The 2014 NCAA football season will be the first to have the new, untested playoff system. It is something fans have wanted for years. Since the creation of the BCS in 1998 there has been very few seasons where the fans and the media could agree the champion was also the best team in the country. The playoff system is intended to silence the controversy surrounding who is the NCAA champion.
It sounds all well and good, but it isn’t a cure all. There is going to just as much controversy surrounding the playoff and the selection committee as the BCS had, potentially more. We’re seeing that starting to happen already. Several coaches from the Pac-12, including Stanford’s David Shaw and Oregon’s Mark Helfrich, were critical of the scheduling practices in the SEC, ACC and Big Ten conferences on Thursday during their spring teleconference. Pac-12 and Big-12 teams play a nine game conference schedule while the other major conferences play eight.
The SEC has been taking advantage of scheduling for years. In every season since 2009, Alabama has scheduled a FCS opponent the week before their annual game against rival Auburn. Those teams have scored a combined 28 points against the Crimson Tide. Not surprisingly, that trend continues for their 2014 slate of games. It basically amounts to an extra bye week. Other SEC teams are guilty of this too.
The concern is that not everyone is on an equal playing field. In theory, teams should be trying for a stronger strength of schedule to catch the eye of the newly formed selection committee, but it hasn’t seemed to change the philosophy of the SEC, many are playing FCS schools midseason. It is unknown what specific criteria the selection committee will be using. The nine game conference schedule could either be a huge help to team’s chances of making the playoff, or a risk other teams don’t have to take.
I am leaning more toward it being a risk. The SEC probably don’t need to change their scheduling practices. It is the undisputed strongest conference in the eyes of the voters. Whether it is truly the strongest conference from top to bottom doesn’t really matter; the people in control think it is. I would put money down on the number one seed in the inaugural college football playoff will be the SEC champion. I wouldn’t even be surprised if two of the four teams end up being from the SEC, given the horrible Alabama/LSU rematch game from the 2011 season.
The new college football selection committee has a tall order ahead of them. The NCAA basketball selection committee is criticized year after year for leaving teams out, and they have 36 slots to choose from. Choosing four teams is going to be a difficult process, and the wave of criticism and controversy will be inescapable.
As college football fans we are finally free of the weird formulas and supercomputers of the BCS, for that I am thankful. I just find it unlikely that the new playoff system will fix all the problems in college football.
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