Will the College Football Playoff pay off?

By Jacob Lipnik on January 23, 2014

Remember Vince Young striding into the end zone with an untouchable air palpably surrounding him? Remember Auburn’s last-second field goal sailing through the uprights amidst screams of “War Eagle?” Remember a few weeks ago, when Heisman-trophy winner Jameis Winston threw a perfect pass with less than 20 seconds to go to end the SEC’s championship streak? These moments define the controversial, and occasionally great, system that was the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

That system is gone, replaced in the coming college football season by the aptly (and boringly) named College Football Playoff. At least until contractual obligations run out in 2025, college football’s champion will be determined by a four-team playoff, with those teams being selected by a committee specifically designed and chosen for the task. There are many intricacies to this new playoff—the selection process, the venues, the seeding—but the most vital information is this: Every New Year’s Day, there will be two semifinal games followed a week later by a championship game, played by the two winners, in a city selected based on a bidding process akin to the Super Bowl and Final Four.

The College Football Playoff will make January better than ever for college football fans

Stepping back from the details of the new and much-anticipated championship format, an important question must be considered: Will this system really be better than the BCS?  Was it really necessary to eradicate a system that produced the moment that made Vince Young a hero, the moments that made up arguably the greatest ending to a football game ever just a few weeks ago? No, it wasn’t. Sure, the BCS had its mistakes, most notably snuffing many deserving teams from the BCS Championship Game. In fact, I’m still bitter about Michigan being left out in 2006; I would do anything to go back in time and make sure there was a playoff that year for Michigan to play in and (naturally) win.

But that’s not why I think the College Football Playoff is necessary and, more importantly, better. After all, there will be people just as upset when their team finishes fifth and narrowly misses out on the playoffs; imagine how many couches would have burned in East Lansing if the playoff were around this past season and the Spartans (who were ranked fifth in most polls before their bowl win over Stanford) had been left out. There will always be a team right on the cusp that feels like they should’ve been in—even in a 64 team playoff like the NCAA tournament. So there will be issues with the College Football Playoff too, just wait.

Yet I still believe the playoff is not only necessary, but that it will be much better than the BCS. The reason why is simple: Every year there will be two more games—the playoff semifinals—showcasing the best that college football has to offer; two more games with every player on both teams giving everything in their power to win; two more games with teams at the pinnacle of the sport playing with everything on the line. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Some people argue that the entire season is like a long playoff, yet in the regular season, even in conference play, it’s rare to find two of the best four teams in college football, both undefeated, going head to head, which is what the new playoff system will provide. And even now, if two of the best teams are playing head to head, they won’t know for sure that they’ll be in the playoff if they lose. I would wager that in the biggest regular season games, the best teams will still be giving it their all—whether that’s to just make it into the playoff or to secure a higher seed. I would even venture to guess that there will be more meaningful games than ever in this new college football landscape; now that one or even two losses doesn’t eliminate a team from championship contention, any games played by the ten-to-fifteen top teams will be more crucial than ever late in the season. The College Football Playoff will not only make the postseason more entertaining, but it will also make the regular season more meaningful.

So yes, of course, the College Football Playoff has its flaws. I haven’t even mentioned the qualms people have about the playoffs expanding even more, which, although unlikely, would merely provide another round of paramount entertainment. Nor have I mentioned their anger at having a traditional Rose or Orange or Sugar bowl only twice every three years, which I would gladly trade for two extra games of the countries best trying their best, as opposed to, say, Alabama tanking in the Sugar Bowl because they don’t care about anything except for championships.

This picture perfectly sums up my feelings on the College Football Playoff

At the end of the day, people love college football when it’s at its best. Thanks to the playoff system, there will be at least two more games every year of the best going at it with a championship on the line. There will be even more confetti and last second field goals and late game heroics and incredible finishes. That is what college football is all about, and the College Football Playoff, regardless of anything else, will provide us with more of it.

 

Predictions:

No article about the College Football Playoff is truly complete without a prediction of who will be there to usher in this new decade of college football champions. Here’s mine:

1 seed: Florida State Seminoles

Florida State will face a considerably tougher schedule next year than they did on their way to the championship this past season, but I believe that will only help bolster their résumé as the top seed in the first ever playoff. They lose some key starters on both sides of the ball, but they are still returning a ton of NFL talent. Jameis Winston will be returning as well, trying to defend his Heisman and championship crown, and he will only improve as he matures on the field. Expect FSU to be favored in every game they play next season on their way towards another shot at the championship.

2 seed: Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes were one win away from going to the final BCS National Championship, and with quarterback Braxton Miller, the back-to-back Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, returning for another season, I expect them to overcome the hump this year and make it to the first College Football Playoff. Despite a few key losses, most notably Bradley Roby and Ryan Shazier, they have a ton of young talent that will take a step up this season. More importantly, they have one of the more favorable schedules in the conference—no Nebraska or Wisconsin—which will help them be the favorite to come out as Big Ten champions. The playoff selection committee has been open in saying that conference champions will get a boost in their eyes, so OSU winning the Big Ten will vault them into the playoff, even if they end up dropping one game along the way.

3 seed: Alabama Crimson Tide

If there’s one thing everyone knows about Nick Saban, it’s that he doesn’t like losing. So after consecutive losses to finish the 2013 season, don’t expect the Crimson Tide to be doing much of the same in 2014. According to ESPN, Alabama will be bringing back great players on both sides of the ball as well as the top recruiting class in the country. The one concern this team has is the loss of A.J. McCarron; with a new starting quarterback in place next season, I expect the constant pressure of the SEC to force Alabama to lose a game somewhere along the way—that’s the only reason they’re behind what I expect to be an undefeated Ohio State team. Still, I won’t be surprised if Alabama wins the SEC and then reminds the rest of their playoff counterparts how good they are at winning championships.

4 seed: Oregon Ducks

Oregon slipped away from the public eye towards the end of last season, not really in the hunt for a BCS Championship berth. But they still only had two losses when it was all said and done. Look for them to bounce back better than ever next season. Head coach Mark Helfrich will be in his second season, and quarterback Marcus Mariota will be in the leading pack of Heisman trophy hopefuls. This team should be the favorite to win the Pac-12 and represent the conference in the first ever playoff.

Whether these predictions are dead on or dead wrong, next year’s College Football Playoff is something college football fanatics are already counting down to. Personally, I can’t wait.

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