College Playoff System Full Of Excitement, Problems
Posted
Jerad Shaw-
If it seems that every Saturday during the college football season is important, that’s because it is. For the first year, college football will decide its champion by using a playoff format. Four teams selected by a committee will be seeded, and a single elimination tournament will decide the national champion. The committee is comprised of athletic directors, former coaches and a former Secretary of State. Now, to say that games this season have more meaning because of the playoff format might not be fair. The only thing that might make things more interesting is the fact that four teams get a shot at the title, and not just two like we saw with the BCS format that was around for 15 years. As we head into the home stretch of the season, the playoff picture is starting to shake out. Kind of. With two regular season games left, along with conference championships at stake the following week, we could still be a long way from finding the teams that will battle for the National Championship Trophy. Just this week, we saw the No. 1 team in the nation fall at the hands of conference foe Alabama. While that wasn’t a shocker to some, the major shocker could come on Tuesday when the newest championship rankings are released. As stated before, the only rankings that matter are the ones put out by the 13-person selection committee. This is the same committee that has demoted Florida State from No. 1 to 3 without the Seminoles having lost a game. The Seminoles, the defending national champions, have won their last 26 games, yet still find little love with the committee. The SEC though doesn’t seem to have those issues. Whether it’s Mississippi State jumping Florida State to take over the top spot three weeks ago, or the rumors of Alabama jumping into the top spot this week, the SEC seems to be the committee’s golden conference. The most powerful conference in college football for much of the last decade, the SEC uses its past to protect its future. Regardless of how tough they feel that the SEC is, the truth of the matter is that there isn’t a great team in that conference this year. All of them have lost a game, and by the time the four teams are announced, chances are each of them will have two losses. None of that will matter to the committee though it seems. College football has become a strength of schedule competition and is no longer about winning football games. People scream that Notre Dame should join the ACC or some sort of conference, but the importance of scheduling solid competition makes that a lose-lose for the Irish. Florida State is getting punished by playing inside a weak ACC, yet Alabama can suit up against Western Carolina this week and nobody will bat an eye. With this format, I understand there will be growing pains. I didn’t think that those growing pains would affect the Seminoles directly, as you would think a 26-game winning streak would allow for a bit of leeway. Fair or not, if the SEC can use the powerhouse label that they acquired in the past, the Noles should be able to lean on the fact they haven’t lost a game in almost two years. At least that’s the way I see it through these garnet and gold glasses.
