presidents move about as fast as snails on these issues and most shut down at the mention of any playoff proposal.

 

At first. Like every other cash grab made by every other sport, the playoffs will expand. But it's a good start.

 

I'd much rather have four teams and people arguing over who is No. 5 - so that the actual best team in the country will have a chance to be crowned the champion -- than the silliness that is the NCAA Tournament in basketball - where about 58 of the 68 teams have no business in a "playoff" to determine the national champion.

 

Seems pretty simple. Let the Rose stay anchored to Jan. 1. Maybe even make that game a permanent semifinal (in exchange for giving up hosting an NCG). Have the primetime Jan. 1 game (Orange, Sugar or Fiesta) as the other.
The Rose has shown some flexibility in allowing non-Big 10 and Pac 12 teams in and I don't think they'd raise a fuss, as long as if a Big 10 or Pac 12 team was in the final four, they played in Pasadena.
The other two games? One gets the NCG, the other the 5-6 matchup. Maybe have the NCG host also host the next two highest ranked conference champs (like this year's Orange). Allow room for one at-large team in the BCS if it is in the top four, otherwise, conference champs only. And the non-Rose Bowls rotate the NCG and semi and 5-6 game.

 

If we allow conference champs only, Alabama doesn't get in this year.

 

Have proposed this before but say the college football suits decided to go crazy and start a tournament the same way they do in almost every other sport. Let's say they make it "fair" for each conference and have a 16-team playoff with 11 conference champions and five at-large teams.

Based just on BCS standings, your five at-large teams this season would be:

Alabama (SEC)
Stanford (Pac-12)
Arkansas (SEC)
Boise State (TCU won Mountain West)
Kansas State (Big 12)

So, Virginia Tech and Michigan - teams that made BCS bowls - wouldn't even get an invite and the SEC would still be top-heavy with three teams, including Arkansas, which finished third in its division.

You think that is going to fly with the commissioners? Two MWC teams, one Big Ten, one ACC, one Big East and three SEC, and you could make a legitimate case for a fourth in South Carolina.

You can see even in a 16-team playoff there is much debate.

Even in an 8-team playoff, the SEC would get three teams this season (again based on BCS standings).

Personally I would wouldn't mind seeing Mike Leach's 64-team idea come to fruition, but I think I will be long since dead before that happens.