The posturing continues this week at the highest levels of college football. The Big Ten came out with a statement on Monday that contains three preferred options for the post season starting in 2014.
The first is to simply keep the current BCS model. The second is a plus-one model where two teams would be selected to play for a national title after all the bowl games are played.
The third is a true four-team playoff with semifinals taking place at existing bowl sites and a championship game bid out to sites around the country.
In the four-team model, the Big Ten strongly advocates using a selection committee and not a poll or a collection of polls and rating systems.
The SEC and the Big 12 have already taken the position that they strongly prefer the four team model. The ACC and Big East are also leaning in that direction.
The Pac 12 meetings which concluded this past weekend ended without a public stand. The early consensus is that they will continue to pull for the plus-one model to protect the prestige of the Rose Bowl and their brutal nine game conference schedule.
The reality of the situation is that the top four conferences need to be in agreement or their won't be a true championship.
Three important meetings to shape the playoff model take place this month after the Pac 12 meetings are concluded.
- BCS meeting June 13 in Chicago
- The NCAA Division I Conference Commissioners Association on June 19-20 in Chicago
- The BCS Presidential Oversight Committee June 26 in Washington.
I have been following this for quite some time and I am still betting that it ends up being a plus-one selected from a pool of conference champions rather than a true four team playoff because of the Pac 12 and the Big Ten's desire for their champions to meet each year in the Rose Bowl.
Scroggins moving on
Remember QB Jessie Scroggins who picked USC over Washington a couple of years ago? He has reportedly decided to transfer to a junior college in search of playing time. That means that the top three QB recruits in the West during the 2009 recruiting season have transferred to other schools due to competition and playing time.
Lindy's Magazine
It seems like I have been reading this magazine each year since I was in grade school. These annual magazines used to be the definitive source for previews and recruiting in the days when things were updated once a year and not once every two seconds. This year they have the Huskies rated 32nd in the country which is about right going in.