College Football Playoffs: 7 Schools That Want a Playoff Most

With a likely BCS playoff format of some sort a near certainty, the picture of the behind-the-scenes battles are beginning to take shape.

There are plenty of D-1 programs and conferences around the nation that have been pushing for a college football playoff for some time now, and it looks as if they all will finally get their wish.

But which teams benefit most? Which programs will finally feel a sense of inclusion once the playoff system is in place?

Here's my list of the FBS programs that are most satisfied with the introduction of a BCS playoff.

Boise State

We'll begin with the obvious choice for a proponent of a playoff system: Boise State.

The Broncos have long been used as the argument for a more equitable system, as BSU has put together three undefeated seasons over the last six years and is 118-13 since 2002.

Yet despite this success, Boise State has never been a serious contender for the BCS National Championship.

It's not that BSU hasn't been good, and it's not that the Broncos haven't had success against top teams from the BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences (beating Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia Tech and Georgia, among others).

The real reason Boise State hasn't been a contender for the title game has been a perceived pollster bias.

With a playoff system in place, the chances of Boise State—or any current non-AQ program—from being shut out of an opportunity is mitigated.

Houston

Another non-AQ program we're going to use as an example is Houston.

To be clear, we're not placing Houston anywhere near to the same level on which Boise State currently sits. It's fairly clear that Houston likely won't be repeating last season's success after the departure of one-man wrecking crew Case Keenum.

But the Cougars iare used here more as a “what if” scenario for all of the non-AQ programs around the nation.

Most other NCAA sports are filled with examples of that one special season where a “small”-program team excels. We've seen it more and more during March Madness, and it happens from time to time in baseball, softball, volleyball, lacrosse and others.

With a playoff system in place, a "one-hit wonder" has a much better chance of earning a playoff qualification, granted they are able to rise high enough in the polls (top six, perhaps) and capture their conference championship.

Rather than striving to overcome a poll bias—preventing a top-two ranking at season's end—these Cinderella teams will now be much more likely to capitalize on their fleeting success.

Arkansas

One group of teams you may think would be opposed to the playoff proposals—the SEC—may not be as united a group as one would think.

For all of the benefit the SEC has gotten from the current system, the fact remains that only a small handful of SEC programs have been part of the previous seven championship game berths.

Other than Florida, LSU, Alabama and Auburn, no other SEC program has reached the BCS National Championship Game since Tennessee appeared in its inauguration at the end of the 1998 season (the 1999 Fiesta Bowl).

Meanwhile, there have been some very good teams in the SEC that have been left out of not only a shot at the national title, but any BCS bowl due to the two-team-per-conference limit (like Arkansas last season).

The Razorbacks were easily the best team in the nation not to receive a BCS bid in 2011.

While it's doubtful the Hogs would have qualified under the new playoff proposal, it is clear that Arkansas would actually have a legitimate shot without winning a conference title under a new playoff proposal than it would fighting against the current in the SEC West.

Michigan

The Big Ten has suffered through its lumps for much of the past decade, much the way the SEC did for the better part of the '90s.

But as the Big Ten makes its return to the national stage, there is no quicker remedy for a lack of national championship appearances than a new playoff format.

The polls and BCS rankings seem slanted toward the SEC (a kind of self-fulfilling prophetic cycle), and the Big Ten (along with many other conferences) is having trouble breaking through the pollster mindset and preconceived notions of unquestioned SEC superiority.

Any playoff scenario—even a limited one—would provide rejuvenated Big Ten teams, like Michigan, an opportunity to break the SEC stranglehold on the BCS.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has, at long last, emerged as a national power with at least a share of the last two Big Ten championships and back-to-back trips to Pasadena.

But while it seems like Wisconsin has had a solid football program for ages, it's almost a little surprising that the Badgers have never won a national championship—even in the era prior to supposed national championship games.

Perhaps the people in Madison need to take a lesson on inventing titles from the folks in Tuscaloosa.

With the cards stacked against the Big Ten, and history proving to be a major obstacle for the Badgers, Bret Bielema and Co. have to be eagerly awaiting the imposition of a playoff in the FBS.

Oregon

Last season, the Oregon Ducks won the Pac-12 Championship Game and finished as No. 5 in the official BCS standings.

Despite an opening-week setback to LSU—the No. 1 team in the nation for the majority of the season—and a loss to a very good USC squad, there's no question that Oregon was a very, very productive team in 2011.

After breezing through the Pac-12 North Division and lapping UCLA in the conference title game, why shouldn't a team like Oregon get a crack at the BCS title?

Under the most likely of new systems, the top four conference champions in the top six of the final national rankings would find themselves recipients of a BCS playoff berth—providing the Ducks with their ticket to the big dance of college football.

Florida State

As our final program most desiring of a playoff system, we travel south to Tallahassee and the campus of Florida State University.

There's been a bit of talk about FSU possibly moving to the Big 12, but that likely stems from the Seminoles' desire to remain relevant in any future BCS format (in which the Big 12 is bound to play a major role).

Part of the problem for Jimbo Fisher's Florida State squad has been the overall lack of competition in the ACC over the past decade.

Besides Virginia Tech, no team has appeared more than twice in the ACC Championship Game, and fully half the conference—six teams—has never won a division title in the seven seasons since the splitting of divisions.

The ACC's tendency to be top-heavy is likely the reason the conference is viewed as near the bottom of the BCS barrel (although still not nearly as bad as the Big East).

It's also the reason why FSU might go searching for a more well rounded conference schedule.

With a playoff system in place, it's likely that teams like Florida State could stay put, avoid the hassle of changing conferences, and still compete for a national championship annually without worrying too much about strength of schedule.

Of course, not playing two FCS programs to start the year would help, too...