By Flint Wheeler
Good riddance, BCS championship. The final four bracket has been set for college football’s first ever playoff to crown a national champion.
On Sunday, the new 13-person selection committee announced that Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State nabbed the top four spots in the new College Football Playoff ranking system to decide who will win it all.
For CFP (College Football Playoff) newcomers, here’s how it all works: No. 1 seed Alabama faces fourth seed Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, while No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 FSU duke it out in the Rose Bowl.
The winners of both those games play each other Jan. 12 to decide which team will hoist the newly-minted College Football Playoff National Championship trophy.
The other top-tier bowl games won’t get snubbed, though.
The Cotton, Fiesta, Orange and Peach bowls will all host semifinal games over the next two seasons as the six total bowls rotate hosting privileges.
What’s more, you’re gonna get all the college football you can handle come the turn of the New Year.
Those six elite bowl games play in sequence New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in what’s been dubbed the “New Year’s Six.”
And, if that doesn’t satisfy your football cravings…
There will be 32 more bowls games, including the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Quick Lane Bowl, the Duck Commander Independence Bowl and the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, Laughable? Yes, But I guarantee you just as profitable.
Now, for most, ditching the old BCS championship for the new final-four playoff system has been a long time coming.
“I think it’s a flawed system,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said last year.
“The great lie of the BCS system is that every game counts,” Sports Illustrated writer Austin Murphy said.
ESPN reportedly paid $7.3 billion to exclusively broadcast the four-team tournament for the next 12 years. The broadcast is expected to rake in about $470 million in revenue annually.
And that brings us to the million dollar — or, should we say multimillion dollar— question: Who’s making the big money off the new playoff system?
Well, The Power Five are sitting pretty. According to USA Today, the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, SEC and Pac-12 will each pull in about $50 million in revenue this first year – nearly double their BCS earnings from last year.
Meanwhile, smaller conferences, such as the Sun Belt and Conference USA, will divvy up smaller yet still sizable portions of revenue.
Want a sure bet? ESPN- owned by Disney will be the first to suggest an 8 team playoff. The mouse will make millions and millions from advertising and we’ll finally get the playoff fans have always wanted. We all win, right? Oh yeah – what about the poor unpaid college athletes? That argument will surely be raised when revenues are finally tallied up from this inaugural playoff system. For now, just enjoy the circus.
Founder of Silex Strategies L.L.C. providing sales and consulting in Insurance, Retirement, Real Estate and Taxes through A.I.G./Valic. PGA Class A Member and T.P.I. Certified Golf Trainer. Host of “The Tilted Sports Radio Show” on Fox Sports 1270 from 3-7pm on Thursdays, Live from The Kilt. Contact at 760-409-4612 www.flintwheeler.com
