College Playoff

  

For years there has been an ongoing debate about how the participants that play in the national championship game should be chosen. From 1998 to 2013 we had the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which used computer rankings to determine the teams that would play in each bowl game. Teams would be ranked based on their record and strength of schedule, but each year seemed to end in controversy. Major conference schools who would have one loss still always seemed to be favored over small non-BCS schools that would go undefeated. Many teams always felt left out so that’s when the NCAA developed the idea of a four-team playoff system beginning this season.

The playoff system received mostly positive reactions from the schools, media, and fans. Each week throughout the season a committee of 13 members consisting of athletic directors along with former coaches, players, and administrators release their rankings. The top four teams at the end of each season will play in a tournament style playoff; win and you’re in the championship game. This seemed to be the solution to the problem of teams feeling left out and having a fair chance at getting to the championship, but already we’ve seen some controversy.

This season the committee decided on Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State. #1 Alabama plays #4 Ohio State and #2 Oregon plays #3 Florida State. Florida State was the only team to finish the season undefeated, which has everyone questioning why they aren’t ranked first. Also, just like the BCS system, teams like Baylor and TCU feel left out because they aren’t in a major conference like Ohio State. They all had one loss and TCU was even ranked third before winning their last game by more than 50 points, but surprisingly got dropped to sixth when the final rankings were released. Baylor beat TCU, completely dominated teams and led the nation in total offense so they have a great case for why they deserve to be in. Ohio State did have an impressive season while using their second and third string quarterbacks, but maybe their history and conference gave them a slight advantage over Baylor and TCU.

With so many teams in college football the NCAA may never find a system that pleases everyone, but it’s obvious they’ve made strides in the right direction. The four-team playoff will be around for years to come and we’ll most likely have more controversy, but hopefully it’ll expand in a way that gives every team an equal chance at winning the national championship.

-Cody Williams