USC is probably better than Washington at this point in the season.

So, we clearly don’t have the best 4 teams in the play-offs. We don’t even have 4 conference Champions. We don’t even have the conference champion of what has be hailed as the the toughest conference in the country.

Forget the 8 team playoff. Just go back to Bowl games and rankings. Because the CFB is the same idea – they rank teams – they chose Washington, with a cupcake season pre-season and one loss in conference. So, if PSU played FCS teams like Washington did, they’d be in the playoffs? B1G is the only conference who has banned playing FCS teams. All other Power conferences schedule at least 1 FCS team. PAC 12 reasoning for playing FCS is that they play 9 conference games, while the others play 8. But the B1G also play 9 reg season games, and won’t schedule any FCS teams. So, the reward for UW playing a cupcake pre-season and one loss (at home) in the conference is to go the the playoffs. CFB sent the message that winning against cupcakes is perfectly acceptable.

The fact is, they use rankings only to chose the “top 4.” So, the current system hasn’t proven to be any better than the BCS. And it’s even just as arbitrary as before when they just ranked the national champion. So, go back to Bowl tie-ins and forget it — or have a play-off with, at the minimum, conference champions, because like those other sports, conference champions are guaranteed entry into the tournaments. Right now, like when they voted for national champions, the playoff teams are selected.

Believe me, I’m ecstatic for PSU and winning B1G and going to Rose Bowl. For years and year, going to the Rose Bowl WAS the goal. And given the past few years, this has been and continues to be a magical season by any standards. And playing USC – is a huge traditional match-up. No complaints in that regard. My point is really that the CFB is as much of a joke as BCS.