First step towards College Football Playoff System?

[Emperor]

WASHINGTON -- A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle.

 

The bill, which faces steep odds, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff. The measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.

 

"With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on," Barrow said before the vote, although he stressed he didn't like the current Bowl Championship Series, either.

 

The BCS selections announced last weekend pit two unbeaten teams, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas, in the Jan. 7 national title game. Three other undefeated teams -- TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State -- will play in a BCS bowl game, but not for the championship.

 

"What can we say -- it's December and the BCS is in chaos again," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He said the BCS system is unfair and won't change unless prompted by Congress.

 

The legislation, which goes to the full committee, would make it illegal to promote a national championship game "or make a similar representation," unless it results from a playoff.

 

There is no Senate version, although Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pressed for a Justice Department antitrust investigation into the BCS.

 

Shortly after his election last year, Barack Obama said there should be a playoff system.

 

In a statement before the vote, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said, "With all the serious matters facing our country, surely Congress has more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played."

 

The subcommittee chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said, "We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

 

Yet Barrow wasn't alone in criticizing his colleagues' priorities; Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., made similar arguments. Space said that with people facing tough times, the decision to focus on college football sends the "wrong message."

 

The bill has a tough road ahead, given the wide geographic representation and political clout of schools in the six conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC -- that get automatic BCS bowl bids

 

The current college bowl system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings. Eight other schools play in the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls.

 

Under the BCS, the champions of those six big conference get automatic bids, while other conferences don't. Those six conferences also receive far more money than the other conferences.

 

 

[shinerfan]

Every year this is brought up by one or two congressmen associated with schools or regional fanbases who feel they were screwed over by the BCS. Very often with good reason. I doubt if Congress will ever address this in any meaningful way but that would be the only way we would ever see a full fledged playoff system. The argument they make about it interfering with academics is total BS in that the smaller schools that make up the old Div. 1-AA  do in fact have a 16 team postseason playoff. Why the double standard? The fact is that the university heads are happy with the current bowl system because the 35? current bowl games spread the revenue around to 70 different schools. Its not too tough to make a bowl game virtually every year but a playoff system would probably result in a pool of roughly 20-25 schools filling those 8 or 16 playoff spots year after year and leaving the rest out in the cold. The fans who feed the revenue stream are an afterthought and likely to stay that way. When the current FOX contract runs out there is some chance of a +1 system which would take the top two teams after bowl season is done. This would actually stretch out the season and interfere with academics more than a short playoff tournament but as long as it doesn't diminish bowl revenue or drastically change the distribution its likely to be approved.

[shinerfan]

So with all the talk about conference expansion, a plus one or extended playoff is starting to look inevitable. The Big 10/11 seems serious about going to 14 teams, so the other power conferences are likely to follow suit. Obviously Notre Dame seems like an obvious fit for the Big 10 but they've been resisting it for decades. Their recent struggles may have changed that though. If the rumored 14 team super conferences do come about the Irish may have no choice but to join up. Mizzou, Nebraska, and Colorado seem to be the leading contenders for the Big 10, with either 2 or 3 spots likely being open depending on whether Notre Dame is in.

This leaves Texas as the biggest prize of all. Their Athletic Dept. revenue is the biggest in the NCAA (by about 25-30%). They seem happy in their present spot running the Big 12 but if the Big 10 raids the Big 12 for 2-3 mid-tier teams they, along with Oklahoma will be forced to make a move. During its last expansion the SEC made a play for the Longhorns but the Texas leglislature insisted that Texas/TexasA&M were a 2 for 1 deal. This was widely perceived, at least among SEC fans, as preference for the fluff schedule with a more or less winner take all showdown with Oklahoma being their only real in conference test as opposed to the grueling week to week battles of an SEC schedule.

But if 14 teams seems to be the coming norm, that leaves room for the Aggies. Of course the Big10 and Pac10 are gonna be gunning for the Longhorns as  well but the SEC seems the best fit in terms of geography and potential rivalries. LSU and Arkansas are neighbors who already recruit heavily in Texas using the SEC brandname. Then add in new rivalries with Bama/Fla/Aub/Tenn/Ga.

The Pac10 has a couple of obvious candidates in Boise St. and Utah. Oklahoma will be an epic pickup for someone if the Big12 does end up dissolving. The ACC and BigEast are gonna be scrambling to add who they can, with the BigEast especially in peril of losing their status as a major football conference.

This consolidation into just a handful of television contracts would probably increase general revenues at the big schools enough to pry them away from their sacred cow of the bowl system. If the Big10 follows through on their plans its all a domino effect. I see an 8 team playoff at the end with the small schools still more or less out in the cold.