Possible Playoffs Continue to be a Major Topic

Tom Dienhart
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

DALLAS - Talk of a playoff won't go away, as conversation at the Football Forum showed last week.
This was the first Forum, sponsored by the National Football Foundation, College Hall of Fame and the Football Writers of America. It's hoped the Forum will become an annual event, a sort of think tank of discussion on some of the biggest issues facing the sport.

A panel -- which included coaches Mark Mangino of Kansas, Tyrone Willingham of Washington, Gary Patterson of TCU and Jim Tressel of Ohio State; athletic directors Kevin White of Notre Dame and Kevin Anderson of Army; and Florida State president T.K. Wetherell -- was against a playoff. But the subject of a playoff -- in whatever format -- stirred the passions of many. The current BCS format will remain until at least 2014, when the TV deal with the Rose Bowl, Pac-10 and Big Ten expires.

Despite that timetable, some panelists feel it is just delaying the inevitable: A playoff is coming.

"It's not a question of if there will be a playoff," Wetherell said, "but when there is a playoff."

Why?

"Money will drive it," says Wetherell.

As it stands, most schools have tapped out revenue streams such as seat licensing, stadium naming rights, club seats and suites. A playoff would provide additional money that will be needed in the future for a sport that, according to research White cited, features only six I-A schools that have a positive cash flow.

Even so, White said, "we need to maintain the meaningfulness of the bowls and regular season."