For the past 16 years college football fans have been wishing and willing their team to a cherished BCS (Bowl Championship Series) game. The BCS system has featured five bowl games that would put the top teams across the country in the spotlight. Games would be played in some of the biggest and most famous stadiums with all of America watching. However, that is all about to change this year. This season the new college playoff will be introduced, and it is about time for a change.

Within the BCS era college football teams have fought and scratched their way to one of the four BCS games and the National Championship. The four BCS bowls included the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA), the Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) and the Fiesta Bowl (Phoenix, AR). Every year the National Championship game would rotate between those four different locations and would feature the two “best” teams in the country.

For the past BCS games, there were automatic tie-ins, meaning that the winners of the five power conferences would automatically play in a BCS bowl game. The Pac-12 and Big 10 represented the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl would feature the SEC champ and an at-large team, the Orange Bowl showcased the ACC champion and another at-large team, and finally the Fiesta Bowl included an at-large team versus the Big 12 winner. The teams that didn’t make the cut for a BCS Bowl would play in one of 30 smaller bowl games throughout the country.

Though the BCS sounded like a great idea 16 years ago, there were a lot of problems and debates about the ranking systems. The BCS rankings aren’t like any other ranking system. The rankings were computed with various formulas and programs, be based on, difficulty of schedule, record, conference and other variables that arose as the season progressed. Fans and announcers felt as though smaller teams did not always get the representation for their strong season. Teams from smaller conferences have gone undefeated and not made it into one of the BCS bowl games. In 2004, three undefeated teams, Auburn, Utah, and Boise State, never cracked the Top 2 and never had the opportunity to play in the National Championship. Throughout the BCS era there was a lot of frustration, disagreements and confusion among players and fans who have devoted hours to their favorite team.

Fans have wanted to see a college football playoff take over for the hated BCS system, and this year their prayers were finally answered. This college football season is one of the most anticipated seasons in recent history as five power conferences fight for only four playoff spots. The new playoff system will have a selection committee of thirteen to decide who the top four teams are. The committee of thirteen includes former coaches, student athletes, administrators and journalists. This committee will choose the four teams for the playoff based on the strength of schedule, head-to-head results against common opponents, championships won and other factors.

The playoff will include two semifinal games played on January 1^st at the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl this season. For the inaugural season the Championship Game will be happening eleven days later at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The semifinal games will then rotate between the same BCS stadiums every year and the National Championship will rotate cities every year.

Unlike the faulty BCS system, there are no automatic tie-ins and every team will have an equal chance to make it. Those that aren’t selected to participate in the playoff will still have the opportunity to participate in the other 39 bowl games. Though there are still a few questions about how the new system will play out towards the end of the season and who will make the playoff, many, including myself, are very excited to have a playoff and to finally get rid of the computerized rankings of the BCS system.

As the season begins to near January 1^st, fans, teams and broadcasters are eagerly waiting to see how the new playoff will work. As of now, it seems as though the new system is moving along nicely and working without a major hitch so far. Hopefully, we will see a change for the better after we have finally rid ourselves of the unpopular BCS system and prepare for the first college playoff. Up until this point of the hectic college football season, it seems as though a lot of different teams could deserve the four playoff spots available, and it will be very intriguing as to what conferences have the opportunity to represent college football this season.