LSU Football: Les Miles Promotes Controversial Version of Playoff

There are some clever guys in the SEC. However, there is only one mad scientist.

Les Miles and LSU have the most wins in the SEC this millennium; and they've done it by taking crazy, but (generally) practical risks.

Going five-of-five on fourth downs against UF and Tim Tebow in 2007? Many people may not agree with the Bayou's beloved leader. The guy has brazen courage. He has faith in his players—and trusts them to make those types of conversions, which has kept LSU from becoming an SEC also-ran.

The successful risks this Michigan Man has taken should grab the attention of college football’s big wigs. Effectively, he's rebelled against Jim Delany’s playoff plan.

Delany, who is commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, believes that conference champions within the Top 6-ranked teams should compete in a playoff. If there are not four conference champions ranked in the Top 6 nationally, then the highest-ranked non-champion would be invited to the
playoffs.

For example, here’s how the playoffs would have shaken out last year. First-ranked LSU would obviously make it in, as would the Big 12 champion Oklahoma State Cowboys. Oregon would represent the Pac-12. Unfortunately, since Bret Bielema's Wisconsin Badgers were ranked No. 8 during the bowls, they would have missed out. And, of course, Alabama still would have had a shot to play for it all.

Miles wants the complicated stuff off the table. He wants only the best of the best to play. Isn’t it paradoxical, though, that Miles would want even more roadblocks to a national title? The Bayou Bengals and the other pugilists of the SEC essentially make their conference’s regular season a
playoff. For the past six years, the “playoff” has crowned an SEC champion.

LSU has nothing more to prove. It defeated Oregon—who would’ve been a playoff contender—at the beginning of the regular season. Having to possibly play both Alabama and Chip Kelly's Ducks offense again would have almost ensured LSU wouldn’t win the Coaches' Trophy.

Les is a cunning man (yes, I said it). He realizes that even when LSU doesn’t win the SEC, the Tigers incessantly hover around the Top 5. Yes, LSU would’ve been deprived of last year’s national championship if this system had been adopted. But, there should be long-term benefits for the team if the head honchos heed his advice.

The situation needs to be viewed through a broad scope, though. I’m in favor of Delany’s plan. According to this recent Yahoo! article by Graham Watson, Delaney said, “I was just floating some ideas of how you might have a hybrid [playoff] where champions were respected, and there was still room for at-large teams."

The way to make a playoff work is through compromise. Having just the Top 4 teams in the playoffs would make college football's conferences pointless. We might as well go back to 1978, when Division I split football into the I-A and I-AA divisions. It doesn’t make any sense for the Sun Belt, Mid-American and Western Athletic Conferences to even be in FBS football if they're never given a chance to win a national title.

So, we’re down to two options. Either toss those conferences to the FCS, or allow worthy teams into the playoffs. Delany’s playoff plan respects both conference champions and other remarkable teams that maybe were just a play or two away from winning their conference.

What do you think? Has Les chewed too much grass? Is Jim Delany being a practitioner of political appeasement? Should we dump the mid-majors? Decide your playoff, fans!