March Madness Has Me Convinced NCAA Football Needs A Playoff
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 10:15AM Joe Simmons 
The NCAA Basketball tournament has me even more convinced that NCAA football needs a playoff system. The President wants one and the godfather of football Joe Paterno sees its benefit as well. If they are like me, they love to see people play it out and settle things on the field or court. I understand that football is physical and that adding games may be detrimental but there are plenty of alternatives that schools can take since most of them end up playing about 14 games per year anyways.
Watching lower seeds play some bigger schools rarely happens in college football. College football is based on parity and for the most part, schools shy away from lower level opponents who might possibly embarrass them on the gridiron. We have all heard stories of schools and teams who refuse to play each other in their own home state. If there was a real playoff system in place in division I college football, this thing could get very interesting.
Think about it, right now we have a system in place that brings the coaches votes, the press votes, and computer votes to a logic that no one understands. Let’s make that system even simpler. Let’s leave FCS the way it is but let’s modify the FBS system. Set up a 16 team playoff system. Put together a selection committee like basketball. Wait until everyone finishes their conference championship games.
In essence you could take the best 16 teams in the country and put them in the playoffs. Then take the next 24 teams in the country with winning records and put them in bowl games. Schools then have a chance to win a national championship or make some money in a bowl game. It’s a win, win situation for most schools. If schools don’t like that method, here is an alternative to how it should shape out. The top 6 from the BCS, the AP should pick the next 5 teams, and the coaches should have the right the pick the last 5. That way if the coaches or the AP feel like a team is hot enough to be playing in the playoff then they can make that determination.
One thing is for sure, a playoff would have been really fun this season had it occurred. I honestly believe if they shortened the college schedule to 10 games this would be a great idea. Under the current system, championship games lose a little luster as we have to wait 5 – 6 weeks for the national championship game. Nobody really likes that. If a playoff system was put in place, schools get a chance to play it out on the field instead of letting someone else decide who the best team in the country is.
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