Sun Belt commish offers BCS insight

Quote:It’s not that he’s anti-playoff, Waters said emphatically. But he’s yet to see a playoff model that would satisfy all of the college game’s masters.

In other words the presidents who have final say in the NCAA and the BCS and in hiring athletic directors and conference commissioners aren't onboard with a playoff and until they are any such talk is fine over a cup of coffee but its not reality.

Quote:Yes, Division I-AA (Football Championship Subdivision) has a playoff. Having experienced it firsthand, Waters makes an important distinction: The 16-team FCS playoff has the feeling of a “tournament,” he said, while the BCS has the feeling of an “event.”

“The BCS was designed to match No. 1 against No. 2,” Waters said. “The rest of it is fluff. But No. 1 versus No. 2, that’s one hell of a spectacle.”

Been through the playoff system at home and the road and I've been to bowl games. I had more fun going to Lafayette for a bowl game than I did at the five playoff games I attended combined. It's just a different experience.

I've been to a Final Four and a BCS championship. Final Four is a hoot because you've got four fan bases there with the folks there for the show, but each team had more fans at the BCS championship that all four Final Four teams get to bring. That's a wild experience and a ton of fun.

Quote: Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who sought the hearing, wrote in an essay in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated that the Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition.

Hatch doesn't know what he's talking about. If there were no BCS, Utah never gets a crack at Bama or Pitt, Boise doesn't get OU, and Hawaii doesn't play Georgia. There wouldn't be a reserved spot in the top 5 games for a non-AQ league for a top 12 finish if not for the BCS and they would have likely played in Las Vegas, Boise, and Hawaii as their reward.

I'm not a BCS fan, but given the rules we have to play under, I'll take it because as long as playoff is not an option, the other option is to let the networks and bowls cut their own deals and we won't be getting a piece of the pie and we won't guaranteed a spot when we have a great season.

I think when the next BCS deal expires after the 2013 season we will see a four-team showdown to pick who plays in the title game. A playoff is going to happen, its just going to take a lot of baby steps.