Declining TV ratings and slow ticket sales finally pushed the power brokers of the BCS to create the playoff it never wanted.
The BCS people did it the right way. They waited as long as they could, made as much money as they could, and finally threw out this lollipop to an audience that is so desperate for change and the appearance of fairness that we will celebrate it as progress.
The four-team playoff model that was approved by the BCS people and is still up for approval by university presidents and a D.C. oversight committee is likely going to receive the green light so we can have a playoff by 2014.
This does not mean Boise State, or any non-AQ, is going to the title game. This four-team playoff model is a re-distribution of the wealth disguised as equal opportunity. Someone is going to get screwed. And that someone is not going to be Texas, Alabama or Ohio State.
The semifinal games will be at traditional bowl sites, and the national title will be up for bids. Expect the Dallas Cowboys and Cowboys Stadium figure to be a player for that game.
SEC boss Mike Slive (he is the white dude pictured; not Snoop) has wanted this four-team model, he got it, now expect their to be two SEC teams in the Final Four for a while. The people who run the Pac 12, Big 10, Big 12 and SEC are going to get theirs.
Would TCU's Rose Bowl team been in this Final Four? Yes. Would Boise State have made it once or twice? Probably.
If the non-BCS schools thought it was difficult to get an invite to the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar or Orange the Final Four figures to be an even tougher ticket.
Even though the playoff participants will be selected by a selection committee that will almost assuredly protect their own, this is the first step in what will eventually be a larger, more inclusive playoff format. It's going to start with four teams, people will complain, and it will grow.
It starts with four, it will eventually go to eight and then 16.
@MacEngelProf
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