sherm03;1206890 wrote:Why would me being a Notre Dame fan have anything to do with the thought that requiring that playoff teams must be conference champions? It's clear that since Jack Swarbrick was involved, there is a tie-in for Notre Dame. So whether or not that stipulation is there does not affect my team in the least, because there will be an exception made for ND if that stipulation is made.
All I am saying is that people wanted a playoff so that the best teams would be deciding it on the field for the championship. Now people are saying that what they really want is a playoff among just conference champions. It is possible that the best teams are in the same conference. Hell...it could be possible that the best four teams all play in the same conference. People wanted this change to eliminate controversy. Making the stipulation that you have to be a conference champion in order to make the playoffs does nothing to eliminate any type of controversy most years.
How do you know that they are 2 best teams in the country? In 2006, everyone in the country thought that OSU and Michigan were the two best teams in the country, and they played an extremely close game. They very easily could have had them play again, but it was determined that it wasn't in the best interest of college football to have the same conference play in the title game. As it turned out, Florida was better that year, it was not show during the regular season since the teams normally have very few, if any, common opponents.
There is no tournment, postseason, playoff, etc. that rewards wildcards, at-large teams, etc. before placing all conference or division champs in their tournment. If the tournament were expanded I could see including wildcards, but if you only have 4 spots, you have to take care of champions first.