Post by Trojan Warrior on Apr 25, 2014 5:15:17 GMT -6
By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL www.reviewjournal.com/
When Bill Hancock ran the Bowl Championship Series, he was adamantly opposed to a playoff system because he feared it would ruin a regular season he calls “the best in sports.”
Now that he is executive director of the newly created College Football Playoff, Hancock is satisfied that by limiting such a format to four teams, the regular season remains as meaningful as ever.
Wright Waters, the executive director of the Football Bowl Association, hopes so, but he’s waiting for the evidence to come in after next season plays out and a champion is crowned Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas.
“I think the knee-jerk concern is it’s going to be a negative, but it may be a positive,” Waters said. “It may heighten people’s awareness of college football to another level, and the residual of that will impact the other bowls and take them to a new level also. But the answer is we don’t know. I know in conversations with commissioners that they’re concerned. They’re committed to the bowl system.”
Both executives were in Las Vegas this week for the FBA meetings at Palazzo. Some of college football’s heavy hitters, from Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to ESPN president John Skipper, took part in panel discussions that addressed the state of the sport and the bowl system’s place in it. The Las Vegas Bowl hosted the meetings.
Fans have long clamored for a playoff system, and the four-teamer — which a committee will select — became the agreed-upon format. Some observers have speculated the playing field will expand to eight and perhaps 16 teams, but the length of the current deal is 12 years.
“We wanted people to know there was stability in the game, and we wanted to have a chance to grow,” Hancock said. “It’s four teams for 12 years, and I do not see it changing. I think it’s wishful thinking (for an expanded field) on some people’s parts. A lot of people want more football, which I totally understand.
"There’s a point in the size of a postseason football tournament where you begin to erode the regular season and you begin to erode the bowl system, and we don’t know where the tipping point is. But I personally think it’s anything beyond four.”
Hancock said he never wanted to tarnish the regular season, where a loss in September could end a team’s national-championship hopes provided it didn’t play in the Southeastern Conference.
Now a team can better absorb such a defeat, though the margin for error remains slim.
For Mountain West schools, talk of playing for a national title remains largely a pipe dream, but Hancock said the opportunity is better than ever. Should Boise State find another Kellen Moore at quarterback and go 13-0, the argument for keeping the Broncos out of a final four might be more difficult to make than under the previous two-team format. (Full Article)
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL www.reviewjournal.com/
When Bill Hancock ran the Bowl Championship Series, he was adamantly opposed to a playoff system because he feared it would ruin a regular season he calls “the best in sports.”
Now that he is executive director of the newly created College Football Playoff, Hancock is satisfied that by limiting such a format to four teams, the regular season remains as meaningful as ever.
Wright Waters, the executive director of the Football Bowl Association, hopes so, but he’s waiting for the evidence to come in after next season plays out and a champion is crowned Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas.
“I think the knee-jerk concern is it’s going to be a negative, but it may be a positive,” Waters said. “It may heighten people’s awareness of college football to another level, and the residual of that will impact the other bowls and take them to a new level also. But the answer is we don’t know. I know in conversations with commissioners that they’re concerned. They’re committed to the bowl system.”
Both executives were in Las Vegas this week for the FBA meetings at Palazzo. Some of college football’s heavy hitters, from Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to ESPN president John Skipper, took part in panel discussions that addressed the state of the sport and the bowl system’s place in it. The Las Vegas Bowl hosted the meetings.
Fans have long clamored for a playoff system, and the four-teamer — which a committee will select — became the agreed-upon format. Some observers have speculated the playing field will expand to eight and perhaps 16 teams, but the length of the current deal is 12 years.
“We wanted people to know there was stability in the game, and we wanted to have a chance to grow,” Hancock said. “It’s four teams for 12 years, and I do not see it changing. I think it’s wishful thinking (for an expanded field) on some people’s parts. A lot of people want more football, which I totally understand.
"There’s a point in the size of a postseason football tournament where you begin to erode the regular season and you begin to erode the bowl system, and we don’t know where the tipping point is. But I personally think it’s anything beyond four.”
Hancock said he never wanted to tarnish the regular season, where a loss in September could end a team’s national-championship hopes provided it didn’t play in the Southeastern Conference.
Now a team can better absorb such a defeat, though the margin for error remains slim.
For Mountain West schools, talk of playing for a national title remains largely a pipe dream, but Hancock said the opportunity is better than ever. Should Boise State find another Kellen Moore at quarterback and go 13-0, the argument for keeping the Broncos out of a final four might be more difficult to make than under the previous two-team format. (Full Article)