This offseason has been filled with drama and speculation about another round of conference realignment, but after Tuesday's formal approval of a four-team playoff, ACC commissioner John Swofford said the new format could lend to some greater stability across the collegiate landscape.

"We'll have to wait and see," Swofford said. "I would think it would help. There's been a lot of [realignment news] recently as we all know, but if you look back historically in college athletics, there's been a fair amount of it. ... Hopefully this will bring some stability to it, and I suspect it would."

Because a selection committee will have to consider whether a team is a conference champion as part of its criteria when choosing the four teams, it should be more incentive for programs like Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech to want to stay in the league. The Hokies are proof that one team can own the conference for a lengthy period of time, as Virginia Tech has won four ACC titles.

Of course, money matters, too, and the conference commissioners and university presidents have yet to decide how the revenue from the playoff will be distributed. According to a press release that was issued Tuesday after the meetings in Washington, D.C., the revenue would:

• Reward conferences for success on the field
• Accommodate teams' expenses
• Acknowledge marketplace factors
• Reward academic performance of student-athletes

It's impossible to predict what kind of trickle-down effect the revenue distribution might have on any realignment talk. Right now, the biggest payoff the ACC has is its current stability and an increased chance at producing a national champ.