NCAA football elected to replace the Bowl Championship Series with the new college football playoff system scheduled to start for the 2014 season. But  the old phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is an ideal quote that applies to the changes with the new format.
The new playoff system will consist of a four-team playoff that will determine the national champion, ending the controversial BCS system in which only two teams competed for the national title based on rankings.  Though this may seem favorable to some fans, the NCAA is making a mistake by eliminating the BCS altogether.
For one, bringing in a new playoff system can diminish the value of the regular season.  With the new playoff system, the regular season will extend its already 13-week season by a month, which could possibly interfere with the athletes’ academics or even raise their risk of injury.  
Although the playoff’s 13-member selection committee will not be officially announced until next week, some names have already been leaked to the public. Names like Barry Alvarez, Pat Haden, Archie Manning and Condoleezza Rice trickled off the list and have either received praise or criticism regarding their qualifications.
With the new playoff system, there will still be teams that will claim they have been left out, and some of those teams will have legitimate arguments.  Four teams in a playoff system is not nearly enough teams. After the first year or two, fans and critics will be crying out for the system to expand to more teams.  For teams that are fortunate enough to get selected and make it into the playoffs, it indeed will be a big gain for them, but it would also be a devastating loss to the teams who did not get in, particularly the smaller schools or the teams that finished No. 5, 6 or 7.  But a bigger question is, what about the “bubble” or at-large teams? Will they have any more of a chance than they did before?
It is highly unlikely the playoff committee would risk picking a non-power conference team with an impressive record over a traditional powerhouse in fear of losing viewers, revenue and having a blowout outcome.  The playoff system will benefit primarily the big conferences such as the SEC, Big 12, PAC-12, Big 10 and the ACC.  It will be tough for a team outside of those five  conferences to break into the four-team playoff, while on the other hand, some of those conferences could send two or maybe even three teams into the playoff, which could possibly lead to repeated matchups from the regular season.
 The way the BCS system is set up now gives those smaller schools a chance to go head-up with the some of the bigger schools in the bigger conferences.  Look at last year’s Sugar Bowl, when the Louisville Cardinals (a smaller school), knocked off the Florida Gators (a traditional powerhouse).  In this new playoff system, the Cardinals will not be given a chance to showcase their worth as being one of the better teams in the nation.  
The new playoff system will also likely detract from the bowl games as well.  Bowl games are popular and profitable.  The BCS bowl games provide teams with an opportunity to play on a big stage, giving the team and its school national exposure.  
In today’s era, teams that go .500 or better are automatically guaranteed a bowl game.  Let’s just say a team gets off to a less-than-impressive start and quickly eliminates itself from national and conference title pictures. Under the current system, the team will still have post-season play and will still have a bowl game to look forward to. 
True enough, the BCS system is not perfect, and it has its flaws, but what system doesn’t? Everyone looks forward to bowl season. Bowls bring in great revenue, huge ratings and provide good matchups for fans to watch.  College football is not in a crisis. The BCS system should stay in tact.