College football is more interested in ratings than fixing its flawed playoff system
The Broken Mess of College Football
The committee has come out with their college football playoff (CFP) selections, and for the first time in CFP history, they are met with massive controversy because undefeated Florida State was locked out. This controversy only exposes the fact that college football has always been a big broken mess.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was the system that preceded the CFP. It used computers to rank and decide on two teams to compete for a national championship. At the time, this was seen as a huge step forward because for a hundred years, college football fans had wanted to see a real championship grand final like the Super Bowl. But the BCS system was rife with controversy.
Expanding from the No. 1 vs. No. 2 format of BCS to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff was seen as a way out of that sort of controversy. And for the most part, until this year, the selection committee had successfully avoided debacles.
A Subjective Reaction to a Subjective Decision
This last breath of the CFP proves that controversy and subjectivity are the rule for football. Not only because a committee of experts picked the four teams that will duke it out to become champion, but because of the response from college football fans. Almost everyone seems to feel FSU was robbed even though Texas and Alabama are almost certainly better teams.
It’s a subjective reaction to a subjective decision about a game that is often decidedly random. Homefield advantage matters much more in football than the other North American sports. Referees are far intrusive in the game and can directly impact the outcome. What happens on the field can be a crapshoot.
Last year, I argued that the NFL playoffs were a terrible way to decide a champion. I made a convincing case for restructuring the NFL into a relegation-style league like the European football systems. The NFL could be broken into two 16-team leagues where every team plays every other team in a round-robin. The bottom three teams from the top go down and the top three teams from the bottom go up. This system would work even better in college football.
If a relegation tier format were implemented by the NCAA, college football would be greatly improved and there would be no doubt who was the best. Expanding to 12 teams just expands the controversy, and expands it in ways that will become increasingly pedantic and obnoxious.
The truth is that controversy and hurt feelings are good for sports media and the NCAA. Sports are the original reality TV and they thrive on drama. The people behind these systems don’t want objective champions, they want eyeballs on screens. They picked Alabama and Texas over FSU because they thought it would be more engaging. And they’ve already proven themselves right.
Why did Florida State not make the college football playoffs?
Notably, Florida State was excluded, becoming the first undefeated power conference champion to ever miss out on the field. After FSU lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a serious leg injury last month, speculation that the playoff selection committee would snub the Seminoles proved accurate. Roversial decisions are still very much alive in college football. The exclusion of undefeated Florida State from the playoffs has sparked outrage among fans, players, and analysts alike. It highlights the inherent flaws in the system and raises questions about the fairness and credibility of college football as a whole.
The College Football Playoff was introduced in 2014 to replace the much-maligned BCS system. The goal was to create a more transparent and inclusive playoff format that would determine a true national champion. However, in reality, it has only exacerbated the existing problems.
One of the main issues with the CFP is the subjective nature of the selection process. A committee of thirteen individuals, including former coaches, athletic directors, and administrators, is responsible for ranking the teams and deciding which four will make it to the playoffs. This inherently introduces bias and the potential for personal agendas to influence the outcome.
The committee claims to consider a multitude of factors when making their decisions, including strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and conference championships. However, the lack of clear criteria and the inconsistency in the application of these factors often leaves teams and fans baffled.
In the case of Florida State, their exclusion from the playoffs has been justified by their perceived lack of quality wins and their overall performance throughout the season. However, this decision ignores the fact that they are the only undefeated team in the country and have consistently demonstrated their dominance on the field. It raises the question of whether the committee’s subjective assessment of strength of schedule should hold more weight than the objective measure of a team’s perfect record.
Furthermore, the current system places too much emphasis on conference championships. While conference championships are undoubtedly important, they should not be the sole determining factor for playoff inclusion. It penalizes teams in stronger conferences who may have had a few slip-ups during the regular season but are still undoubtedly among the best in the country.
The broken mess of college football goes beyond the flawed playoff selection process. Issues of inequality, exploitation of student-athletes, and the enormous financial stakes at play also plague the sport. The vast revenue generated by college football, primarily through TV contracts and sponsorships, often benefits the universities and the conferences more than the players themselves.
The time has come for a serious reevaluation of college football. A more objective and transparent playoff selection process, along with increased accountability and fairness, is essential to restore confidence in the integrity of the sport. Additionally, addressing the systemic issues that contribute to the broken mess, such as player compensation and academic support, will help create a more equitable and sustainable future for college football.
In conclusion, the controversy surrounding the exclusion of undefeated Florida State from the College Football Playoff exposes the brokenness of the system. The subjective nature of the selection process, the undue emphasis on conference championships, and the underlying issues of inequality and exploitation all contribute to the mess that is college football. It is time for change and a renewed focus on fairness, transparency, and the well-being of the student-athletes. Only then can college football truly become the championship grand final that fans have been longing for.
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