NCAA Scraps the BCS Selection Process for Playoff-Style Matchups
| June 29, 2012 | ||
| 9:00 pm |
Breaking news in the college football world. . . beginning in 2014, the NCAA football playoff landscape will feature four teams battling it out in a single elimination bracket-style competition, with the semi-final winners earning spots in the coveted College Football National Championship game. Playoff games will rotate among six sites with the championship game played at location based on a bid selection.
Current BCS games include the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA), Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ), Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) and Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) and it’s apparent those sites will continue to be in the mix. Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, home of the Cotton Bowl, is widely rumored to be a front-runner to land one of the other two spots. Expect the sixth to go to a warmer-weather city like Jacksonville or Atlanta.
In the new model, playoff teams will be chosen by a selection committee weighing parameters like schedule strength, win-loss record and head-to-head matchups following the regular season. Conference champions get preferential treatment. While the committee makeup has yet to be determined, it will likely include college athletic directors and 20 conference commissioners.
Right now, the BCS selection process relies on an ambiguous mix of polls and programs to calculate rankings and determine the matchup for the BCS National Championship Game. Many think this methodology is intrinsically flawed because undefeated teams have finished their season without a National Championship game invite. Over the past 6 seasons, there have been more undefeated non-BCS championship teams than teams that went undefeated and won a BCS champions title.
And, while the shakeup seems promising for often overlooked teams, it bodes well for the NCAA too. Preliminary reports estimate the new playoff system will garner television rights upwards of 500 million and with the championship game becoming college football’s super bowl, you can bet that some dome-cities like Indy and Detroit will be wrangling for a chance to host college football’s biggest game and this translates into big bucks for the NCAA.
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