Dear College Football, for the love of God please give us a playoff

Adam on 11 13, 2009

Dear college football, Give us a playoff please. We can’t bear it anymore. We can’t stand how a great game has been reduced to a beauty contest where the sexiest team wins the championship, while deserving teams get cast aside. How can anybody consider college football a true sport when there is no resolution at the end of the year? We may as well just go with the pre-season polls and not even play the games.

This year even more than others a playoff is needed. Alabama, Florida, Texas, Cincinnati, Boise State, and TCU are all undefeated and have a good chance of ending their seasons that way. Sure you can say that Boise, TCU, and Cincinnati are not as good as the top three, but that is pure speculation. Besides, Alabama and Florida may well be the two best teams in the nation, but we will see them play in their conference championship, instead of the national championship.

Look at college basketball. I know that it’s not as physically demanding a game as college football, but March Madness is everybody’s favorite sporting event. The drama, the matchups, seeing small conferences matchup with the big boys, its unparalleled sporting excitement, and college football could have the same thing.

People will argue that a playoff would be too long for college football players, or that it would eliminate the tradition of bowl games. That’s a fair point, but having a playoff so that we know who actually won the national championship is far more important than clinging to some old tradition that truly determines nothing. College football is a sport, not a history museum, and a definitive champion must be crowned in any legitimate sport.

Right now college football is like a movie with no ending, it leaves us unsatisfied, confused, and angry.

I propose that college football eliminates the preseason (where Florida plays nowhere state university and wins by 70) and go directly into conference play. That way fewer games are played at the front end of the schedule, leaving more room for the end of the year. Then devise an 8 team playoff system, with all teams that don’t make it but are still bowl eligible getting to play in their normal bowl games. Then you can assign the first round playoff matchups bowl names. The first round of the playoffs can be the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl etc. That way everyone still gets to play in a precious bowl game and we also get a definitive national champion.

Using the BCS system to determine who the top 8 teams would work just fine. I would rather debate who the 8^th best team in the country is than wondering who the best team in the country is. As of today this system would match up Florida v. LSU, Alabama v. Georgia Tech, Texas v. Boise State, and TCU v. Cincinnati. These would be great matchups showcasing conference rivals as well as teams that would otherwise never share the same field.

Isn’t it time college football? Isn’t it time to have an ending to your story book season, a conclusion to your action packed thriller? The time for change is at hand, but will college football answer the bell?

800px-Nate_Longshore_prepares_to_pass_at_ASU_at_Cal_2008-10.04