College Football: Concern Over Bracket Creep in 4-Team Playoff Is Valid

OK, college football, you have your playoff.

Pardon me if I'm not jumping for joy over the announcement that the presidential oversight committee approved a four-team playoff, because I'm not.

Why?

Because almost immediately after the announcement, the discussion shifted from lobbying for a four-team playoff to the hope that it will expand beyond four teams at some point.

That can't happen.

The college football season is the best three months in sports, and the work done by the best of the best during the regular season should be rewarded with a shot at the crystal football.

Not the good teams—the best.

A college football playoff should not be about providing access using arbitrary factors like conference affiliation. It should exist to reward excellence.

The presidential oversight committee announced that the new college football playoff is a 12-year deal starting after the 2014 season. One of the primary reasons that the deal is so long is to prevent the playoff from expanding.

And that's a good thing.

There will undoubtedly be look-in provisions in the contract that will allow college football's leaders to renegotiate part or all of the contract. Those will exist primarily for changes in the media deal, but expansion of the playoff will certainly be discussed as well. 

For all of the heat that the BCS took from fans, it almost always did its job. Rarely, if ever, have there been more than four teams that have a legitimate gripe at a national title.

The only reasonable exceptions were in 2004 when USC, Oklahoma, Auburn, Utah and Boise State were all undefeated; and in 2009 when Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State were.

In 2007, things got dicey when two-loss LSU played in the Sugar Bowl vs. Ohio State for the title. But in this new format, things would have been even more dicey with undefeated Hawaii, one-loss Kansas and two-loss Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia, Virginia Tech and USC teams.

The BCS actually made things easier in 2007 than it would have been under a six- or eight-team playoff format. You could make the case that all of those teams deserved a spot to play for the crystal football, but you could also say that none of them did. The 2007 season can't be used against the BCS, because it was a wacky year where a right answer simply didn't exist.

A 12-year contract is substantial, and it should quell the playoff expansion talk for the time being. It doesn't look like it has, but it was a noble effort.

The length of the contract guards against playoff creep, but this system will be pushed to a point where postseason television revenue is maximized while regular-season television revenue is maintained. 

For the sake of the game, hopefully that point is this four-team playoff structure. 

I'll take three months of excitement over one month of playoffs any day. In 2014, we will have the best of both worlds.

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