First-and-10 Coming in 2014 playoff controversy

1. I dont want to get on a soapbox, but Even on its way out, the BCS still is making noise.Ladies Jason Croom Jersey and gentlemen, we give you yet another reason why what you think is so bad about the BCS really isnt that bad at all. Or at the very least, isnt any different than the shiny, sparkly new youve been sold.The fabulous and fair playoff everyone clamored for that follows this perfectly imperfect BCS system next fall, really isnt any different than what weve got now.By different I mean this: the controversy of worthine s doesnt end when the last person leaving the Rose Bowl on January 6 shuts down the BCS forever. It will only ramp up more with the four-team, three-game playoff.Were very cognizant of that po sibility, Big Ten commi sioner Jim Delany said last January.Here, everyone, is why they dont really care (and why they really shouldnt): controversy sells.In 16 years of the BCS, college football churned out the greatest metamorphosis any league or sport has had in television history: evolving from a regional game with pockets of succe s to a national, revenue-generating behemoth that now trails only the NFL in popularity.So when I tell you that transfixing this years finish to next years playoff and examining how the new selection committee will make hard choices sources told Sporting News last week the committee already is running models even without all of the specific metrics it will use only magnifies the looming controversy, it means little in the eyes of the men and women in academia who developed this playoff. Michael Vick Jersey They want controversy. They need controversy.You say Alabama, at No. 3 in the final BCS standings, is a lock for one of the four playoff spots. I say how can a team that didnt even win its own division play in a national playoff?You say Michigan State, which won the Big Ten and beat previously unbeaten Ohio State in the leagues championship game, deserves a spot in the playoff. I say other than a questionable Ohio State team, who did the Spartans beat this fall in another season of watered-down Big Ten football?You say Baylor, backdoor winners of the Big 12, should be among the four teams in the playoff. I say Baylor lost its biggest game of the season (and it wasnt close), and had no impre sive road wins.You say Stanford, champions of the Pac-12 rivaling the SEC as the nations best conference deserves a spot in the playoff. I say the Cardinal lost to two unranked teams (Utah, USC), and deserve to be left out because of it.And on and on and on it goes.We havent even reached the first season of the new system, and already there are administrators who privately (and some publicly) admit four teams wont be enough. Eventually, the system must reach eight.Meanwhile, back in the outdated, Darius Slay Jr. Jersey archaic, cartel we call the BCS, there is zero controversy in the last season of the system. Unbeaten Florida State and once-beaten Auburn will play in the national championship game.If this year were next year, FSU and Auburn would be the only two locks in the system. The only question would be seeding, a spot where Auburn would have just as much an argument if not better than FSU for the top seed.After that, its two places for as many as five teams. You know, controversy.The living, breathing undeniable foundation that moved swiftly and freely from one system to the next.Without you even knowing it.Should Alabama, a team that didn't play in its conference title game, be selected as one of the four teams if there as a playoff this season? (AP Photo)2. Clap, clap, clap your handsAs if the humility of being , this young man at Oklahoma State had to take it one step further.And now hell be punished.But really, if Im Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker, I simply look back and say, Dude, youre a cheerleader.Game over.3. Big money, big decisionWere going about this playoff debate at all the wrong angles. When in doubt, follow the money.So when the OBannon case against the NCAA finally churns through the legal system; and when a judge finally tells the NCAA that, of course, you cant use and hold a student/athletes likene s in perpetuity (last I checked, this was America), thats when the entire landscape of the sport changes.Thats when players will be paid, no matter how significant (or insignificant to some) the amount, that lost revenue will hurt a majority of big time college programs who have mortgaged athletic departments with facilities upgrades and huge coaching contracts.And whats the easiest way to recoup that lost revenue? Expand the College Football Playoff and add more television networks (and the billions theyll throw at the CFP). Controversy will not move the four-team event to an eight-team playoff.Lost revenue will.MORE: | Baylor coach Art Briles has a close relationship with Robert Griffin III. Could that land him in Washington as coach of the Redskins? (AP Photo)4. The choiceDan Snyder is coming after Art Briles. You know it, I know it heck, Briles knows it.Before those in the beautiful Baylor Bubble get all sideways, understand this: its not about money. This, more than anything, is about coaching at the highest level of the sport.Redskins quarterback Tyree Jackson Jersey Robert Griffin III and Snyder have a tight relationship even to the detriment of current Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and theres little doubt Snyder will lean on Griffin when he hires a new coach.I sat down with Griffin three years ago when writing a profile on the player who lifted Baylor to unthinkable heights, and he was very clear about one critical thing: outside his father, no one had more impact on his life than Briles.Think about that while I tell you this: Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post followed Griffin last year for the entire season, with the Redskins.Sheinin told me he has never seen quite a owner/player relationship like Snyder and Griffin; theyre buddies, they pal around together. The Redskins will come after Briles, who will have this dilemma: stay and reap the rewards of his hard work to turn Baylor into a football school, or leave and compete at the highest level?MORE: 5. The Weekly FiveThe University of Texas wants everyone to know . Five other things Texas would like everyone to believe:1. Were really not interested in Kevin Sumlin and Art Briles no matter how many times they send us their resumes.2. Saban? That old boy dont speak Texan.3. Rick Barnes is so going to the Final Four this Jack Driscoll Jersey year.4. You say SEC, we say League of One.5. The Longhorn Network: who cares if no one watches, were making millions!6. Husky happine sNothing like falling a s-backward into addition by subtraction. Your new Washington coach, everyone: .I dont know what Huskies athletic director Scott Woodward did to orchestrate the biggest coaching coup of the offseason, but he should be given a lifetime contract for i