College Football To Get Playoffs In 2014…Finally!
In the 2014 college football season there is one thing that is for certain, the BCS system is dead! College football will finally go to a playoff model with its own “Final Four”. A committee of university presidents approved a plan Tuesday afternoon to institute a four team playoff structure as recommended by the commissioners of the major football conferences.
Virginia Tech president Charles W. Steger said in a statement that the new system doesn’t take college football too far in any direction.
Steger said,
“It goes just the right amount. There were differences of views. I think it would be a serious mistake to assume it was a rubber stamp.”
Commissioners have been working on a solution to the BCS system and the playoff system completes a six month review period. The issue was taken up after fans have been complaining about the BCS system fr years. Under the current system the Number 1 and 2 team meet in the final game of the season for the championship. The current system has been heavily criticized for years. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have called for it to be changed, a Political Action Committee was formed to lobby against it and the Justice Department recently was pursuing an anti-trust investigation into the system. President Obama has even called for a playoff.
Under the new system, No. 1 will play No. 4, and No. 2 will play No. 3 on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The sites of those games will rotate among the four current BCS bowls — Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar — and two more to be determined.
The winners will advance to the championship on the first Monday in January that is six or more days after the last semifinal. The first championship Monday is set for Jan. 12, 2015.
The current BCS system is in place until 2013 because of a deal with ESPN. The commissioners are looking for a television partner to ensure the new system will be around for at least 12 years.