The University of Michigan and Ohio State University football game last Saturday was one of the best college sports games in recent memory. It was a close game throughout, went to double overtime, included controversial calls, but most importantly had playoff implications.
There is a reason why it was the most anticipated game of the season as bitter Big Ten rivals ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the nation went head-to-head to essentially decide who gets into the College Football Playoff. College sports need more of this single-game drama between top teams.
The magnitude of Saturday’s game wouldn’t exist without the four-team college football playoff, though.
The underlying reason college sports will never breach the popularity of their professional counterparts is the lack of parity and how watered-down the product is on a weekly basis. That being said, the four-team college football playoff has finally instilled some drama and motivation in the sport.
Four years ago, critics of the former bowl system overshadowed play on the field. In the summer of 2012 when the Football Bowl Subdivision announced the four-team playoff bracket, critics, including myself, focused on the failures of the new system and its failure to include eight teams. Now in the third year of the four-team playoff, I think it is quite clear that the FBS was right and the current format should stay.
Four is the perfect number. For example, if you were to have eight teams, this past weekend’s Michigan and Ohio State matchup would be nothing more than a rivalry game. Saturday’s contest was an instant classic because of the playoff implications: if you win, you’re in the playoffs.
Fans relish in the opportunity to map out their team’s path to the postseason. The margin for error for these top programs to make the postseason now is so small that every week in the college football season truly matters as teams strive for perfection.
Naysayers will argue that more teams deserve a chance to make it. But I say this isn’t about inclusion; it’s about finding the best way to crown the top team in college football.
Additionally, critics think that Michigan, which is now ranked No. 5 in the AP polls, will be left out of the field because of a flawed system. Increasing the amount of teams doesn’t make including the right teams any easier. In fact, adding more teams would be a disaster for the selection committee. Take March Madness for example: following every Selection Sunday, there are a handful of teams that “deserved” to make the dance.
Furthermore, the gripe you get from college football fans about the current system is normally from fans of the teams who are on the outside looking in.
Also, this four-team playoff scenario is a rare instance in which expanding teams in a tournament doesn’t provide a massive uptick in revenue for the NCAA. The teams on the outside of the playoff picture will still play in one of the high-profile bowl games.
Bowl games in their infancy have always been a flawed system to end a college football season. After all, what does it really mean to win the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl? (Yes, that is actually a bowl game).
Now that there is a College Football Playoff system, these games serve as complimentary bowls. Although there is a lot of meaningless football being played, it provides entertainment throughout the holiday season. Additionally, middle-of-the-pack college football teams have incentives at the end of the year to reach the .500 mark because they could become bowl-eligible.
This stockpiles its own host of issues because terrible teams, such as Boston College, become eligible for postseason play. BC won just two games in their conference this year and had a laughable nonconference schedule. Should the FBS be rewarding underperforming teams that schedule cupcake opponents early in the season? No, but there will always be flaws in an imperfect situation.
The NCAA faced unending criticism in anticipation of the playoff system in college football, and nearly three years into the new format it has been a glaring success.
College football lacks any parity and the college football playoff highlights it. Over the next five years your going to see the same teams in the playoff every year.