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26 months from now college football will be moving from the current BCS system into a format with a four-team playoff. It’s a much needed change. There were so many holes in the BCS format and even though it did a great job of preserving the importance of the regular season, it also created a lot of controversy and led to people questioning whether the format actually crowned a true national champion. The new system will have its share of glitches I’m sure, there will be a section of people that miss the BCS and maybe even some will want more than just a four-team playoff but for now the new playoff format will have just four teams. It’s still better than the BCS.
BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock joined 750 the Game with John Canzano to talk about the new playoff system coming to college football, how they will determine where championship games will be held, if he is excited for the new format in college football, on the most important element 26 months away from a playoff starting in college football and if there are any thoughts to expanded the playoff beyond just four teams.
How much thinking he is doing when it comes to a playoff:
“We’re doing a fair amount. We’ve got a lot of things going. We need to negotiate a television agreement, we need to do some specifications for the sites and we need to develop procedures for the search committee. There’s a lot going on and it’s a very exciting time for us.”
How they will determine where championship games are going to be held:
“The title game site selection will be handled much like the Final Four selection process is. There will be some bidding involved but mostly looking for cities that can deliver the venue, air transportation, lodging and a commitment by the folks in town to stage an event like this.”
Whether he is excited for the new format:
“You bet I’m excited. It will be a great thing for college football but having said that I think we all need to remember that the BCS did great things for this sport. It did give us a matchup of one and two in a bowl game and that had never happened before. The regular season has taken off in terms of popularity. It’s awesome how popular our regular season is and the BCS had something to do with that. I’m proud of the BCS but it’s time to move on.”
On the most important element 26 months away from a playoff starting in college football:
“Well television is important but right on the heels of that is going to be staging an event that is an icon in the country. It has to be awesome right out of the box. The first one has to be awesome. There’s not going to be any dress rehearsal and that’s the exciting part about it. Creating a new event from scratch and having it be terrific from day one. It’s interesting to think about, when was the last mega sporting even created from scratch in this country? I guess maybe the Super Bowl which was about 50 years ago.”
If they have any plans to expand the playoff to more than four teams:
“There is no interest in our group, that being the University Presidents and Commissioners, to expand beyond four. That’s why we created a 12 year term for this. We can probably come back in the year 2025, actually you could have me on the show again and we could talk this through but until then it’s going to be four.”
If he expects to have people tell them they’d rather have the BCS as opposed to a four-team playoff:
“I think we will get people saying ‘hey the BCS was pretty good.’ I think you will be surprised by how many people down the road will say that. We think four is better.”
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