Although the old college football playoff structure showcased the top two teams in a showdown for the national championship title, I absolutely disagree with this obsolete idea. Instead, I stand by the new College Football Playoff (CFP) system, where the top four teams of the nation face off in a head-to-head, semi-final playoff structure for the trophy. Simply put, the new system erases some of the controversies associated with its predecessor and gives all the teams in the division a fairer shot at winning the championship.
Previously, the then-called “Bowl Championship Series” (BCS) had served as the postseason structure until the thirteen members of the CFP committee announced to expand the national champion competition to include four teams. This change signaled the first time the NCAA Division I football bowl system has had a bracket playoff system.
Overall, there are several reasons why the college football should continue to use the new playoff system.
For one, the old system is too unfair and too restrictive.
Beforehand, an elaborate combination of polling, a select panel of coaches and computer selection were used to select the supposed best two teams to compete in the BCS National Championship game. Naturally, this system raised some skepticism towards the reliability of this system — especially considering the potential of coaches’ bias.
Additionally, the BCS was structured in such a manner that invovled five bowl games amongst the top ten teams towards a national title contest. In other words, this meant that very few mistakes could be committed for a team to even be considered for the title contention. Under that setup, tallying a few games would seemingly result in its immediate elimination from the prospect of competing in the postseason.
Also, with the old system, coaches could be accused of scheduling games against weaker opponents to give themselves a greater chance at playing in the national championship game.
Second, the new system is more opportunistic — as in the case of Ohio State’s 2015 playoff run.
In the 2014-2015 season, Ohio State, the number four ranked team in the nation, narrowly qualified for the college football playoffs under the CFS structure. In retrospect, under the BCS, the number four seed Ohio State would have only qualified for one of the five bowl games — without even the slightest chance to participate in the championship.
However, in this year’s first college football playoff structure, the Buckeyes were placed against the number one seeded Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2015 Sugar Bowl, beating them 42-35. Subsequently, the Buckeyes were able to advance to the CFP championship game against the Oregon Ducks, 42-20.
Prior to the contest, many would have disregarded the 12-1 Buckeyes to come away with the national title. In comparison, the old BCS system, which relies heavily on computed statistics, would have stood in the way of letting the best team be crowned on the field based on their performance — not a simulated situation.
Simply put, Ohio State’s 2015 playoff run proves that the numbers do not necessarily represent the best teams of the league, and that anything can happen in the playoffs. After all, computerized polls and stats can never replace a team’s actual performance on the field in front of millions of fans.
Third, when considering the other NCAA postseason structures, the system offers much more fan engagement than the previous model.
For instance, college basketball has an entire month devoted to them, where teams from across the nation face off in a gripping “win or go home” situation. NCAA basketball is able to generate a large sum of money as well as be a huge success in the marketing business behind this situation.
Meanwhile, the National Football League (NFL), the professional counterpart of NCAA football, uses a similar playoff system, and rewards the winners from both conferences with a trip to the widely known Super Bowl — one of the most anticipated and exciting dates in the sports.
All these sports have a huge fan base and great marketing business industry. The new CFP system will help generate a larger fanbase because teams will have to partake in a longer journey towards the title. In the 2015 title game bewteen the Buckeyes and the Ducks, the nationally broadcasted game received a Nielsen rating of 18.5 and attracted 33.4 million tune-ins.
All in all, I believe that the CFP committee should continue using the new playoff system, and perhaps even consider increasing the bracket to include more bowls and contests. The new playoff system produces more excitement, focuses solely on performance while erasing any conspiracies, and promotes a great marketing business.
