Big Ten's College Football Playoff Support May Actually Be Real

With the Pac-12 and Big 12 formally or informally lending their support to the push for a college football playoff, an abandoned joint project of the SEC and ACC from a few years ago, only one power league has remained opposed. And that could be changing, with two Big Ten athletic directors telling the Associated Press it's time to think about a playoff system that still leaves the bowls intact.

The AP quotes Michigan St. Spartans AD Mark Hollis ("All of the Big Ten athletic directors are comfortable exploring the possibility of a four-team playoff") and his Ohio St. Buckeyes counterpart, Gene Smith ("It's time to be curious about everything").

The Big Ten's favored postseason plan, reported by the Chicago Tribune, calls for home field advantage for the top two semifinalists, with bowls remaining as they are. That would leave the Rose Bowl in working condition for the time being, satisfying Jim Delany's primary public concern with the whole ordeal.

And with the Pac-12 and Big Ten entering a long-term partnership, it's not out of the question that the Rose could become a joint property of the two conferences at some point, further ... well, further solving all that stuff even more. It would be so darn solved.

For more wholesomeness, visit Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.