Good start Rob. I couldn’t agree more and the tidbit about the Giants and referencing #16 WVU was solid.

Like Feldman said on the podcast last night, no system is going to quiet the “what if” game completely.

For my money I want to see the most battle tested teams with the best proven record play one another. To go to basketball; last season I would have preferred UNC-UConn to the UNC-MSU we got when Michigan State got hot playing, essentially a home final 4 game.

I want to see someone come here and defend why a playoff system would be better

the grass is always greener as they say, and I think for every benefit that a playoff system may have there would be as many if not more negatives to go along with it

it’s easy to see both sides which is why i think there should be a happy medium.

throughout the history of the BCS has anyone ever thought that the #16 team, hell the #8 team, deserves to play for a NC? i haven’t met anyone who truly believes that…

for starters, i think a 4-team playoff would work great.

to answer why i think it would be better than the current system i have always asked myself why college football even exist.

in this order –
1. money
2. fan and player entertainment (not related to money)
3. the glory of “winning it all” and the pride that ensues

having a playoff system increases all three

1. more TV and sponsorship money to the teams involved in the semi-final and final game, plus more money from boosters because you’re really good
2. more college football being played in the month of december is entertaining for fans, not to mention those non-fans who will watch because it’s good football and the games have meaningful implications
3. more pride to the team who wins because it had to work that much harder toward their goal, more meaningful to the fans because they don’t have to hear from the media that they aren’t the only undefeated team

in pro football, there’s never a dispute over who the best team is and how meaningless the regular season is. i think the same will go for college football if a 4-team playoff is implemented.

Hey Rob,

Great article. Your writing on the subject definitely has me thinking a little bit. Here’s one thing to consider, you reference those 2007 Giants of which I actually watched a lot of. A point that should be highlighted is that isn’t that the beauty of the playoffs? Everyone has a little glimmer of hope, and you just have to hope if you sit on your side of the fence that the best team goes through the gauntlet of the finest teams in the field with it all on the line. The finality of a playoff system is what I love, also while Cinderella has one last chance to dance if she earns it.

Keep up the great work! I’m loving your addition to the blog!

College football is about more than National Championships. Having a playoff system would likely put (assuming a 4 team format) the same 6-8 teams in year in and year out. The money paid out in these games would certainly help those schools continue to separate themselves from everyone else, but without SOME parity in those resources, the regular season would eventually become BOOOOOOORIIIIIIIIING. Also, just like the BCS today, the Boise States and TCUs of the world would stand almost no shot at getting in, so it wouldn’t solve the argument.

Second, these are student-athletes. How long do we intend to make the season? Alabama played 14 games this season because of the SEC championship. With a plus-1 that goes to 15. With a plus-2 (which is the only way a BSU or TCU or BYU or Utah have a chance at a NC), they’re playing 16 games and most likely going into two quarters or semesters.

the BCS ruins the rest of the marquee bowls. Playoffs render every bowl moot. But I don’t think you talked about the most important factor in all of this: money and the payouts to schools. The BCS and the bowl system is not meant to pit the two best teams together; it is to put the two biggest marquee teams together to generate the biggest profit.

The BCS conferences make a huge amount of cash with the current set up, and I don’t care what anyone says, a playoff, although a boon for a few teams, would hurt most of the schools financially. Hence, it ain’t happening. There would be too many schools that would have to drop non-revenue producing sports, because football, and the money brought in from football, prop up sports like fencing, lacrosse, swimming, etc.

I say go back to the old bowl system with conference affiliation. It’s better than either the BCS or a proposed playoff system.

This appears rather long, but it really isn’t bad. Please, continue…

I think Jim Mora said it best, “playoffs! you wanna talk about playoffs?” I couldn’t agree with your disgust more Jimmy, playoffs are like sports’ version of a make-up exam.

Wrong. Using your own analogy: The regular season is a semester of classes, the playoffs are the first and final exam.

Only in a playoff could the sub-par 10-6 New York Giants even think about winning a title. What a joke!

Are you kidding? Really, you cannot be serious. Wow. The 2007 Giants are EXACTLY why playoffs work! They were the best team, and they proved it. Leaving them out, when they’re clearly better than the (would-be BCS #1) Patriots would be the joke. I mean, seriously, this is just ridiculous.

Imagine #16 West Virginia swooping in late to secure a national championship last season with three losses.
What does that tell us about who’s the best in the country?

First of all, that probably wouldn’t have happened, or ever happen in a 16 team college football playoff. But, for the sake of argument, I’m willing to hear out your point. "What would that tell us?" That West Virginia would be the BEST team in the country. What’s making this so hard for you to understand? They’d beat the #1 seed, and other greats as well to do so. You clearly have the impression that playoff victories are a lot easier than they really are.

A playoff system is great for teams that half-assed their regular season, here’s your free pass to mediocrity.

This is total bullsh.. er crap. NO team that cares enough to try and make the playoffs, ever half-asses a regular season. There are a lot of teams in college football that would be eligible to make a 16 team playoff. You’d EARN that spot in the regular season. Half-ass, and you won’t make it.

What’s the reward for teams that handle their business and dominate all season long? Grab a knee guys we’ve got four more games and home field advantage, you haven’t proved enough already…sorry!

