This year the NCAA to finally switched from the BCS to a playoff system. But even though the system has transferred from a bowl system to a playoff system, there are still bowls to be played.

I think it is about time that college football finally decided to make the switch to a playoff instead of just one National Championship game. Ever since I was a kid I’ve wondered why college football never had a playoff system. My only complaint is the fact that they changed the National Championship trophy. The last system (the BCS) consisted of many bowl games, and the National Championship matchup was decided by a committee that just chose two teams. This new playoff will allow four teams to have a chance to win the National Championship in a two game playoff.

The teams that have the best chance to get into the playoffs are from the power conferences (Big 12, ACC, PAC 12, SEC, and BIG 10). Notre Dame is considered to be part of those power conferences. The odds of a team outside of those conferences being  able to get into the playoffs is not very good. No team can automatically qualify for a playoff spot.

The new playoffs will be governed by a 13 member selection  The committee meets every Monday to vote on the rankings. These members together have over 230 years of college football experience. Members of the selection committee include former coaches, student-athletes, administrators, journalists and current athletic directors.

The Selection committee puts a lot of time into making the rankings. The first issue of rankings will come out October 28^th on ESPN, and will continue to come out every Tuesday evening for the next five weeks. After that, on December 7^th the playoff teams are announced. I am glad that I will be updated on the rankings every week.

The committee members have a strict way to vote for the teams they think should be in the playoffs. First each committee member will create a list of 25 teams in no particular order who they think are the best teams in the nation. Second, each member will list the best six teams in no particular order, and the six teams with the most votes will go for a first seeding ballot. Third, each member will rank those six teams with one being the best. The top three teams will then become the top three seeds. The three teams that were not seeded are voted on in the next ballot. The fourth step each member will list the six best remaining teams not in order, and the three teams that received the most votes will be added to the three teams held over for the next seeding ballot. Steps three and four are done over and over again until 25 teams have been seeded.

For the playoffs four teams will get in. The semi-final games will be played as Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The winner of those games will play each other in the National Championship. Even if you don’t make the playoffs there are still four other major bowl games. There is the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl. These bowls will all rotate for the semi-finals and for the playoff games each year.

The college football playoff is under contract for the next 12 years. In 2012, it was announced that ESPN acquired the rights to broadcast all College Football Playoff games, as well as selected other games, through 2025. The site for the National Championship will be selected through a bid system, much like the Super Bowl.

I am very excited for the playoffs this year, and I think it will bring a lot of excitement to post-season games. Even the games outside of the playoffs should be good games, and should be very entertaining. I decided to ask some of my classmates to see if they were as excited for the playoffs as I am. I approached Danny Lutz and asked him if he likes the fact that college football has switched to a playoff system for the postseason. Danny told me that he is happy they switched to a playoff system, and that other teams have a chance not just the top two teams. Danny also hopes to see the playoffs get larger with more teams in them than just four. Michael Jansen also added what he thought about the playoffs. Jansen said, “Yes, because it gives teams opportunities to make up for the way they have played in the past.”