NCAA Football Playoff

I wrote this in early December. Since then, I have reconsidered my position based upon the article written by Dan Wetzel at Yahoosports.com.

He makes some very good points and started to win me over. But first, the anti-playoff post:

I happen to be anti-playoff. The majority seems to be under the impression that a playoff will determine the “best” team. A tournament does not. It determines which team is playing well during the tournament, otherwise all No. 1 seeds would make the final four. NCState (83) and Villanova (84) were not the “best” teams, they just got hot at the right time.

Eight is unrealistic because if you take the top eight, you take non-division winners Georgia and Kansas over a conference champ. If you take conference champs, there have been years where the Big East or ACC winner was 7-4, and Tennessee could win the SEC at 9-3. The only method that makes sense is 16 and play in December. Get down to 4 and play January 1 and the championship one week later.

Still, I am anti-playoff because there are too few games played and bias of the voters plays a role. With 12 games you cannot lose twice and be the “best team.” Yet LSU is ranked ahead of one loss Kansas in one poll. In college basketball, you have a better sense of who is good because they play 35 games. We may debate whether an 11 loss team gets into March Madness, but there’s no expectation that they’ll win it all. In an 8 team football tournament, you only have to win 3 games, so who gets in matters more.

Another reason I’m anti-playoff is society’s compulsion to crown a “true” champion. You play the game to win, but you also play for your future, because you love the game, and to make money for your university. Bowl games pay for numerous other sports that are not revenue producers. Bowl games are needed because of Title IX. And what is wrong with going 7-5 and getting to go to Hawaii or Florida for a bowl game? A winning season should be considered a successful season. The standard for success should not be that you have to go 11-1 and make the playoff. Institute a playoff, and the guys at Arizona State who are experiencing their first winning season in years go nowhere.

The polls are imperfect, the conferences and schedules unequal, and all of it makes for great debate and a meaningful regular season. Keep it and live with it.