BCS Controversy: Big Ten Presidents Still Big Fans of a Terrible Status Quo

According to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com, at a teleconference hosted by the Big Ten today, Nebraska chancellor and representative of the Big Ten presidents and chancellors Harvey Perlman told reporters that the Big Ten's presidents' first preference would be to stick with the status quo, which is to say, the current two-team BCS Championship.

Now, Perlman also said that the presidents were "realistic," and it's pretty obvious the status quo is off the table. To that end, the Big Ten also currently supports the "Plus One" playoff model, which is to say, a two-team championship format that's chosen after the bowls rather than before it.

Shortly thereafter, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany got on the call and—quite righteously—slammed the polls and computers that comprise the current situation, not unlike his diatribe about transparency from last week. And it's a very good point to make: The polls and computers are, right now, neither transparent nor trustworthy, and that's a big problem for college football's credibility.

But as Doug Lesmires of the Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out on Twitter, those polls are a huge part of the status quo that the Big Ten presidents are apparently so fond of. And it raises a serious question.

If the status quo is so terrible, why do the Big Ten schools still support it first and foremost?

This isn't just some gotcha game. This is a question that goes straight to the heart of the entire playoff debate. What is it about the status quo that the presidents support when their athletics commissioner is so fervently opposed to it?

And more importantly: They couldn't get that gap bridged before the conference call this morning? Where's the leadership in the Big Ten here?

It should be noted, however, that as Rittenberg reported, Delany also noted that he believed the best four teams should play in a playoff, and it's unlikely that the Big Ten is going to stand firm on anything specific in the new playoffs. As Rittenberg put it, the Big Ten "won't stop [a] playoff it doesn't really want."

That's smart. It's been made pretty clear that the Big Ten isn't exactly part of a broad consensus on this one, and blocking any sort of postseason reform to perfectly match the Big Ten's desires isn't going to be in anyone's best interests.