Simple, better seeding. Every seeded playoff system in history is proof of how much seeding can matter. Is it the security blanket that I assume someone like you would want it to be? Perhaps not, but championships shouldn’t be guaranteed to go to one of only two hand picked teams.

As it stands right now the BCS creates a thirteen week playoff in the regular season. Every game matters, slip up once and you’re most likely out of the hunt.

Completely false. Again. If the BCS has proved anything, it’s that you can lose and still end up in a title game. Did you just say, "thirteen week playoff?" Not even close. I’m not surprised to learn that you clearly have a very skewed view of what a playoff is to say something like that.

What if Ohio State lost to Navy on opening weekend last year?
In a playoff system as long as they keep winning they’ll still have a shot at the title in the tournament. In the BCS they still might make a BCS game, but it would be hard for the human voters to excuse that loss and put them in the national championship game.

This is true, and actually a reason why there should be playoff. You want a last second flukey pick-six by a linebacker to be the difference maker between title shot, or no title shot?

Most glaring to me is that playoffs don’t fix the “what if” game.
Even in a playoff system teams can’t play EVERY other team, so there’s still plenty of questions.

It does in fact fix any legitimate "what if" questions. If you earn a playoff spot, you then win or go home (4 times in a 16 team playoff). You’ll face a top 16 opponent a whopping FOUR times in a row. Do you have any idea how hard it would be to win those games and be crowned the National Champion? I don’t think you do. But EVERY year a team will be good enough to do so, and earn the unquestionable title of the best team in the country.

Depending on seeding people will always wonder how certain games might have gone if the match-ups were different.

That’s why earning seeds in the regular season is very important.

Plus one game doesn’t necessarily prove who’s the best in the country, it just says that a team drew a good match-up in that round. That only tells me who can get hot at the right time and play “up” when needed (what’s up Boise State).

This a complete conjecture. "Drew a good match-up" is possible, but hardly even concrete. Hell, Oregon was supposed to crush a good OSU team, do to "good match-ups." How’d that work out. A team cannot win a 60+ minute football game on match-ups alone. And Boise State went undefeated, what’s this "play up" you’re referring to? Lastly, NO team can have good match-ups or "play up" for four games in a row vs. the only the best teams in the country, in 16 team playoff (much better than the +1.)

What’s more impressive is when a team can perform week in and week out when they’re not playing the best of the best. I want to see teams handle their business when it’s hard to get jacked up.

Again, you cannot be serious. I honestly can’t believe other people agree with this statement, at all. Uhhh yeah sure, it’s harder to win when you’re NOT playing the best. Ha! And you base this purely off of the inability to get motivated for certain game? How are you going to try and claim that the BCS creates the best, most entertaining college football regular season then point out how teams do find it hard to get jacked up. Ever wonder why? There is a very clear and obvious contradiction that just so happens to answer that why.

Last but not least let’s take it to a fan’s perspective.

I’ve had a lot of fun so far. Why not…

It’s a proven fact that college basketball has taken a huge hit in ratings during the regular season. It’s due to a lot of factors, but a huge issue is that fans just don’t care until March.

Basketball is a entirely different sport, played an entirely different way. It’s hard to make that comparison mostly because of the number of games played. Anything other than a playoff system for college basketball would be totally unrealistic. Also, you’ll either find games entertaining or you won’t. How post-season works should have little to do with that. But of course it does because, well, lets be frank… a lot of fans are dumb.

I want you to think long and hard about losing some of the relevance, pageantry, and spirit of a college football season.
What a catastrophe!

Yeah, never going to happen, no matter what happens with the post-season.

I can’t live without fans hanging on EVERY game that their precious teams play. Tailgating junkies sheepishly clinging to hopes of playing for the title like children waiting for Santa to bring them that coveted Red Ryder.

1. This should happen in a playoff anyway. 2. In a sense it shouldn’t happen now. What happens when you do lose? You have a bad week, and it starts all over again next Saturday. What I’m trying to say is, in the current system you can lose and still have a shot at a lot, (good BCS bowl, even the title game.)

For God’s sake don’t take that away from me, don’t take that away from yourselves! Don’t trade thirteen weeks of college football bliss for a month of “January Madness.”
I’m on my knees college football, beggin’ you please!

This is completely and totally YOUR problem. If you don’t find football games entertaining just because a playoff follows the season, then you’ve got the issue. It is entirely possible to really enjoy regular season football games despite it ending in playoffs. Millions, including myself, do it every Sunday during the NFL season.

Don’t throw away a perfectly good system, there are starving kids in China who have no college football! (thought I’d appeal to your conscience, it worked when my mom did it)

A perfectly good system?!? C’mon, even you can admit the current system isn’t perfect. Barely even functional, in my honest opinion.

Finally, I’d like to by conclude saying, I do respect your opinion. You’ve clearly put a fair amount of thought into it, and I enjoyed reading through despite disagreeing. Also, please don’t take any of my response personally, sometimes I get a little carried away when responding to something I’m passionate about (I do strongly feel their should be a playoff, more than any other sports related issue). It is after all, only my opinion.