HOOVER, Ala. – The College Football Playoff will officially replace the Bowl Championship Series for the 2014-2015 college football postseason, and the program’s executive director had a chance on Wednesday to wow the public with a simple and efficient presentation of the incoming system.
Instead, we’re all just a little bit more confused.
Bill Hancock, who’s defended the BCS since November 2009 as its executive director, presented the new College Football Playoff format to more than 1,000 journalists at the Southeastern Conference Media Days and stumbled mightily through most of it.
“Uh, timeout,” he said when playing out the College Football Playoff formula on the final rankings of years past. “I did that wrong.”
Hancock recreated what the postseason would have looked like in 2006, 2011 and 2012 if the College Football Playoff was implemented, which may have been a useful tool to clearly differentiate between this system and the BCS.
Unfortunately, the 62-year-old former newspaper editor did not rehearse the presentation and made the format appear more complicated than it should have been.
“I don’t know if this will work,” he muttered when filling out the hypothetical bowl games.
Hancock regularly flubbed the names of conferences (calling them the Big 8 and the Pac-10), asked the media not to tweet out his gaffes (good one) and failed in his overall goal: Simplify the College Football Playoff method to the public.
The breakdown of hypothetical matchups was unrehearsed and chaotic, illustrating both the ill-preparedness of Hancock and the inefficiency of the College Football Playoff to easily translate to the average football fan.
The BCS was so widely criticized because its selection process seemed random at times, infuriating fanbases and schools across the nation. The sport’s new postseason method was supposed to be clean, smooth and straightforward, but Hancock did a piss-poor job relaying any of that to his audience.
After his hour-long commercial, Hancock stepped out of the main ballroom in the Hyatt Regency Birmingham to do a more personal Q&A with the media. It is clear the man is incredibly nice and polite, but it is even clearer that he will need to practice his interactions with reporters before attempting any more presentations at conference media days.
Hancock dodged questions about possibly expanding to eight or 16 teams, repeating that the College Football Playoff has a 12-year contract with the conferences to remain at four teams. We know there’s a 12-year agreement, Bill, but how about telling us why the committee immediately took an eight or 16-team possibility “off the table”?
When the subject of affordable ticket prices came up for fans who want to see the conference championship, semifinal and national title, his response was, “We’re going to have to keep our eye on that.”
What the hell does that mean? Just give it to me straight. The College Football Playoff was implemented as a moneymaking system for the conferences and the schools, right?
“There will be more money in this for everyone,” he said. “But the playoff wasn’t done for the money.”
Give me a break.
According to USA TODAY, the five power conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC) will draw a baseline amount of about $50 million during the first year of the College Football Playoff contract, which doubles their earnings from 2013 when the BCS was still in place.
When it comes down to it, college football has become a business. I understand that. It’s a reality we all need to accept.
However, can we stop dealing with incompetence on the actual football side of things? Bill, clear up the issues with the College Football Playoffs, be honest in your answers and at least do your best to pretend that this is for the fans.
I don’t care how much money Hancock and the schools rake in, but please just deliver a simple method to crown a college football champion.
Is that too much to ask?
College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock speaks to the media at the Southeastern Conference Media Days on Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.
