When it comes to the pursuit of finding a worthy champion to raise the National Championship in January, the picture on the wall on finding a pristine contender certainly got muddied up this past weekend.
The final few weeks of the college football season are always filled with critical matchups as the College Football Playoff looms on the horizon and its committee has to make difficult decisions on who is in and who is out, but last week saw an upheaval as major players such as Alabama, Ole Miss, Colorado, BYU, Texas A&M, and Indiana all lost. The most shocking of the losses came from Alabama losing to Oklahoma 24-3; it’s been a rough season for Bama’s new coach Kalen DeBoer as he follows coaching legend Nick Saban, and a defeat to the 5-5 Sooners stunned the college football landscape. Side note–who else learned that Oklahoma, a once revered powerhouse in college football, was an average team now? Baker Mayfield isn’t walking through that door, kids.
Since expanding the playoff system to 12 teams this year, It’s been a season filled with frenzy about how many teams the power conferences like the SEC, Big 10, ACC will have in the playoff, and the recent turmoil will cause a seismic shift in both the rankings and the playoff brackets.
Before the CFP, having one or two losses eliminated any possibility of making it, but the current system may grant a handful of teams with three losses like Alabama or Ole Miss to compete for a championship. Now, this is coming from someone who admired the tradition of college football pre-NIL in which the two very best teams at the end of the year played each other to be crowned a champion. Was it a perfect system–not one bit, and while I admit the four team playoff had its moments of exceptional football, allowing 12 teams has already proven to be too much of a good thing. Many believed expanding the playoffs to 12 teams would dilute the product and I think it’s fair to say their concerns are 100% warranted given the chaotic nature of the current playoff picture. Obviously, the CFP will be a money-making machine for both the NCAA and the teams that advance into the playoff; it’s the sole reason they decided to expand the tournament to 12 teams…just wait, they will get to 64 teams and hold December Delirium.
This pursuit of financial gain is just another example of these sporting leagues believing that having more games on the docket makes a “better product” and in many ways, it does. The games will most likely be compelling to watch, the breakdowns and post-games will most likely be insightful and emotional, and the inevitable crowning of a National Championship will make this exact critique as worthless as white gloves at the hot fudge sundae bar–anyone wearing white gloves is just asking to get chocolate on them…or ketchup. The feelgood the playoff will invoke is undeniable, but finding the 12 most deserving or best teams to compete for a title is no longer the priority of the CFP, but to select 12 good teams they like to battle it out and hope for the best.
The next few weeks will be a madhouse as Rivalry Week and Conference Championships will weed out the weak and only the best teams will advance. It will be interesting to see what the selection committee does if one of the teams with some prestige lose another game…will they choose the team that will draw the biggest crowd or select a team worthy of a chance at the title? The college football landscape waits with bated breath.