Big Ten athletic directors back four-team football playoff

Chicago -The Big Ten is all-in with a four-team playoff in college football, now the only issue is figuring out how to set it up and which teams get to play.

The conference's athletic directors are meeting in Chicago Tuesday and Wednesday and the potential shift to a playoff in football for the 2014 season has been the main topic of conversation.

According to Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis, the Big Ten is behind the idea of a four-team playoff but spent much of the morning on Tuesday discussing various ways to determine the field.

"I think it's very easy to determine 1 and 2," Hollis said. "I think 3 and 4 gets relatively complicated. Polls can do a good job with 1 and 2. I'm not so sure they can do a great job with the 3 and 4 slots."

Hollis said there have been multiple ideas discussed, including whether to rely heavily on polls or implement some sort of selection committee, not unlike the one used in basketball.

He believes there is a consensus among his peers that winning a conference championship is vital.

"I'm very much in favor of a system that rewards as many conference champions as possible," he said. "But I think you need to keep some wiggle room for other teams that are ranked, whether that be one or two of those spots. That's some of the debate that we're going through right now."

Hollis also added that he and the other Big Ten AD's have agreed that playing semifinal games on campus is likely off the board. Instead, the Big Ten is more concerned about keeping its strong ties with the Rose Bowl.

Hollis said preserving the value of the Rose Bowl is "critical."

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