College Football 2011: Why the MWC Playoff Proposal Is Exactly What CFB Needs

For years, all the non-automatic qualifying conferences have wanted was a playoff. But year after year, the idea got shut down by the NCAA and the BCS.

Now the Mountain West Conference has offered up a new plan for a playoff, and it’s turning a lot of heads.

Here’s what commissioner Craig Thompson had to say: “The Mountain West plan would make it easier for champions of all 11 Football Bowl Subdivison conferences to qualify for the post-season, as long as a team is ranked among the top 30 in the country. The rest of the tournament would be filled with at-large selections, and a committee would determine the seeding. Teams not making the tournament could play in minor bowl games.

Different playoff rounds would be played at home stadiums of teams in the tournament and bowls now in the BCS. All bowls, including those not part of the BCS, would be able to bid to host the title game. The payouts would escalate for conferences as their teams advanced, with the potential for a conference to receive roughly $95 million if one of its teams plays for the championship.”

This is exactly what college football needs right now. For all of the great play that has taken place on the field, there are far too many off-field issues, from players to coaches and even to bowl executives.

What the sport needs now is to get back to its roots and have games decided on the field, rather than by voters and computers.

The best part is, all of the teams who are over .500 still get to have a postseason and all of the precious practice time that comes with it.

The only potential flaw with a playoff is getting people to fill up the stands, but when the game is played at the higher ranked team’s home field, none of that becomes an issue.

A playoff would drastically change college football, and the likelihood of this plan actually succeeding is slim to none, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a great idea that is exactly what college football needs.