On Tuesday the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee gave its blessing for a four-team college football playoff starting with the 2015 season. It’s a great day for college football fans.

How long have we waited to hear those words? Well, here’s some perspective. I’ve been writing about sports since 1992. I’ve been writing about a college football playoff since 1997. What prompted me to write about a college football playoff? The BCS’s formation in 1997.

That’s how long I’ve been chiming in about this subject. And, you know what? After this news ….

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Can’t keep up with the BCS playoff scenarios? Don’t worry. Here’s your quick review as we head into the final phase of decision making.

SEC. The most relevant and powerful football conference wants a four-team playoff that features the four best teams in the country, regardless of whether they won their conference or not. They seem open to featuring the semifinal and championship games within a bowl structure or bid out. They are also open to the selection process and criteria. The commissioner, Mike Slive, the athletic directors and the coaches seem to be in lock step on this one.

Big 12. As you might expect, the Big 12 is cribbing off the SEC, if their new Champions Bowl agreement is any indication. The Big 12 also wants a four-team playoff with the four best teams, regardless of whether they won their conference title. They would also like the playoff field determined by a selection committee and not necessarily a computer.

Pac-12. No official position. But Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has made it clear that he supports a playoff format that features conference champions only, even if that means a second Pac-12 team is excluded. Scott even resurrected the dreaded “Plus-1” format.

Big Ten. This one’s just weird. The Big Ten has no official position, just preferences. First is to keep the current model. Second is a Plus-1 model. Third would be a four-team playoff with semifinals at bowl games and championship games bid out. The field would be selected by a committee. The Big Ten appears to be doing all it can to preserve its tie-in with the Rose Bowl.

ACC. No official position that I can find.

Big East. The conference appears to be “adamantly opposed” to a plan the SEC and Big 12 would like to implement. The Big East prefers the top 4 conference champions, but may compromise to a 3 conference champion and 1 wild card format, according to ESPN.

So what happens now? Theoretically a decision will be made by the end of the month, but it could take longer. What will happen? Well, here’s how I see it:

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For years I have happily led the clarion call to get Notre Dame football in a conference. But I wouldn’t be a good reporter if I didn’t re-examine the evidence. And even though I still believe Notre Dame’s best place in the long term is in a conference, I’ve come to the conclusion that Notre Dame can’t join a conference. Not without a lot of pain on their part.

We’ve all played the hypothetical game of “which conference should Notre Dame join?” My personal opinion is that either the Big Ten or the Big 12 are the best fits, the latter because they’ll be more willing to give the Irish the sweetheart deal it gave texas regarding the longhorn Network. And, maybe, one day the Irish will join a conference.

But it won’t happen this year. I’m not even sure it happens if the BCS chooses to allow only conference champions into its playoff format. You might think that it’s just as easy as joining a conference and having a ready-made schedule, or sharing revenue to protect your coffers.

But it’s trickier for Notre Dame. Here are four reasons why:

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We got a tweet from Emory Hunt asking if we’d like to come on  Football Gameplan to discuss Pac-12 football. Click the player below to hear the radio segment.