Georgia Tech coach wants a playoff

By Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said that until fans demand it, college football's highest level never will have a playoff system.

But, as someone who won two national titles in a playoff system at Georgia Southern at the I-AA level, he would like to see one in Division I-A, and he said his reasons aren't fueled by the fact this team is ranked No. 7 in the BCS and likely won't get a chance to play for a national title.

Johnson, who in the past has criticized the polls, said Tuesday that he understands why some schools, conferences and groups don't want to see the poll-based BCS system torn apart and replaced with a playoff system similar to what every other division and sport uses to determine its national champions.

"Everybody tries to protect their own," Johnson said. "That’s what it comes down to."

There are six undefeated teams remaining in I-A. Only two teams will play for the national championship. Johnson has said in the past the reason those teams will get that chance, and not the others who are undefeated, is because of where they started in the polls.

For example, Florida and Alabama, Nos. 1 and 2 in the BCS, started the season at 1 and 5 in the USA Today coaches' preseason poll, which is one of the components in the BCS ratings. Of the four remaining teams that are unbeaten (Texas, Texas Christian, Cincinnati and Boise State), only the Longhorns were preseason top 10. They are currently No. 3 in the BCS. The Bearcats weren't even ranked. They are No. 5 now. Johnson said that in the Big Ten, which doesn't have a championship game, the conference champion, most years, is all but guaranteed a spot in the title game if it can go undefeated.

"Inevitably what happens is you’ve got a lot of schools that can buy four games at home, so they play eight home games, they have to win two games that are a really struggle for them, so if they can win those games they are going to play for a championship," Johnson said. "So why would they ever want to change?"

Athletics director Dan Radakovich said he was a supporter of the "plus-one" model that ACC commissioner John Swofford and SEC commissioner Mike Slive proposed last year. In that model, two of the four BCS games (Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta) would serve as the semifinals of a playoff, with the two winners facing off for the national championship in the third BCS game. The fourth would be left out every fourth year. School presidents didn't spend a lot of time considering that plan before rejecting it.

Radakovich said that he thinks when the current contract expires after the 2014 title game, the "plus-one" model might have gained some traction by then because of the increasing parity in college football. Johnson said he brought up the subject at a coaches' meeting when he was Navy (and wouldn't have had a chance to be in a playoff), but couldn't get any traction.

One of the common  arguments against a playoff is the class time the players might miss. Johnson said that doesn't make sense. Should the Jackets defeat Duke this weekend, they will play in the ACC championship game on Dec. 5, and then a bowl. That would be a 14-game season. A playoff, Johnson argued, could be set up in such a way as to limit the season to 15 games.

Radakovich pointed out that an NCAA-basketball style playoff system could be economically challenging for fans, who might have to go from city to city on a week's notice. That is one of the benefits of the current bowl system, he said.

Johnson, who refuses to vote in the polls, said he can make a case against his team, or any other team currently ranked among the top 10.

"Just look at their schedule and say, who'd they beat?" Johnson said. "What makes them better than someone else? What makes LSU with two losses better than someone with one? What makes them better is that they lost to Florida and Alabama. OK, well who knows, if you look at the all the scores, how can you decide.

"I think there's so much parity in football that on a give day you can make a case for whomever."