Pelini strongly opposes playoff of any sort

Blackshirts007

Blackshirts007

All-American
Things I know and think I know:

You would find few folks more opposed to a four-team playoff system in college football than Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini.

In fact, he is against any sort of playoff configuration -- four teams, eight teams, 24 teams, 84 teams, whatever.

"I think they should go back to the old system, but that will never happen," Pelini said.

In the "old system," teams played in bowl games, then the polls (media, coaches) decided national champions.

Pelini is "OK" with the current system.

You want to rile him? Ask about the seemingly inevitable coming of the college game's first playoff in 143 years, likely with a four-team format.

He recently studied a few playoff proposals, but none came close to swaying him.

Pelini stands by previous statements regarding a four-team playoff.

"Be careful what you ask for," he said in March. "We have a pretty good product in college football right now, with the bowls. ... There are a lot of good things going on in college football. How do you get a four-team playoff without messing up a pretty good thing?

"I think that's how I look at it."

I know coaches, including Pelini, that are genuinely concerned about the future of college football. Especially troubling for many is the possible decline or disappearance of bowl games. The bowl system surely would suffer if -- OK, when -- the playoff field expands to 16 teams and beyond.

Let's say the playoff field eventually reaches 16 teams. Think of the increased pressure coaches would face (this is my take, not Pelini's). Too many fans would consider a season a failure if their team failed to make the playoffs. Turnover among head coaches would escalate dramatically.

Head coaches' annual salaries also may escalate as agents use shaky job security as leverage.

Let's not get carried away. Change can be difficult and scary. I'm keeping an open mind as the college football brain trust hashes it all out. Perhaps Pelini eventually will warm to whatever playoff is in place.
Click to expand...
Read More

 
The current system is dying. It is best to get on board with a playoff now. You don't have to like it, but you have to recognize the way the world is changing, and take advantage of those changes.

 
why in Gods name would he want to go to the way it was before?! The system we have now is broken. The playoff is not perfect but its better than the BCS. And frankly the BCS is tons better than before.

Why whould he want it like the old days when the top teams dont even play and we have multiple champions??!!

 
A four-team playoff would be better than what we have now. But the current system isn't *that* bad. The selection formula is fairly straightforward (although the details of the entire formula are not entirely known, right?). And we usually end up with the best two teams. Worst case, the present BCS might match up #1 vs. #3 once in a while. That's MUCH better than the old pre-BCS bowl system that Pelini wants to go back to. Back then we'd hardly ever get #1 vs. #2 for the MNC.

 
And I was firmly opposed to the sun rising this morning. But whaddya know? There it is.

P.S. The atmosphere of these playoff games is going to completely blow the doors off college football, especially if the powers that be are smart enough to do home sites. The only mediocre aspect of CFB right now is the post-season. If we play our cards right here we could have both the best regular season and post-season in sports. But then again I still think college football is the greatest sport. So maybe that makes me biased--who knows? :rolleyes:

 
fro daddy said:
why in Gods name would he want to go to the way it was before?! The system we have now is broken. The playoff is not perfect but its better than the BCS. And frankly the BCS is tons better than before.

Why whould he want it like the old days when the top teams dont even play and we have multiple champions??!!
Click to expand...
Yep, As bad as the BCS is it's still wayyyyyyyyy better than the pathetic AP poll. Wanting to return to a bunch of drunk sportswriters "voting" the national champion is just crazy.

 
NUance said:
A four-team playoff would be better than what we have now. But the current system isn't *that* bad. The selection formula is fairly straightforward (although the details of the entire formula are not entirely known, right?). And we usually end up with the best two teams. Worst case, the present BCS might match up #1 vs. #3 once in a while. That's MUCH better than the old pre-BCS bowl system that Pelini wants to go back to. Back then we'd hardly ever get #1 vs. #2 for the MNC.
Click to expand...
That's right. Remember 1997?

Bo's dead-wrong on this issue.

 
I agree with you Husker_x. The SEC is too big of pu$$ies to play in cold weather during the winter. I would love to see a match up against a Southern School in January in Lincoln!

 
The current system isn't broken. It just doesn't satisfy those that want one, undisputed national champion. That may seem like an obvious need, but it really isn't. And we may not satisfy that need for some people without a massive playoff field. I like the way it works now pretty much, and some controversy and discussion is fine and good.

All that said, I like the plus-one system alright. As long as it's not a slippery slope to a huge playoff field. There already is a several weeks long american football tournament. The guys who take part in that, do it for a living. The bowl season has always been the reward at the end of a season for college football players.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top