The greatest time of year has finally arrived, College Football Bowl Season that will encompass the College Football Playoffs, which will determine the ultimate National Champion of collegiate football. It was announced Sunday that Ohio State will face Georgia, and Michigan will face TCU in the semifinals for a chance to appear in the National Championship Game that takes place on January 9, 2023. While all four teams chosen for this year’s playoffs are certainly deserving of their selection, other teams were definitely worthy of an opportunity to play for a championship. With expansion of the playoff system planned beginning in 2024, most deserving teams should get that chance, as 12 teams will participate in the playoffs
Because of the current playoff system, only four teams could be chosen for playoffs. Unfortunately, this means those teams selected were left up to a playoff committee. In theory, squads are selected based on the quality of their overall play, with particular emphasis on their performance against elite opponents. Therefore, TCU was picked based on only having one loss, and their previous victory against the team they lost to in the conference championship game, Kansas State. Similarly, Ohio State was selected based in part, on their victory against Notre Dame. Furthermore, OSU’s case was bolstered thanks to USC losing to Utah, thus eliminating the Trojans opportunity to enjoy an undefeated season and a playoff berth. As a result of these scenarios, both TCU and Ohio State were playoff bound despite not winning their conference championships. As a consequence of the current system, teams like Alabama were left on the outside looking in, despite winning the SEC Championship. With the revised playoff system on the horizon, national champions will be based more on competition than “experts” opinions.
To eliminate the human influence on who become the college football national champion, it has been decided by the powers at be to expand the number of playoff teams to twelve. Although I support such a move, the manner in which the NCAA has chosen to implement the system is peculiar. As of now, the 6 conference champions will get automatic berths to the playoffs, with the next 6 going to the highest ranked teams, which are chosen by the playoff committee. To me, this is a vast improvement over the current four team system, however minor adjustments still need consideration. College football consist of 10 major conferences, involving 131 teams. As a result, the NCAA should rely more on competition when determining national championship contenders. To accomplish this, all conference champions should make the postseason, and then the next 2 highest ranked teams should fill the final 2 playoff positions. Yes, there is still a human element present in picking national champions in this proposed system, but it would be held to bare minimum. Decreasing human decisions in this process eliminates possible bias and outright corruption from taking place in the selection of playoff teams.
Expanding the playoffs allows teams to earn their playoff position by performing at the highest level possible, rather than relying on a committee to “give” you a playoff berth. Furthermore, a bad performance or two does not necessarily eliminate a team from playoff contention. No other collegiate sport has such a heavy reliance on rankings in determining championships. These proposed changes will definitely develop a reliable playoff setup that ensures that only the best teams win championships.
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