2014 BCS championship in Miami, Florida will be the last year with the current BCS formula in play. Teams will have to be chosen in a final four with semi finals during bowl season, and national championship shortly after. Few questions to ponder. Should divisions in conferences be made so your best teams play each other least amount of times? Big Ten now has MSU-OSU-Michigan as core block proves that the Big Ten is looking for the prize. If keeping the Legends and Leaders divisions OSU and Michigan would have to play each other two times a year. Suppose the old divisions were kept and suppose if both teams were selected for the final four, then Michigan and OSU would play three times in one year. That I believe is at the heart of that switch. Michigan and Ohio State are out recruiting their rivals and making divisions so that the Big Ten doesn't miss out one of four playoff spots.
I find the whole four team playoff thing to be such a silly, half-assed effort to appease the people who want to see a playoff. Obviously, the number 5 and 6 teams are always going to gripe. Jockeying to be in the top four is going to be a clusterfuck in and of itself. If the playoff was 16 teams like it should be no one will care when team #17 is left out, because they probably don't have a prayer anyway. I think your reasoning about why the B10 is putting all their eggs in one basket is probably correct, but it's stupid that they even have to think that way.