The problem with a four team college football playoff

Want to know the easiest way to get a college football fan riled up? Well, besides an Auburn fan telling an Alabama fan just how bad their team is. Mention the topic of playoffs.

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There are many die-hard fans on both sides of this aisle, and this four game playoff will not solve anything. Why? Because it is a walking contradiction.

The stated goals of said playoff are to make this a national event, to focus on conference champions, and to get the four best teams in the country.

So what’s the problem? In each of the last four years, two teams from the same conference have been in the top four of the BCS standings. And while those standings may have gone the way of the Dodo Bird, most of the national polls agreed.

In 2010, it was Oregon(2) and Stanford (4). In 2011 it was LSU(1) and Alabama(2). In 2012, it was Alabama(2) and Florida(3). Last year, it was Auburn(2) and Alabama(3).

If the focus is on conference champions and not the four best teams, you are going to have a lot of (rightfully) pissed off SEC fans.

If they want to make this a “national event”, there was not a team west of the Eastern Time Zone in the top four last year. Something has to give. This committee can’t have it both ways.

This still amounts to nothing more than a popularity contest, hand pick by a 13-member committee that either doesn’t pay much attention to the sport outside of their team, or has very biased allegiances. You don’t need me to tell you this is bad.

This playoff is more about revenue generation that good football, which is what sickens college football purists like me. Teams that generate the most revenue will be given a seat at the table while the rest huddle in the corner waiting for scraps.

The four team playoff simply will not work out the way that the fans want it to. At least the BCS got the number 1 vs. number 2 game right in most seasons.

Replacing one flawed system with perhaps a more flawed system is no way to run a business.

For those of you against the playoffs, this will be short lived. At least the four team format will be. It will be expanded to eight within three years. There is just no fair way for four teams to work if it is not based on merit alone.

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