The Potential Of The College Football Playoffs
By: Sam Butler
As the 2018–19 football season comes to a close we can look back over the season and ponder on how it could’ve been better. Well I have a simple answer for that question. MORE FOOTBALL! Ever since the 4-team playoff was launched in 2014, coaches, fans, and players have called for an expansion. As entertaining as the 4 team playoff system is we all know it could be so much better. Imagine a world where a whole month was dedicated to watching the best teams square off. That certain thought gives me shivers as a football fan. Not only because I love watching football but I also know that a larger playoff system would give my team who seems to always fall short, a better shot at making the playoffs. While all of this seems too good to be true the reality of it may not be so far away. So what would an expanded playoff-system look like?
I think an 8-team playoff seems like a good start. The best format for this would 5 bids for the power-5 conference champions and then 3 at large bids. Bill Connelly of SB Nation uses the 2016 season for an example.
- 8 Western Michigan (G5 rep) at 1 Alabama (SEC champ)
- 5 Penn State (Big Ten champ) at 4 Washington (Pac-12 champ)
- 6 Michigan (at-large) at 3 Ohio State (at-large)*
- 7 Oklahoma (Big 12 champ) at 2 Clemson (ACC champ)
To put this season into perspective Oklahoma finished at the top of the big 12 but was not put into the playoffs while Ohio State did not finish at the top of the conference and was put in the playoffs. While there are many arguments to be made about who was the better team and who should of been allowed in the playoffs, I can say confidently that it would of been much better if these teams that are left out during the 4-team playoff should be included. While all of this would be amazing I do realize there would still be arguments for any team that thinks that should of been include. Many of these players would be asked to play in a 16 game season which seems a little bit crazy considering they aren’t being paid for this, but the necessary rest can be allotted and we could allow the players to profit off their successes using the olympic model which I will talk about in a different article. If this were to happen then the 16 game season for a handful of teams is not all that crazy. I can imagine the quarter finals being played on December 17, the semi-finals on new years day, and the championship two weeks later on a Saturday!! We can still include the bowl games in the last four games of the playoff because of their importance to the NCAA, but I think you should give home field advantage to the first 4 seeds in the quarter finals. This would allow for local fans to see them in there home town and it would also improve the importance of the regular season. Teams that lose in the first round could also have the option to play in a bowl game because of the unique experience that bowl games bring and we don’t need teams with 7 losses filling the bowls.
The playoff fun does not need to stop at 8 teams. One of the more exciting college sport championship systems is in the FCS. The 24 team playoff has proved to be very favored and effective. 12 teams are selected on each side of the bracket with 4 bye games. The way I see it being formatted is the power 5 conference champions are automatic bids and then the next 19 teams are selected by a committee. Earning the top 8 seeds that get bye’s should be completely based off strength of resumé. The higher seeded teams should get to host the games until the final 4 teams where the selected bowls can be in play. Using this method the teams with the higher seeded teams can have the opportunity to host a game that there hometown fans can attend. This is also creates an incentive to win more in the regular season so you can have a higher seed. The games can start a week after conference championship games and then teams get 2 weeks rest for the final 4 games and the national championship game. Then again I also believe that the season should be shortened down to 11 regular season games in order to allow time for the players to rest up for the playoffs. The 3 non-conference games that most teams play are unnecessary and should be shortened to 2 games. The other side of this argument would be the players that are worried about their health for the NFL draft. This would be a legitimate argument considering some players already sit out for bowl games but I think the incentive for winning a national championship would keep most players on the field.
However the NCAA decides to expand the playoff it is obvious that the NCAA should expand the playoff. The 2018–19 college football playoff is the perfect example of this. We saw two teams in the playoffs that were clearly better than the opposing teams. The first weekend of the college football playoffs was far from exciting. Scrolling through Twitter on that Saturday I saw Georgia being mentioned all day. Expanding the playoffs can be a simple solution to this debate of what constitutes “the best four teams”. Obviously Notre Dame went undefeated and beat some decent teams but they were not a conference champion. With an expanded playoff all of the power 5 conference winners would compete plus the other teams that are part of this debate.
