December Madness; A College Football Playoff

By Paul Greene
Associated Content

With the crazy season in college football this season, there has been no other year in need of a playoff system more than this one. While many argue that the current BCS system in place is in itself a playoff system, it is far from it. When one loss late in the season ruins your hopes of a national title, something must be changed.

When one loss, whether it's a fluke, a bad call, or just a plain old beat down, ruins the entire season, how can there be big underdogs in college football? In college basketball, every year there's a couple teams that start from the bottom and rise to the top and spark the interest and excitement of the nation. With a bracket style tournament in college football, this would be entirely possible, unlike the current system in place where the lower teams get no shot at competing for a title.

Just imagine the great matchups there would be in a playoff system. It would be similar to the bowl season, only that excitement spread out weekly for a longer period of time. Not only would it stop the controversy surrounding the BCS now, but universities would earn more revenue on ticket sales for scholarships and general expenses, and fans would see exciting football in an exciting bracket style tournament week in and week out. How great is the system college basketball has in place with March Madness? While football is a much more physical game, a playoff system is entirely possible.

During the course of the season, most teams play one, maybe two big out-of-conference games, which generate tons of interest and lots of excitement. This would be what happens the entire time during the post season tournament. All the great matchups would generate the same intensity and excitement that happens a few times now, but for every game for a month in the new system.

How would it be possible to get a bracket style tournament to fit in so that the season doesn't last forever? The first step would be to eliminate the conference championships. They really aren't necessary with a playoff system in place, and it would shave off a week of the season to make room for the tournament. It is important that every team have an equal shot at making the cut into the tournament, and with only a handful of conferences having this extra game, it should just be removed from the schedule. With the conference championship week gone, the regular season would end sometime in the middle of November. Give the teams a week off, then let the tournament begin.

This leaves us now around Thanksgiving weekend, or even the first week of December for the tournament to begin. Now this isn't college basketball, and there can't be two or three in the span of a week for a given team. To make up for this, there would only be 32 teams selected to compete in the tournament. This would make for about 4 weeks of games (with one team game per week), which would take until around the New Year to finish up, which is right around when the current bowl season ends.

Now, on the other hand, the current BCS system in place does have it's positives. Right now, every game matters. In most other sports, the regular season can seem boring sometimes, like it doesn't really matter until the post season. With college football the way it is today, there's never a week to overlook. A single lost game can make the whole difference in the outcome of the season. The current system is unique, but as mentioned above, some people think it can be improved. The system in place now at the very least may be keeping the analysts at ESPN employed with all the controversy it stirs up and the debates it causes.

What the NCAA should do is try it out. Take a couple seasons here and there to try out different systems of crowning a champion. People can speculate as to which way would be the best all they want, but the only definitive way to find out which method is the best is trial and error. While this certainly doesn't mean purposely messing with the careers of amateur athletes, the best way to test and implement would need to be thought through and determined well prior to even thinking about trying a new system out in a season.

While this may just be my opinion, I think this would change college football for the better and would make the great game even better for everyone. The intensity, excitement, and pride many Americans get from college football is unique, and it is important to have a good way in determining the nation champion that everyone can respect and be content with.