Playoffs?

It seems like everywhere I turn, on the Internet, in the sports world, it's "we need a playoff system"! "The BCS needs a major overhaul!"

Well, I don't buy it.

The BCS has its flaws, yes some teams have gotten screwed over the years and a 16 or 8 team playoff seems to make more sense, but it really doesn't.

The BCS is an okay system for major College Football, it's way better than the Bowl-Alliance that we had all through out the 1990's, where we had 3 co-champs and the Big Ten and Pac 10 weren't even part of it.

But yes, the BCS needs some tweaks. A four team playoff format or plus-one, makes the most sense.

But first, an 8 or 16 team playoff would not work and would only create more problems.

Whether you take the top 8 teams or the 6 power conference champs and 2 at-large bids, it won't work. You will still have arguments for the 9th, 10th, and 11th teams who don't get in. The power conferences will want their champs to be rewarded somehow with the playoff and some years you will have 3 or 4 teams in one conference that would deserve it over another conference (like this year I feel OU, Texas, and even TT would deserve it over the Big East or ACC Champs).

If we had an 8 team playoff this year, Cincy would be in it and say Oklahoma loses to Mizzou. Wouldn't OU deserve to be in over Cincy because they beat them earlier in the season and are better than Cincy? It just makes another big mess...

As for the 16 team playoff, it may sound great, but it will never become reality. College Football has such a rich tradition in bowl games. It's what makes College Football so great.

Not many people would want to take away from that. A 16 team playoff would diminish the regular season and you would have to shorten it somehow.

A 16 team or more playoff is not gonna happen unless you decrease some regular season games and more importantly conference games. All in all, not gonna happen. Most coaches and university presidents already hate teams that play 12-13 games as it is. Plus, it's more than just football, it will interfere with finals.

Which comes down to a 4 team playoff. In my mind, this makes the most sense. Most years, it usually comes down to 3-4 teams anyways and there is a bigger difference between the 4-5th best teams than the 8-9th best teams.

You wouldn't have to cut any regular season games, you can keep the bowl tradition and it's just one extra game for two teams; and I don't think any college coach or president will argue over one extra game, especially when it's the national championship.

But we have to remember, no system is perfect. But I'd rather have the BCS than an 8 team and above playoff.

All in all, the Bowl tradition is what makes College Football so great. A huge playoff format simply would create more havoc and ruin what makes this sport so great.