Sports Extra - Blogs - BCS finally talking playoffs. Its about time.

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | THUNDER | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

@TWSportsExtra

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

FOR THE RECORD

Scores, statistics and standings for local and national sports.

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

Editors
Michael Peters
Sports Editor
Patrick Prince
Asst. Sports Editor
Columnists
John Klein
Sr. Columnist
John E. Hoover
Columnist
Writers
Eric Bailey
OU sports, Big 12 sports
Guerin Emig
OU sports
Jimmie Tramel
OSU sports, ORU sports
Kelly Hines
OSU sports
Bill Haisten
TU sports, Thunder
Barry Lewis
High Schools, Drillers
Mike Brown
High Schools, Shock
Kelly Bostian
Outdoors

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

BCS finally talking playoffs. It's about time.
Published: 4/30/2012 4:28 AM
Last Modified: 4/28/2012 9:28 PM

In 1982, Penn State was the consensus college football national champion, ending the season No. 1 in both the Associated Press and Coaches' Poll after beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

That same season Eastern Kentucky won the Division I-AA college football championship. How did they do it, you ask? EKU knocked off Delaware in the finals of the 12-team I-AA national tournament, which had just added four teams from 1981's eight-team field.

Spin ahead 30 years, and I-AA is now known as the Football Championship Subdivision. But soon, it will have company in that title.

This week, BCS commissioners agreed upon a framework for a four-team Division I football playoff to begin in 2014. So they're only 36 years behind their I-AA counterparts? I guess better late than never.

The fact I-AA started a tournament to crown a champion when the division was formed in 1978 and has held once ever since, while Division I is just now considering a playoff illustrates the silliness of most of the arguements for the current bowl format.

Missing too much class time... well the FCS tournament has games two more weeks into December than FBS requires of its teams. I guess those I-AA guys just aren't as serious students.

You have to understand, the BCS was created by the powerful for the benefit and sustainment of the powerful. Changes are being made now, it would seem, to prevent public sentiment in favor of a playoff from causing a power shift in college football.

If the BCS continued to ignore the support for a playoff, changes might have been made without it. This way the BCS can control the terms -- allowing the current BCS bowl games to be included in the process, keeping smaller conferences out of the conversation by limiting the playoff to four teams, determing how the teams are selected, etc.

Although Division I is far behind its I-AA counterparts in the playoff game, the FCS pattern may give you a good look at where Division I could go from here.

FCS began in 1978 with a four-team playoff -- sound familiar? In 1981, the field was exapnded to eight, then just a year later, went to 12. The field expanded to 16 in 1986, and now 20 teams participate.

The announcement this week will almost certainly be a beginning, not an ending. And there isn't anything wrong with that, even if it is 30 years late.

Reader Comments

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

The Editor's Desk

Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

Follow Michael Peters on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :