[NU Sports] LOL

[Jonathan Hodges]

> If/when a playoff system occurs (and I think it is more a case of when
> than if), it is likely to come with little warning, and probably only
> enough advance notice to deal with the TV contractual issues.
>

I too agree that the playoff issue isn't going away and there is A LOT of
money in it for everyone (don't remember the place, but someone did an
analysis showing there is significantly more money in a playoff than in the
current bowl system).  The biggest stumbling block is the fact that all
Division I football schools would have to vote on a new format, and the
smaller players would demand a piece of the pie, which is something that the
current BCS member schools aren't willing to give up.

People can make all the arguments they want, but until a resolution can be
made to allow such a vote, nothing is going to happen on the playoff front
since the BCS bowls provide plenty of cash for the big players while passing
off enough to keep the little guys happy.  And as long as those TV and bowl
contracts keep getting renewed, there's little motivation for change.

Jonathan

PS: If you want REALLY thorough computer rankings, check out the FEI, S&P,
and F/+ rankings here: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ - the FEI rankings
take into account each possession by a given team, the S&P rankings take
into account each play by a given team, and the F/+ combines the two.  There
are some anomalies, but it does a much better job of ranking how good teams
are without just looking at the final score, which is what many other
computer rankings do.