Big Ten presidents prefer ‘status quo’ over four-team college football playoff

By Kevin Kelley -

Big TenIn a conference call this morning, the Big Ten Conference announced that their presidents prefer the “status quo” over a four-team college football playoff.

“If the Big Ten presidents were to vote today, we would vote for the status quo,” Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said on the conference call. “We think it best serves college football. We think it best protects our student-athletes. I don’t think any of us are anxious … to ask our student-athletes to play a 15th game.”

Perlman and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany also said that if changes are to be made to college football’s postseason, they prefer a plus-one over a playoff. A plus-one would match the no. 1 and no. 2 teams against each other after the bowl games are complete.

What the plus-one would also do is protect the Big Ten’s relationship with the Rose Bowl Game. That appears to be an issue that the conference is unwilling to waver from.

If the “status-quo” or plus-one are not selected, the Big Ten would consider a “four-team playoff, inside the bowls, that would preserve our connection to the Rose Bowl.” But Delany did say they would want the four best teams rather than conference champions only, which he has suggested in the past.

Delany also said the criteria for selecting the playoff teams should include strength of schedule and some sort of reward for those that win their conference championship. Those details would have to be discussed and agreed upon, as would a selection committee for determining the four teams, which he is also in favor of.

Here is a quick look at the playoff positions of some of the major conferences in college football (from Big Lead Sports):

Big 12: The Big 12 wants a four-team playoff. They want no conference championship requirement. They prefer a selection committee.

Big Ten: The Big Ten is open to a playoff but wants a plus-one on the table. They would not be opposed to a system that respects conference championships. They favor a selection committee.

Pac-12: The Pac-12 has kept the plus-one on the table but is open to discussion. They want a conference champion requirement. They would prefer an objective formula but are willing to look at a selection committee.

SEC: The SEC wants a four-team playoff without a conference championship requirement. They want to improve the current formula but have not ruled out a selection committee.

Comments (6)

No surprise the Big Ten tosses out an idea that’s in its own best interest (preserve the bowls at all costs).

The current “formula” (the BCS rankings) sucks. A well-picked selection committee with guidelines is a good idea. They can take schedule strength and other factors into account while ignoring the polls bias and conflicts of interest built in. They can choose whether or not to rely on computer rankings whose formulas are unknown and unverifiable.

The sad thing is, a playoff with semifinals at campus sites right after the regular season conference championships would better allow conferences to preserve their relationships with bowls, as long as all of the four teams in the semifinals were allowed to go to a bowl game. After the semifinals, the best Big Ten and Pac-12 teams that aren’t in the championship game meet in the Rose Bowl. Same for the Big 12 and SEC in whatever bowl they choose.

Is this not the conference that complained the loudest that the SEC had 2 teams in the championship last year? Status quo???? Give me a break

Chip,the saddest thing is the Big 10 itself

I do not like what the B10 or SEC say. It is the same ole political junk. I wish everything was decided on the field. No Polls, Computers or Selection Committees. Four 16 Team Conferences, those being the current SEC, B10, B12 and Pac12. The Conference Champion of each conference being decided in a Conference Championship Game. The Champion of each conference then competing in a 4-Team Playoff to decide the National Champion each year. Further more, these 64 Teams should police themselves and break off from the NCAA. The NCAA does not police anybody anymore and the smaller teams controll it to their own benefit. Let’t cut all the crap that has been college football all these years and win the Championship all on the field.

Four 16 team conferences and they should break off from the NCAA? That is crazy! I don’t like what the Big 10 is trying to do either saying that they prefer the status quo over a four team college football playoff. Keep the conferences the way that they are (of course, conference expansion will continue to happen and that’s pretty sad if you ask me as true rivalries are ruined)… make a four team playoff. Agreed about there being no polls, computers or selection committees. If a mid major team is good enough in a certain year and there is a team in a major conference with one or two losses, then that mid major team should be one of the four teams in the playoff!

I do not expect agreement from any alumni or fans of any University outside of the 64 I allude to. I’m only interested in present BCS Teams. Let the smaller school Teams crown their own Champion, I don’t care. The NCAA worries about those smaller teams and legislates in their favor. The NCAA is virtually powerless in everything else. The 64 Teams can organize and install strict enforcement within themselves, stricter than what is present now for sure. There is nothing crazy about this scenario. I’ve read it in bits and pieces all through the years. I think it is the future.

The Big Ten has been a thorn in my side for too long. Listen to what the nation’s greatest conference (SEC) has to say, not what the nation’s has-been conference (Big Ten) has to say.