Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The second year of the College Football Playoff is almost complete.
What follows are the errant thoughts of one fan trying to stay interested to the end.
• The four-team playoff last year brought the biggest ratings in cable TV history. But those were just cable ratings – and it was basically the first time cable ever aired major championship games.
• One key element lost in the playoff system is the potency of the regular season. Simply put, before the Playoff, it was two-and-a-half months of playoff atmosphere for the regular season. Now, it's gone from you-better-not-lose-once to you-better-not-lose twice.
Which is more intense?
Of course there were years in the past in which a one-loss team got into the national title game, but more often than not, they needed help to get there. With the Playoff, it’s a much easier path for a one-loss team.
In turn, the regular season is inherently less dramatic – moving college football in the direction of other sports, pro and college, all of which have only a shadow of the fan interest college football has/had for the regular season.
The irony is, while college football never had a true champion, the process of getting to an artificial one was far more exciting than the other sports getting to a real champion. This includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL and even the NFL.
While the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl are intense, the regular season pales in comparison to college football.
Think of how little interest there is for college basketball's regular season compared to football.
More basketball games is the key difference, but then 68 teams make the postseason. The only real drama is for the bubble teams.
• Since some version of a college football playoff system is here to stay, why not consider why the Rose Bowl holds such cache and try to apply that to the College Football Playoff?
For an eight-team scenario, which now seems inevitable, what if you kept the Rose Bowl as is and use it to crown the champion of the Pac-12 and Big 10, which then advances? Then you take the Sugar Bowl to advance a someone from the SEC and the Big-12. Take the Orange Bowl to advance someone from the ACC and an open-ended invitation to allow a deserving a team in from a smaller conference or an independent. The Fiesta Bowl or Cotton Bowl would be a contest between two other conferences.
You play these four games on New Year's Day, with all other bowls played before it, to keep the playoff bowls as climactic.
The semifinals would then be played Jan. 8 and the final Jan. 15 - whatever night of the week it falls on.
A little bloated, but not bad.
What this system would do is pit two conferences against each other in a certain bowl every year, but more so, two different parts of the country together, which gives it a national feeling, like the Rose Bowl’s midwest vs. west coast matchup.
If these bowls are committed to their conferences each year, each would develop a strong identity with a history of its own.
Overall, if we have to say goodbye to the unique drama of the former college football season, then the least we can expect is the best version of a playoff system. Here's to the possibility.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)