When You Buy The Plus One, You're Buying A Playoff

Interesting exchange here between SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and Florida State President T. K. Wetherell.  Excerpted from The Wizard of Odds:

Recent comments about a playoff system by Florida State president T.K. Wetherell sparked the ire of SEC commissioner Michael Slive. "Let me always be very clear to tell you I don't agree with the Florida State president," Slive said. "President Wetherell's statements were counterproductive, because those who support a plus-one do not support a playoff. I never said playoff. I never used the 'p' word."

That strikes me as terribly naive, if not an outright con job by Slive.

As noted many times on here, a four-team "Plus One" will never last.  Too many forces will be at work and eventually stretch that thing out to something bigger than envisioned.  It's sort of like where if you buy a property, you're buying whatever else is associated with it including neighbors and dead bodies (see Funny Farm).  Slive should know better, as several of his fellow conference commissioners have gone public with concerns about a Plus One eventually expanding into a full-blown playoff.

He's correct in that he may never (to our knowledge) us the "p word" when talking about a Plus One, but indirectly he really is.  The Plus One is effectively the gateway to -- shudder -- a real playoff in college football.  I don't think Slive is so naive as to not realize what the extension of his Plus One plan is.  This of course makes me suspicious that although publicly he's not saying the "p word", in his heart that's what he is working towards.  Hopefully I'm wrong, but Slive's no dummy, he has to know the down-the-road inevitability of a playoff if a Plus One is arranged.

(Via: The Wiz) 

Comments

[Eric Anderson]

I think Slive and the FSU Pres have the same end game in mind, Slive is just trying to be tactfull in getting there. The reason given by the BCS commishes for why they didn't consider the plus-one further is because of the fear that it will blossum into a larger playoff. Slive knows that having guys mouth off like the FSU Pres only hurt his chances of getting a plus-one, which Slive hopes will blossum into a larger playoff.

[mmortal03]

I don't think the slippery slope argument that CFR promotes is actually appropriate here. There is a sweet spot for postseason college football and my argument is for the plus-one system. There are benefits to a plus-one system that a full playoff and the current bowl system don't have. If we moved to a plus-one system, this argument would be argued more than ever, that we wouldn't want to expand to a full playoff, for the sake of regular season importance.

CFR is arguing that from somewhere, whether it be public opinion, corporate interests, or whatever, that moving to a plus-one system would draw an unavoidable push to move into a full blown playoff. I don't think this would be the case at all if all the pros and cons were weighed, and it was managed properly and advertised for the right reasons.