Pretty cool. But I'm still not exactly sure how this is supposed to work. If the Rose hosts a semifinal, and if the Pac-12 and B1G conference champs get selected for the playoff, do those teams automatically get paired in the Rose regardless of ranking? Do they automatically get one of them if the other doesn't qualify? Have they even confirmed the selection process?
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/21508694/rose-...
All depends if they're in the top 4 or not. It's entirely possible the B1G and/or Pac12 champ are not among the top 4 spots and the Rose Bowl ends up hosting an SEC-BigXII matchup, or even worse, the B1G champ playing the Pac12 champ in the Sugar Bowl which WOULD REALLY BE STUPID.
If they decide to seed the top 4 spots (1 vs 4, 2 vs 3) then who knows where the B1G champ may play. If they drop the seedings altogether then if the B1G champ and Pac12 champ are in the top 4 they'll have to play in the Rose Bowl.
Then again, if the selection committee decides the SEC deserves 3 of the 4 spots and they leapfrog the B1G champ (which could happen if the B1G doesnt bounce back soon) we could see two SEC teams in the Rose Bowl. Imagine how ill that will make us to see the SEC taking OSU's spot in Pasadena? How much sicker would it make OSU fans to see the B1G champion Buckeyes play its bowl game in Atlanta, Glendale or Dallas instead of Pasadena? If SEC at-large teams start leapfrogging conference champs I guarantee we're not going to like our bowl site.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
I thought there was not going to be any more "top-4." I thought the BCS is being abandoned, and that they were going to an RPI measurement, like college basketball, and even then it's only supposed to be a guide for the committee...otherwise you don't need a committee.
In other words, I thought I read somewhere that the 4 teams were not going to be traditionally "seeded" (1vs4, 2vs3) and I was hoping someone would know if this was accurate (and had a link to it, because I can't find it). I could see that in years when the Rose and the Sugar are hosting, you're going to most likely get the Pac12 vs B1G in the Rose, and the BigXII vs SEC in the Sugar. Playoff selection, I thought, was simply a ruse, and that what's really happening is that we're going back to the traditional bowl system with 1 extra game.
I wouldn't even rule out the possibility that the bowl chairmen for that year's playoffs will serve on the committee.
I get what you're saying and i agree, there shouldn't be any "seedings". To clarify, what I meant about the "top 4" are the 4 playoff slots and not in any particular order. Those slots may or may not even be automatic qualifiers as they've stated that they want "the best 4 teams" and not just automatic qualifiers in those 4 slots. There is going to be some kind of ranking, either during the season or released the 2nd week of December after all the conference title games are done. I believe the automatic qualifiers will only happen when those teams are in the top 4 so that takes precedent over everything else. I will pray very hard the BCS is dead and buried but it may get replaced by something that will force the B1G champ to play somewhere other than Pasadena. That's what I was also alluding to because of the figurative and literal beating the B1G has taken in recent years. OSU wins the B1G but maybe it does so barely and does not get to play in the Rose Bowl because the B1G champ is 5th or 6th (like it was projected this season) and left out of the four playoff spots and we get relegated to the Fiesta, Orange or Cotton Bowl. They may do away with the seedings, but they have also said they want to include the "four best teams" When I hear that it screams to me as an excuse to have more than 2 SEC teams in the 4 spots. Someone is going to get left out in the cold.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
I would rather they just took the top four ranked teams. That way you see where your at and where you need to be. Besides how mad would you be if we were ranked in the top four but werent selected by the commitee as a top four team.
But that might depend. If you go back and look at the last 10 years of last week standings, 3 of the top-4 teams are conference winners, on average. It will be VERY unlikely that you'll have any more than 2 conference non-winners (or 11-win ND) ranked in the top 4 of the traditional polls. So, while it's a concern that you can be in the top-4 and get left out, it might happen a lot less often than you think with that 4th team getting a bid. Take a look at this year, if Ohio State were eligible, you'd have Ohio State, ND, Alabama, and probably Florida. Kansas State (as they won the Big XII) would have a beef with that at 1-loss, even though they're not ranked in the top-4, because their conference strength was very high and the computers have them in the top-4 on average. They might get selected over Florida, and I think that would be fair given the bias in the coaches' poll.
Sounds like Cotton will host the first final game (just a 'rumor' at this point).
Yep, this has been floating around for awhile. Apparently they pulled out all the stops with aTm and Oklahoma to try and get it there.