(USA Today Sports Images)A playoff system may not begin in college football until the 2014 season, but if one was in store this year, a simulation model says the championship game would look a little different.

According to Paul Bessire of PredictionMachine.com, in a dream situation involving a 16-game playoff system, the BCS's current No. 1 team Notre Dame wouldn't make it past the second round.

(USA Today Sports Images)

In preparation of its likely move to the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers is suing the Big East and is hoping for an early exit from a conference that is quickly losing what little credibility it once had on the football field.

Two weeks ago, Rutgers announced it had accepted an invitation to the Big Ten, ending a football relationship with the Big East that started in 1991. Now with a target of getting into its new conference by 2014, Rutgers has taken the Big East to court. At the center of the litigation is the 27-month wait imposed on members wanting to leave the conference. Also included is the financial component, including a $10 million penalty for programs that defect elsewhere.

In the complaint, Rutgers cited the early exit of programs such as West Virginia last year and both Pittsburgh and Syracuse after this season as grounds for its target date of leaving the conference by 2014.

(US Presswire)PISCATAWAY, N.J. — After Thursday night's game, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was wearing a boot on his injured left foot and a brace on his broken left wrist. He said he was playing at "70 percent," and that planting to throw the ball was incredibly painful.

And he still led his team to a championship.

During a week in which Louisville announced it was leaving the Big East for the ACC, the Cardinals (10-2 overall, 5-2 Big East) captured the title of their current conference with a 20-17 win at Rutgers (9-3 overall, 5-2 Big East).

With the win, the Cardinals are headed to the second BCS game in their history, and their first since 2006.

(US Presswire)This week, Penn State's Bill O'Brien was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the conference's coaches and members of the media, capping off one of the better coaching jobs in conference history. And according to O'Brien, he plans on being the Nittany Lions head coach in 2013, even after being linked to several NFL head coaching jobs.

Last January, O'Brien left as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots and took over a Penn State program in shambles in the midst of the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Although his hiring was initially criticized by some former players and alumni, O'Brien eventually helped bring a sense of pride back to Happy Valley. He stuck with the team in July when it received unprecedented sanctions from the NCAA, leading to the transfer of some players such as star running back Silas Redd to USC. He stayed the course after a rough start to the year, as boosters and fans questioned his ability to coach.

And now he appears to be sticking by the program again despite rumors of several NFL teams being interested in him.

(US Presswire)

The final touches of the new look Big Ten are complete with the announcement that Rutgers has officially accepted an invitation to join the conference effective July 1, 2014. Rutgers has called a press conference for 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday to make official its move out of the less than illustrious Big East into one of the power conferences of college football.

(US Presswire)

The Big Ten is officially adding one prominent television market, with a second most likely to follow, with the Maryland Board of Regents' decision on Monday morning to accept an invitation to the Big Ten. The Big Ten currently stands at 13 schools with another addition, likely Rutgers, expected to be announced as early as this week.

The news Monday morning was the conclusion to a wild weekend of speculation and worry for both programs, especially over the issue of Maryland's $50 million exit fee out of the ACC. There were also concerns that the university, a founding member of the ACC in 1953, would be reluctant to leave a conference with so many historical ties. But the possibility of a loan from the Big Ten and reports of money provided by Baltimore-based Under Armour could help the financial issues. That, coupled with the promise of a more prominent conference and a bigger piece of the Big Ten's lucrative television deal, proved enough of an impetus for the Terrapins to become the latest school to join the realignment race.

The vote was unanimous.

(AP)

Late Penn State coach Joe Paterno once said he thought Rutgers would be an ideal fit for the Big Ten.

Ten months after his passing, Paterno might get his wish.

Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel confirmed that Maryland and Rutgers are looking to bolt from the ACC and the Big East respectively to make the Big Ten a 14-team conference. According to multiple reports, negotiations between the two colleges and the Big Ten are ongoing but an announcement could be coming as early as Monday.

(US Presswire)It's official: New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow officially likes "Johnny Football."

The story of Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has become one of the biggest stories of the college football season and like Tebow, is starting to build a fan base around the country. Manziel has become a Heisman candidate over the past few weeks, and no game bolstered his image more than last Saturday's dramatic Aggies road win over then-No. 1 Alabama.

It was a game that Tebow, a former winner of the Heisman -- and as such, a Heisman voter -- watched in his hotel room in Seattle, a day before the Jets played at the Seahawks. He hadn't closely tracked Manziel, but was impressed with what he saw.