To be sure, there will ALWAYS be someone unhappy. Better for it to be someone who was looking to sweak in rather than to be a legitimate contender to No. 1. To me, 2004 will ALWAYS be the most compelling case for a plus one. To go undefeated in the SEC and get left out?
The way it is now, the Big 4 are the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange... and then we added the BCS National Championship Game. I don't think it would be that hard to have #1 vs #4 and #2 vs #3 play in two of the Big 4 bowls (rotating), with the winner going to the BCS National Championship Game.
OU Florida Texas Bama USC Utah Texas Tech Penn State Boise State All of these teams have 1 or fewer losses. ALL of them. Who gets left out, and Why? Those of you saying only one member from each conference just kicked the #3,4,& 7 out of the playoffs in favor of the #8 team. I'm sure that'll go over real well with the fans and presidents.
The playoff debate always comes full circle - who deserves it more vs. who has the best record. As long as there are 119 D-1A teams and voters, it's all subjective. Even if there's an 8-team playoff, there is still no way to decide who those 8 teams are on an equitable basis. This year just solidifies that point. If the format simply went to a +1, that still doesn't decide who is the best. For every argument for a playoff, there will always be a counter-argument. Look, I certainly don't have an answer to decipher who the best or most deserving teams to play for the NC should be. I'm simply saying with 119 teams who play an 11-12 game schedule, there is no way to determine who is the best, especially when voters are involved.
My thing is this: in the current system, No. 3 in some years (2003, 2004) can legitimately argue that they should be No. 1. That's what needs to be fixed. We're trying to include teams who have a legitimate claim to being the best. If we have a plus-one, how likely do you think it is that No. 5 could claim to be No. 1? Not very. In an 8 model, No. 9 claiming to be the best?? Yeah right. In every system where there's a playoff, there might be teams that argue that they should be in that playoff, but none of them have a legitimate claim at being No. 1 at the end of the season.
I think this year (and last), the top 5 are pretty close in rankings. I think you could easily make an arguement to move any one of them up or down a spot or two.with a plus 1, one of them is left out.
Weird thing about this year is that the AP, Coaches, and BCS rankings all have Bama #4 and USC #5. So even if the top 4 teams had a playoff, it would be two SEC teams vs two Big 12 teams.
