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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Slive makes opening argument for a playoff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hollywood, Fla.—Mike Slive is, by his own admission, a “recovering attorney.” In a former life he knew what it was like to argue a case before a group of people who needed to be persuaded.
The SEC Commissioner will again be in that role this morning and for part of the afternoon as he outlines his version of a “Plus-One” model to determine the BCS national championship. What Slive will share with his fellow commissioners is a very detailed plan of what is essentially a four-team playoff that would go into effect for the 2010 regular season. And when I met with Slive yesterday, he politely declined to give any further details until after his presentation today. He has promised to talk after all this is over.
Based on what we’ve heard the past two days, Slive’s jury has already made its decision. For a number of reasons the timing for this kind of change in college football’s post-season is just isn’t right. ACC commissioner John Swofford probably won’t come right out and say it this afternoon, but this issue will be essentially dead for four more years.
The desire by the Rose Bowl, Big Ten and Pac-10 to stick with the status quo is a big obstacle to change, no doubt about it. But there are other issues in play. Despite the yearly angst that seems to come with the BCS and the lousy bowl matchups it produced last season, all of the leading indicators for college football are very, very good. The NCAA reports that last season more people went to college football games than ever before. And this is at a time when television is saturated with games.
The bottom line is the bottom line. College football has decided that it can live with the angst-ridden fans because, for now, all the numbers are good.
Still, the powers that be in college football understand that the post-season will eventually have to change. But history has shown us that the BCS usually doesn’t move until there is some kind of crisis that forces a move.
When Southern Cal was ranked No. 1 in the human polls and was left out of big game in 2003, the formula was changed. It now gives a two-thirds weight to the human polls.
When the five smaller Division I-A conferences threatened to take the BCS to court if they didn’t get better access to the system, the fifth game was created. Now the Boise States of the world get in by finishing in the top 12 of the final standings.
What will be the crisis that moves the BCS forward again? It will probably be a serious financial need on the part of the schools or declining television ratings for the bowls. That seems to get everybody’s attention, including the presidents.
Slive is a very smart man. He knows that he has a tough case to prove this morning with a group of people who are pretty happy with the status quo.
But here is what you need to know. Today Slive is not making his closing argument on the subject of a four-team playoff. It will actually be his opening argument that college football needs to keep an open mind about this subject and, with a little cooperation, the system can be improved.
The next four years will be spent building a consensus for this position, a consensus that does not currently exist.
Slive will tell you that some of the toughest cases are usually won on appeal. The movement for a four-team playoff doesn’t end today at the BCS meetings. It is actually just beginning.
