If this year wasn’t the year that convinced all you football fans that college football needs a playoff system, then what will be?
This season’s bowl games all boiled down to the same point: College football needs a playoff.
After Appalachian State’s upset of Michigan in the season opener, it seemed like every other underdog bit a favorite or two, leading to a season which will be remembered for years to come.
But now that the bowl games are over, it's clear some were simply not the right match-ups.
First, let’s start with the AT&T Cotton Bowl between Missouri and Arkansas. Missouri demolished the Razorbacks in a 38-7 drubbing and though Darren McFadden did rush for 105 yards on 21 carries, his lesser-known counterpart, Tony Temple, was the one who stood out, with 281 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns.
The Rose Bowl didn’t seem to have the right teams from the start. Illinois went in as underdogs and played like underdogs. The Illini committed four turnovers while only forcing one against perhaps the hottest team in the nation: USC’s 49-17 domination proved that they deserved to be in the championship game.
The Sugar Bowl was no less of a blowout, though. Georgia came in with on a six-game winning streak, with a 10-2 record. Hawaii’s high-powered passing offense proved to be less-than-average against real teams and Georgia went on to win 41-10.
The Fiesta Bowl was another game between two teams who had hoped for more but didn’t get their wishes. West Virginia ran all over Oklahoma with 349 rushing yards and rolled to an easy 48-28 win.
And last but not least, there was the meltdown in the national championship game. Once again, Ohio State was #1, but even four-point underdogs, the Buckeyes rolled over. LSU beat Ohio State 38-24, delivering a second straight title game blowout to the Big 10 champions.
Although LSU did win the National Championship game, USC or Georgia probably could’ve beat LSU in the title game.
But of course, the only way the real college football champion can be crowned is by having a playoff system.
The playoff would have been perfect for a season like this year in which multiple teams were worthy of playing in the title game. This year, before the bowl games started, nine teams were in the title hunt: Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Georgia, Kansas, Virginia Tech, USC, Missouri, and Hawaii.
After the bowl games were over, we saw four of these nine go down and we were left with LSU, Georgia, Kansas, USC, and Missouri. These five teams played like champions and proved they were worthy of a berth in the title game. But, obviously, only two teams can play in a game.
So then how do you solve this problem? Simple. A playoff system.
Take Kansas out of the mix because it lost the Big 12 championship game and you have an 8-team playoff. That’s perfect for a season like this.
This way, two teams play their way to the championship game instead of having BCS rankings decide who goes to play in the title game.
With the playoff system, the title game probably would have featured USC and Georgia.
The playoff system is much needed in college football but it seems like not much is being done to implement it.
comments (12) write a comment »
write a new comment
8 months ago
I hate people gettin go on the georgia band wagon...i know htey were hot but you took out kans who LOST in their title game yet you put ga in and they didnt even GET to there conf title game...i say you have a plus 1 max...it should have been lsu vs osu and usc vs okla....wvu and va tech would be the 2 conf champs left out...lsu game would be in sugar bowl and usc would be in rose...the winers...lets say usc and okla move on and play in THE national titel game...the only thing here is that wvu beat okla but hindsite is 2020 and at the time okla was the higher ranked team and wvu was coming off a bad loss...we need to keep the bowl system and just make a 4...MAYBE 6 team playoff with all 6 major conf champs with 2 getting byes...that could work...i dont like any more then that..
with that siad..explain why kans is left out but ga is in..and if you say CUZ THEY WERE HOTT..then ur doing what the bcs does with the subjective picking...kans at least GOT to its conf titel game..ga however did not..if anything tenn who lost to lsu in sec title game should have been ahead of ga
from 8 months ago
fatty fulmer quit posing as paul. it's obvious.
8 months ago
The only way we will have a playoff is a boycott. all we need to do is not watch any bowl game that your favorate team is not playing. I could handle this and if it was permoted the right way it could work. If all the bowl games lost the ratings we would have a real playoff in two years tops.
We need at least eight teams to weed out highly ranked teams who got there by way of weak schedules, How about it Bleacher Report let's get this thing started. someone should write an article asking the fans what they think about this idea.
8 months ago
Kansas didn't play in the Big 12 Championship Game. That was Missouri and Oklahoma. Kansas lost to Missouri the week before. Their only loss on the season
from 8 months ago
you are right..my error...however if you dont win your conf..you dont make a 'playoff' if there is ever a playoff...
8 months ago
And as a Georgia fan I don't understand how you can dismiss LSU.
Saying USC and UGA would be in the championship is one possibility. Personally, I think LSU would have done pretty well.
8 months ago
Unfortunately, we'll never know about any of the conjecture above.
The only way a playoff system could work is if the number of regular season games were reduced and that simply isn't going to happen because of financial considerations.
8 months ago
The whole thing is a mess but a playoff would settle some of these bloggers down... Every season ends with angry fans thinking there team should have a shot at the whole thing... Lets the teams decide who the real champ is,not bloggers like us...
8 months ago
Bloggers like us ? We will not have a voice till we find a way to hurt the BCS pocketbook.
Someone needs to organise a boycott plane and simple. I think it intersting how no Ohio St fans will even bring up a Playoff much less state that it should be one at all. It's not rocket Science keep the number of games the same, keep the Bowl games and have an Eight game play it off in the BCS bowl games. SIMPLE.
8 months ago
Yeah, about that, Mark... I'm planning to still watch all the games next year, sorry. And I'm sure most other people are too. But good luck with that
8 months ago
Yeah, about that, Mark... I'm planning to still watch all the games next year, sorry. And I'm sure most other people are too. But good luck with that
from 7 months ago
hey i'm actually an ohio state fan but i'll admit, they didn't deserve the national title bid this year and they definitely didn't play like a deserving team either
write a new comment