Sound off: How much controversy will the new playoff system bring?

[RaychelSnr]

Since 1936, college football fans have watched the polls.

Because the polls meant everything.

In 2014, suddenly all of that quits mattering. The polls will mean absolutely nothing in regards to who is the best team in college football. A paneled selection committee will decide the fate of the National Championship with (what is reported to be) emphasis on conference championships and strength of schedule. This is undoubtedly going to really tick off some fans. There are numerous examples of the top four teams in the final BCS rankings likely not being the Top four picked as playoff contestants with those things in mind.

So let's have at it. The playoff is good, but will the controversy be more or less under the new system?

Sound off!

[cgalligan]

Boise St vs Oklahoma... That is the only thing you need to say when talking about controversy... Sure, the people that say Boise doesn't play the level of Competition throughout the Season are correct... If that bars them from having a chance to play for the Nation Championship, then so be it...

However...

That game, and others, have proved that "little" schools, Regardless of who they play throughout the Season can in fact, defeat anyone, on any given day... The real question is, should they be given the opportunity to do so?

In my opinion, NCAA Hoops does it best... 65 teams, some small, some large... EVERYTHING is decided on playing field / court... I'm not saying Football should do a 65 team tourny, but I think 8 or 12 would be better than just 4.

[lonewolf371]

I think someone did some analysis on the Big Ten blog about this and found that the one major case where a conference champion would be favored over a higher ranked team for the #4 spot was Oregon over Stanford last year, which really makes sense since Oregon beat Stanford 53-30 and won the Pac-12.

The controversy will still be big because of regional bias. People will see a team from one region or conference get in and say the committee is biased because of such-and-such, which may be true. The playoff will probably need to be expanded a little bit to accommodate the major conference champions. After that the controversy will die down to a level where it may be sustainable.

[Petey B]

I'm sure controversy will ensue-Imagine a solid Irish squad not making it because they didn't have a chance to win a conference championship-but what I really wanna know waking up to this news today is a question to EA... IS IT IN THE GAME?

[caasoccer]

It will probably be the same, but we will be arguing over the 4th slot instead of the 2nd and that is progress.

[Iceman87GT]

Well considering how many times 3 teams have been worthy of a trip to the National Championship game we've definitely solved a big problem. Yes there will still be debates about whether the 5th or 6th team in the country had a legitimate case to be in the playoffs but that's better than the 3rd best (and arguable 2nd best in the country) team not playing for a title. 2004 Auburn, 2008 Texas, 2009 Boise and TCU (both had cases, but in the end weren't even able to prove they could beat a BCS conference team because they got stuck playing eachother which was BS), 2006 Boise State, and 2011 OK State.

I'll take a controversy over who should be the 4th seed over who should be the 2nd team playing in the National Championship game every single time.

[Iceman87GT]

Quote: Originally Posted by caasoccer

It will probably be the same, but we will be arguing over the 4th slot instead of the 2nd and that is progress.

Considering the game has already been finalized the answer is no, unless they planned ahead, or if they can patch it in but I doubt either one of those happened due to the logistics.

[riichiieriich]

There's controversy in every sport. Not everyone can be made happy. With that said, I like this move for the NCAA Football scene and I think it's a vital step into deciding who the true champion is in college football.