Playoffs in College Football? It's Happening

It's officially here, playoffs in division one football.  Yesterday the BCS presidential oversight committee agreed to a 4-team playoff model to determine the national champion, eliminating the BCS number one vs. number two debate (4-team playoff model still leaves room for debate).

The playoff will begin in 2014 and the 4 teams that are selected will be chosen by a selection committee (yet to be decided who it will be) and they will factor in strength of schedule, conference championship, wins and losses, and other factors to decide the 4 best teams.  They will rotate the playoffs between 6 bowl games (the BCS bowls and others could be used) and the revenue sharing and others bowl games will be figured out later.

So what does this mean for USF and the Big East?

Well, for starters, they selection committee will select the 4 best teams in the country so if USF or a Big East team went 12-0 on the season, there is a strong chance they could get selected for a playoff game.  Look back to 2009 to Cincinnati that finished the year at 12-0 and finished ranked 3rd in the BCS, missing out at a shot in the title game.  In this new model, they would have had a playoff and a shot at the title.  If the Bulls went 12-0 in the new model, they could get in and have a chance to play.  But on the other side of the coin, the unknowns of the selection committee and selection process the 4 best teams could be an issue.

It has yet to be determined how much winning a conference title will weigh in on the playoff system and how strength of schedule will factor in.  Will a team from the SEC that doesn't win the conference title like Alabama get selected if the committee determines it one of the 4 best teams in the country?  What if a team like Boise in the past goes undefeated in their season but a one loss team from say for example the Mountain West or ACC is there, who gets taken?

It is easy to see why some feel this can be real bad for the Big East and USF.  If the power conference champions from the Big 10, Pac-12, SEC, and Big 12 are all undefeated or have one loss, they could be selected over an undefeated Big East team, leaving the smaller conferences on the outside looking in.

So what are your thoughts on this playoff model?  Good or bad for USF?  Share your thoughts.