It is a new age in football – an age of change, a new game, a new BCS. If you have been keeping up with college football in any amount, you will know or have heard about the problems surrounding the Bowl Championship Series.
For decades, the majority of viewers, players and coaches alike have pushed and pleaded for a new system. It took hundreds of hours in the meeting room, arguing, discussing and analyzing to finally come to a consensus. The BCS commissioners came to an agreement on a four-team seeded playoff.
“It’s a great day for college football. We’re all excited about this. It was a long time coming, the commissioners worked very hard collaboratively and collegiately to get where they got and we’re just delighted,” said Bill Hancock, BCS executive director, in an interview with ESPN.
The need for change was evident from all of the persistent criticism of the 14-year reign of the BCS.
“We were supportive of what we had and we understood that it was under a lot of criticism,” said Jim Delaney, commissioner of the Big 10 conference, in an interview with USA Today. “As we moved forward to our new model, we had a couple of important issues. We wanted this to continue to support the regular season, it does that. We also wanted it to be inside the bowl system; it does that also. We think that the method for selecting teams is more rational and has fewer conflicts and it will be more transparent.
“College football is well-served and the Big 10 is well-served, as well as the players and coaches. There will always be people who want more, but sometimes less is more.”
The presidents heard the complaints and answered with a new way of selecting the teams for the BCS. During their meeting concerning playoffs, they came to an agreement of banishing the combination of human and computer polls in deciding the top teams. The presidents switched to a selection committee, a group of well-versed, experienced football analysts and commissioners.
“It is the whole concept that we were able to come together and do something good for college football. We made compromises and worked closely together, and I think what we’ve done is we’ve preserved the regular season and enhanced it by this 4-team playoff,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive in an interview with USA Today.
The semifinals will now be rotated among six bowl games, but they have yet to figure out the rotation. The committee put in place to make the final decision every season will rank the playoff teams by way of schedule strength, conference champions and win-loss record.
“A four-team playoff doesn’t go too far,” said Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, chair of the presidential oversight committee, in an interview with ESPN. “It goes just the right amount.”
This is what we have all been waiting for – a playoff system, finally
