When the 2014-2015 college football season began, fans around the country were excited to start a new era of college football. After 15 seasons, the NCAA had thrown away the BCS system, which had caused numerous controversies throughout its existence.
A new four-team playoff system was intact, and every fan was excited to see how things would play out. The newly established 13 member selection committee would hand pick the teams they felt should be playing in the playoff. This was much different from the BCS, where the AP and coach’s polls factored into the decision making process.
Throughout the first two seasons, the playoff has worked out nicely. While there have been arguments about some of the teams who deserved the fourth and final spot, the committee has done a good job getting the right teams in the playoff overall. In the inaugural season many felt the committee got the teams right with Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State and Alabama.
Last year, some felt that there were more deserving teams than Oklahoma for the final spot.
In the playoff’s third year, the controversy in deciding the four playoff teams was greater than anyone could have ever imagined. While nobody could argue that Alabama, Clemson and Washington deserved to have their place in the playoff, there was a lot of discussion about who should get the final spot: Penn State or Ohio State.
Penn State finished the season as Big 10 champions, with an overall record of 11-2. Ohio State finished the year at 11-1 with their only loss being to Penn State. In the end, the committee gave the final playoff spot to Ohio State.
While the decision was not a total surprise, there were many who felt that the Nittany Lions deserved to be there over the Buckeyes. Analysts and former college players spoke out in favor of Penn State saying that the committee screwed them over.
Former Ohio State player Terrelle Pryor said that Penn State deserved to be in the playoff, while also calling for the expansion of the playoff system.
It seems unfair that a team can win its conference and not have a chance to compete for the national championship. Winning your conference almost means nothing, if there is not a reward for it. That would be similar to an NFL team not making the playoffs even though they won their division.
While the current playoff system works, there are flaws and changes need to be made. I suggest that the college football playoff should be expanded from four to six teams.
The playoff would include the conference champion from each of the power 5 conferences — the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 12 and ACC plus one wild card team.
The selection committee would then be responsible for seeding and picking the wild card team.
The playoff would be setup in the format similar to the NFL. The top two teams get a first round bye while the three seed matches up with the six seed with the winner playing the one seed. The four seed would take on the five seed where the winner advances to face the two seed. The major bowl games, such as the Rose Bowl could then be made into the playoffs game leading up to the national championship.
While expanding the playoff to eight teams could work, there could be controversy among conferences that don’t have more than one team in the playoff. Having one wild card team would be good because of the situation like the one we have this year with the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes.
They are a team with the pedigree to be in the playoff but one loss to their division and eventual conference champion should have prevented them from competing for that chance. What we saw in the Big 10 this year is similar to what we saw with LSU and Alabama in the SEC in 2012 — which ended up with both team playing for the national championship.
From the perspective of the teams involved in the power 5 conferences, this makes sense. A lot of teams win their conference and they don’t get the chance to compete in the playoff. This would create a win and you’re in scenario for the major conferences. Also if you don’t win your conference, there is the possibility of you getting in with the wild card birth.
Not only is this a good move for all teams involved in the power conferences, this move would make sense for the NCAA as well.
Knowing that the only guaranteed way to get in the playoff is by winning your conference, this gives an added pressure to big time regular season games and the conference championships which would be good for TV ratings. With an increase in ratings, ad revenue for big time games such as LSU vs. Alabama and Ohio State vs. Michigan along with the conference championships could be better than they are now.
From a fan perspective, what is there not to love about this? The number of teams that could be in the playoff each year makes college football that much better to watch. Each conference has three or four teams that can seriously contend for their conference championship and the race for the hardware would make the games that much more entertaining.
We could also begin to see something similar to the NCAA basketball tournament take place. The concept of March Madness and filling out a bracket could be brought over to the college football playoff. This would generate more excitement from the fans, and more revenue money for the NCAA.
From a sports betting perspective this would be great as more bets could be made about teams and their odds make the playoffs as well as their odds to win the national championship. Big regular season games and conference championships could see a higher turnout in bets with the added importance of these games.
Like any new idea there will be growing pains but that does not mean progress can’t be made.
While there is no doubt that the current playoff system is better than the BCS, there are still flaws with it. Teams need to be properly rewarded for winning their conference by being given a shot to play for the national championship. Expanding the playoff to six teams will eliminate most of the controversy, while only growing on the excitement and craziness that makes college football so enjoyable.
