Florida Football: Is the New Playoff Format Good or Bad for the Gators?

The much debated and widely hated BCS was given an expiration date. Come 2014, the BCS is dead, and a new four-team playoff will take its place. 

The four teams that will compete for a National Championship will be selected by a committee. While we don't know who will be on the committee, we do know the criteria they will use to select the four teams. A team's record, strength of schedule, head-to-head matchups and whether the team is a conference champion will be the factors that come into play when selecting who will get a chance to play for a national title. 

The Gators have benefited from the BCS system, winning two BCS National Championships under the current system. Will the new playoff system and committee help or hurt the Gators' chances at winning another national championship in the coming years? 

Let's take a look at the one criterion that could come between the Gators and a national championship.

Strength of Schedule

This is the area that could give the Gators the most trouble under the new criteria. While the Gators do play in the best conference and face a gauntlet of conference games each year, they generally have a pretty easy non-conference schedule. 

Outside of bowl games, the Gators haven't played a non-conference game out of state since they traveled to Syracuse in 1991. 

Gator fans argue that playing in the SEC and their annual game against Florida State give them a tough enough schedule and they shouldn't have to schedule home-and-home series with other highly ranked schools. In the last six seasons, the Gators have played against the eventual national champion three times, and that is including winning the title twice during that span. 

Yes, playing in the SEC is more challenging on a week-to-week basis than any other conference in college football, but will that be enough in the new selection committee's eyes? Florida's non-conference schedule for 2014 consists of Idaho, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Kentucky and a trip to Tallahassee. The Gators' hand may be forced into scheduling a tougher a non-conference schedule under this new system. 

As far as the other criteria, it shouldn't effect the Gators in the future. A team's win/loss record, head-to-head record against similarly ranked teams and being a conference champion have always been factors looked for in a national champion. Looking at the Gators' two championship seasons, the Gators were a one-loss SEC champion heading into the national championship game. 

Other than possibly having to schedule tougher non-conference opponents, the new playoff system seems to favor not only the Gators but all SEC teams. The additions of Missouri and Texas A&M have added a conference game to the schedule, and that will only help the Gators when it comes to strength of schedule. 

Another aspect that will help the Gators and the conference they play in is that there will be no limit to how many teams a conference can send into the playoff. There could be a scenario where a conference sends two or even three teams to the playoff, and if any conference can do that, it is the SEC. 

In the end the playoff format will not change the Gators' national championship hopes like it will hinder the Big 10's chances at sending teams to the big dance. Playing in the SEC will most likely be enough, although Florida may need to add one impressive out-of-conference home/home series to its future schedule. 

Will Muschamp has the Gators pointed in the right direction, and 2012 will be a telling season to see if the Gators are ready to step back into the role as top dog in the SEC East.