Maybe that's true, and maybe not. Either way, can these people really sell that team No. 4 is more qualified than Nos. 5 and 6? That's going to be tough, and if the process isn't transparent and explainable, it will undermine the credibility that was supposed to be enhanced by a tournament.

There's also the matter of what role the Boises have in this system. Will there be room for them at the table, or does the "open marketplace," as Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby described it to ESPN's Joe Schad, inherently favor the big boys? We all know the answer, and it probably won't take but a few years for an undefeated team from outside the power structure to get shut out of the so-called playoff.

And when that happens, this venture will be seen as a failure. College football is the only sport in which you can win every game and still not play for a national title, a major reason the public was so fed up with the old system. What happened doesn't change that. The BCS might now have the perfume of a playoff, but you can still smell the BS.