The Eight Team College Football Playoff
If you love college football as much as I do, then you hate the NCAA. More importantly the inability for the sport and its governing body to find a solution to a problem which has plagued the sport since it’s inception.
The year, 2004. The state, Alabama. The team, Auburn. Coached by now U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, the Auburn tigers hosted one of the most prolific running offenses in collegiate history, powered by running back duo Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams. Quarterback Jason Campbell led a team which would finish the season 13-0 with 5 top 25 victories along with an SEC championship with a win over Tennessee, their second win over the Vols that year. They would end their season with a victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl but what Auburn really wanted was a National Championship. However their season would be overshadowed by the National Championship game between USC and Texas. An instant classic which saw Texas capture it’s first and only national title of the 21st century via a Vince Young scramble. A beautiful ending to an incredible year of college football except for Auburn. Why weren’t they there? Because Texas and USC were both undefeated and Auburn was the casualty of politics. See for many years the National Championship was based off a vote from so called electors, then a championship game was created. Then the BCS was created where the teams playing in the championship game was decided based off a computer calculating various numbers which is still hard to explain till today and finally a playoff was introduced. A four team tournament decided with a semi-final and a final. The team selections are based off select committee members and this was suppose to be the fix all solution but in it’s first year, it became painfully clear it wasn’t.
The year was 2014, January sprung four teams to compete on New Years Day. Alabama vs Ohio State and Oregon vs Florida State. Heisman winner Marcus Mariota led the ducks to a rout of fellow Heisman winner Jameis Winston in the Rose Bowl while Urban Meyer, Cardale Jones and the Ohio State Buckeyes upset the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the championship game, a Buckeyes team filled with talent smoked the Ducks to capture the first CFP national championship. On paper, a squad made up of names like Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott, Taylor Decker, Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Michael Thomas and many more future NFL pros looks like a shoe in for the playoff except entering the final week of the season, Ohio State was engaged in a fierce debate. Alabama, Oregon and Florida State all clinched their spots in the playoff, barring an upset in their respected conference championship games. However the race for fourth was hot between TCU, Ohio State and Baylor. They all had one loss and all deserved to be number four but thus an issue. Unlike Ohio State, TCU and Baylor play in the Big 12 and in the 2013-2104 season, the Big 12 didn’t have a conference championship game. Ohio State in the Big 10 did and thus they got the final spot. To make a long story short, too often times in college football, a team or teams get left out of the playoff for various and most often dumb reasons. Teams like Baylor, TCU, UCF and Oregon have been left out of the playoffs in the following years after Ohio State’s win with barely a half decent explanation. Here’s my solution to fix this.
College football is driven by sponsorships and money. Currently six bowl games are on a rotating schedule to host the semi-final games. The Sugar, Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton and Peach bowl are locked in so I suggest this. An eight man playoff.
1 v. 8 2 v. 7 3 v. 6 4 v.5
A quarterfinal matchup which uses four bowl games and a semi final which uses the remaining two. Here are my rules for qualification. A committee selection will select and rank each team. A conference can only have a maximum of two teams in the playoff and one must be the conference champion. An undefeated, undisputed conference champion from a group of five school will have automatic acceptance into the playoff. The quarter final shall take place on New Years Day. The semi-final a week after and a National Championship game the week after that.
For those who say this is too taxing on colligate athletes, I offer a solution. Each school receives roughly 30-40 million per appearance in a playoff game. Five million should be set aside in bonuses. One million for coaches and four million to be divided upon the players. The more you advance, the more you get paid.
No one will argue if a 9th or a 10th seed should be in because typically only six teams per year have the resume to compete for a National title but I suggest eight teams just to make things even. This way, those teams left out have an opportunity to prove they belong on the biggest stage.
