The NCAA will enter uncharted territory next month with the introduction of the College Football Playoff.

After years of scrutiny, college football fans will finally all get what they want—bowl games and a playoff.

The arrangement actually benefits every party involved. During the BCS era, no one was happy. The Boise States of the world were criticized for playing in a small conference, despite nearly perfect records year in and year out. Big-time schools like Alabama or LSU playing in the SEC deserved the BCS spots.

Now, fans get the best of both worlds. The traditional bowl game lore will carry on for the 65 or so teams that qualify, and the top four will duke it out in a two game playoff to finally decide, for the first time ever, exactly who the best college football team is.

In 2004, the Auburn Tigers went undefeated, and beat Virginia Tech 16-13 in the Nokia Sugar Bowl to improve to 13-0 — an undefeated season. However, despite playing in one of the best NCAA conferences, the SEC, the Tigers were not awarded a national championship birth. There were two other undefeated teams that year—Utah and Boise State, sparking the question, who was the best?

Ten years later, the NCAA has finally given fans a way to get an answer. This year, the Rose Bowl will play semi-final to Oregon and Florida State, the winner of which will play either Alabama or Ohio State (depending on who wins the Sugar Bowl) for the national championship. The same game that Auburn played in ten years ago, this year, has meaning.

Some argue that the four-team playoff system is too small. There is a point here, but keep in mind, the playoff system is still very young in the process. If the four-team system proves to be inadequate, I’m sure adjustments will be made to expand.

As a Washington State fan, you should be happy with the new system. When discussion about a playoff first took place, there was talk about eliminating the bowls all together, rewarding just sixteen teams with a spot in the playoff. It has been 12 years since WSU was in the top sixteen, and it will be a number of more years before they are again. However, the team can still gain positive momentum by qualifying for small bowls with six wins in their rebuilding process.

It will be interesting to see how the playoff unfolds. My prediction is that it will initially make college football fans very happy.