Big Ten/Pac-12 Disagree With Big 12/SEC's Idea of Playoff

Since the BCS was established prior to the 1998 college football season, it's credibility has been highly debated.  The requirements to play for either a BCS bowl game or the National Championship has been unclear from the beginning and mid-majors are usually overlooked for members of major conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12).  In late April, the NCAA finally explored the idea of a college football playoff and proposed a 4-team playoff for the national championship to begin after the 2013 season.

One important issue regarding the future of college football's postseason is the future of bowl games.  College football at the highest level has always used bowl games, so the traditional affiliations between conferences and bowl games could disappear with the addition of a playoff.  The news has people asking: "What's the future of bowl games?".  Bowl games will always remain a part of Division 1 College Football because they have a long and distinctive history as college football's postseason.  The proposed playoff should use bowl games as the sites of the three playoff games, so the tradition of these games can continue.

In the proposed 4-team playoff, it is uncertain what proponents will determine the match-ups and teams. College football has used different polls throughout time to determine national champions and match-ups in the national championship game.  The Big 12 and SEC want to continue using polls to determine the country's top four teams, while the Big Ten and Pac-12 support a selection committee (like the one used for the 68-team NCAA Basketball Tournament).   The Big Ten and Pac-12 also want to emphasize conference championships and continue their annual tradition at the Rose Bowl, using the game as one of the national semifinal match-ups on New Year's Day (the other being between the Big 12 and SEC).

The Rose Bowl is one of the most anticipated American sporting events each year and features the historic Big Ten-Pac 12 match-up.  The Big 12 and SEC may not have the history of the Big Ten and Pac-12, but they have been the most successful conferences since the beginning of the BCS era.  They have combined for sixteen appearances in the BCS National Championship and ten national championships over that span.  On May 18th, the Big 12 and SEC announced a New Year's Day bowl game featuring the top teams from each conference.  The bowl game is very similar to that of the Rose Bowl, in that it features the two of the nation's top conferences and multiple programs in the national championship hunt each year.  As of now, no one knows the future of college football, but we'll have an answer by the end of the month, after the BCS meeting (June 13th), the NCAA Division 1 Conference Commissioners Association (June 19th and 20th), and the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee (June 26th).