I dont care at all about the SEC, it means nothing to Big 10 football.
As for what the Big 10 is doing, my guess is whatever they think will make them the most money. Reading between the lines it sounds like the Rose Bowl is telling the Big 10 they are going to guarantee them truck loads of money to keep them in the picture.
The fear for everyone is that somehow you turn NCAA football into NCAA basketball, and there goes the golden goose. The Big 10 cares about money and it is going to do whatever makes the most money. Right now the most money is a +1 system, where the Big 10 gets all of its bowl money, plus the chance to maybe get more.
Rock,
I think the concern with the 4 team playoff is that to many other conferences, states, etc are going to make a lot of noise if the SEC, Big, Pac and Big 12 are getting auto bids and therefore no one else has a chance to win.