Conference Commissioners Approve Four-Team Playoff

Well, playoff proponents, your wish has been granted.

On Wednesday, college football's powerbrokers approved a plan to create a four-team playoff, and aim to implement that system by the 2014 season. That means all of you folks who have been complaining so bitterly about the BCS have just two more seasons to put up with a system that, it should be noted, has done precisely what it was designed to do.

But I digress.

According to a report from ESPN.com, the playoff plan will be built within the confines of the existing bowl system, with the two national semifinals being rotated between the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls (why these national semifinals aren't being played at on-campus sites is beyond me, although I'm sure "money" has a lot to do with it). The national title game will be put out for bid, a la the Super Bowl.

As for how the four playoff teams will be selected, it seems likely that a "committee" will be used to pick and seed the teams. I'm sure that actions of that committee won't be the least bit controversial.

Speaking to ESPN.com, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said he knew that the new plan would not "satisfy everyone" (correct, Larry). But he suggested that the commissioners did the best they could, given the constraints under which they are operating.

Said Scott: "Until you have an eight-team or 16-team seeded playoff, there will be folks out there that aren't completely satisfied. We get that. But we're trying to balance other important parties, like the value of the regular season, the bowls, the academic calendar."

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