After years of school football enthusiasts clamoring for a playoff format to update the national championship game decided through sportswriters, 2014 brought the first four-team college football playoff.
After ten years of this process, it was clear that the playoffs were the future of the sport, but it needed to be expanded to more than four teams.
Four have thus become twelve, which turns out to be the ideal number to ensure that all national championship contenders make the cut, although not groups like UCF in their best season, making the matches themselves even more important.
While this was universally appreciated, unlike the ridicule the original playoff format gained by replacing Bowl games, it most likely had a few setbacks in the first season.
However, the “setback” in the first round of the College Football Playoff was not a mistake made by the determined teams, but rather a miscalculation in the order of the teams.
With a lopsided sleight of hand, which Indiana, SMU and Clemson lost on scores heading into the highly anticipated Ohio State-Tennessee game to close out the first round.
Ahead of the matchup, proponents of teams like Alabama, Miami or Ole Miss used this as their opportunity to stand on their soapbox and claim how they would have put up a better fight, including Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
Those claims were laid to rest when Ohio State gained a dominant position against a two-loss SEC product, Tennessee.
So when the decision on which twelve teams would participate in the first-ever College Football Playoff became more difficult, thanks to an unforeseen Clemson ACC championship, the selection committee gave the advantage of the doubt to the teams that won the greater number of games and took care of their schedule, unlike the electrical systems that went off the rails too many times.
And while it may be true that Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss, and even South Carolina could have hypothetically put up a better fight than Indiana and SMU did in the first round, what that decision would have signaled is far worse than a weekend of non-competitive football.
The argument for more talented groups getting the nod over groups that took care of their schedule and won more games is the risk that powerful systems will no longer schedule non-conference contests, making the regular season less exciting. .
While this might encourage some groups to do so, the variety committee obviously showed respect for groups that challenge themselves before betting on their conference.
Georgia is a wonderful example. By scheduling a very ambitious schedule, they were able to advance to the SEC Championship without worrying that a third loss would take them out of the playoffs, which is precisely what happened to their SEC counterparts.
Instead, the wins against Clemson and Georgia Tech, alongside the second-best record in a difficult SEC sleight, let them be in a position to receive a bye, and now have a favorable path back to the National Championship.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 7: Trevor Etienne #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates his touchdown. . . [+] with teammates Monroe Freeling #57 and Gunner Stockton #14 opposing the Texas Longhorns in the third quarter of the 2024 SEC Championship at Mercedes – Benz Stadium on December 7, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo via Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
The other issue with this argument is that Alabama and Ole Miss’ worse losses came in conference play, so the creation of an easier regular season schedule would only hurt their abilities to either win conference games or defend their case by having additional quality wins to combat multiple losses.
In other words, the argument for top-tier systems over smaller schools with a longer season was valid in the context of the four-team playoffs. But with twelve teams, the argument returns in favor of self-challenge in the regular season. since two or 3 defeats do not necessarily kill them immediately.
Instead, with a strong enough resume, teams that see the national championship as an option for the season can give themselves more chances to make the playoffs, even if they’re stuck sleeping in front of an inferior opponent.
While this may not always lead to the best matchups when teams with more top-end recruits miss the playoffs altogether, it still makes the regular season matter potentially more than it ever has in college football history.
But because football as a game is different from basketball, because “Cinderella stories” are much less likely due to the physical nature of the game, it is highly unlikely that those first-round games will ever see an upset in the primaries.
While this may not sound like a great selling point, the main objective for setting up the next round will still be accomplished, allowing eight teams that are closer to each other’s level to square off on a national stage.
That is exactly what we have in front of us this New Year’s Eve and Day. The eight best teams in the Nation, giving us unusual matchups like Texas and Arizona State, while also running back one of the best games from the regular season in Oregon and Ohio State.
Although the rankings themselves and the path to the national championship may need some adjustments, that’s the subject of this article. But for today, it’s vital to realize that Clemson, SMU, Indiana and Tennessee deserved to have their logos in parentheses.
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