Quote Originally Posted by VTfisherman View Post
So you're saying Alabama last year shouldn't make it in a 4 team playoff?
Exactly. They're not the best in the SEC, they can't be the best in the country. Period.

I just don't see how an argument can be made that contradicts that simple idea. The best in the country, by definition of "best," must have won their conference. You can't be #1 in the country if you were #2 in your own division. The events of the BCS this last year did a helluva lot of harm to my faith in the system.

If you want a truly FAIR playoff, you will let the conferences name their best, via games played on the field, and then you will take the best from each conference and have a tournament among them (and only them) to determine the best of the best. That is the entire purpose of a playoff. It's not to put ALL the best teams in the tournament. It's just not. The purpose of the tournament is to put the best teams in the tournament who may not have already played among each other and figure which, among the best, is the best.

And no... there is no comparison to the basketball tournament because conference champions all get automatic berths to the basketball tournament regardless of what conference they're from, be it the Big East or the MEAC. They're all there. You want conference runner ups in the playoffs? Grant all the conference champions a berth first. Otherwise it's a travesty and complete bastardization of the very concept of a playoff.