My College Playoff Format

The holidays are here for 2009, and once again the college football season that was so highly anticipated in August, will end with a lukewarm sense of satisfaction.  After Alabama and Texas square off to conclude the bowl season, most fans will probably walk away feeling that they are 90% sure the winner of that game is the best team in the land.  I know I will.  Allow me to present a list of things I was also 90% sure of lately: 1) swine flu is fatal, 2) pirates don’t exist, 3) Tiger is untouchable.

Before I start on my BCS tangent, I would like to point something out to those critical of Congress for getting involved in college football.  You need to pay more attention to what your lawmakers are doing!  Congress spends the vast majority of their time and your money working on legislation concerning matters of far less significance than college football.  It is a multibillion dollar business.  If you think your congressman is in Washington, working on matters of only the highest international importance, you’re misguided. 

Back to football.  Unless we have two undefeated teams or two one-loss teams, you don’t really know who is most deserving of playing for the title.  However, I do believe that preserving the regular season is an enormously overlooked priority amongst BCS critics.  Relax, I am one as well, but when the season ends with the only two undefeated teams playing one postseason game to decide the championship, I have no problem (2005).  Teams should be rewarded for winning every game.  They should not be forced to play a one or two loss team in an elimination round if possible.  However, those years are few and far between.  The problem I have is when other undefeated teams, who also completed their work without slipping, are excluded. 

The only other argument I can make for the current system is it preserves value from week to week.  Imagine how much it would suck if the Michigan/ Ohio St. or Florida/ Florida St. games were irrelevant because one team clinched everything already.  No matter how bad a season Michigan has, they can still end on a high note and ruin the Buckeyes’ title hopes if they’re in the mix.  A vast playoff would ruin that possibility.

Now that I’ve argued against both points, let me present my idea.  I would propose a four team playoff, consisting of the top 4 teams in the AP poll (while the most knowledgeable about the sport, coaches flat out do not watch every game).  If you can’t make it to #4 in the voters’ eyes, you don’t deserve a chance at #1.  All four teams have to be conference champions.  If you’re not, then we go to #5, then #6, and so on.  If you can not be the best team in the conference, you’re not the best in the country.  It is up to the conference how to determine their champion.  If they want a championship game, more power to them.  Some years it would hurt a conference’s chances of playing in the playoff, sometimes it would help.  Either way, it would be exciting and profitable.  Additionally, an undefeated #1 ranked Florida still could not afford to rest their starters against Florida St., for they could easily be bounced from the top 4.

Thoughts?