College presidents OK football playoff, but arguments will continue

So now it’s official. A committee of university presidents approved going to a four-team playoff in major-college football to determine a national champion in 2014. That means the current Bowl Championship Series system will be around for one more season.

It expires along with its television contract after the 2013 season.

So that also means all the arguments about the national championship team will be over, right? A playoff will solve everything.

Of course, that’s not really the case.

There will probably be as many arguments from teams who aren’t picked among the top four by a committee at the end of the regular season, just as there were arguments about teams that didn’t reach No. 2 in the BCS rankings in the previous setup.

The current selection process more closely reflects the selections for the NCAA basketball tournament.

Gee, there have never been any arguments about selections for that field ... and it has 68 teams.

But this is a step in the right direction, and chances are the four semifinalists will have a pretty good claim to those spots.

“A four-team playoff doesn’t go too far,” said Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger in an Associated Press report. “It goes just the right amount.”

Said Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive: “By making this change, we felt we could enhance the regular season but at the same time provide the fans with the kind of postseason that will contribute to the regular season.”

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