The Grandstand

Don't talk to me about playoffs....

I fail to understand college football "traditionalists" who claim any playoff system would destroy the integrity and individual personality of the sport. Many believe schools are unwilling to support a playoff-based postseason because it would deem bowl games irrelevant. The issue is the lucrative financial rewards schools receive from sponsors of these bowl games - the private companies (FedEx, Tostitos, Nokia) have signed agreements with large conferences (and the football powerhouses that dominate them) to essentially give the big-name schools a monopoly over the most lucrative bowls.

This creates a system where only the large schools from BCS conferences will make the money that allows them to expand their programs, improve facilities, recruit top athletes, and essentially improve their football programs. I understand that these companies want to attract the large and loyal fan bases that tend to follow big-time schools, ensuring a massive live audience and high television ratings, but the national championship (at the very least) should be determined by a team's merit rather than what they did in 1965 when the current fans graduated or how big and football-crazy the state is.

Even from a financial standpoint, adopting a playoff system makes sense for every university, including the ones benefiting from the current system. A 2004 proposal (including a 16-team playoff, I think) would have generated $376 million, more than twice the current amount for those teams participating. This system also creates an incentive for football programs to improve, as the money they make from one good season will put them in a position to improve their schools. The competition, meanwhile, should improve all of college football for its consumers: the fans.

The only semi-legitimate argument I have heard from playoff haters is that regular-season games would lose the exciting, do or die mentality they currently generate. I think this is far outweighed by the benefits of the new system, which is not only more fair and satisfying, but also creates a series of exciting playoff games to replace the largely ignored and irrelevant secondary bowl games. I don't know anyone who watches a bowl game if it has no national championship implications or doesn't involve their favorite team. A playoff system would draw in a whole new viewership while creating a new incentive for players and coaches, who still have a shot at a national championship, to perform at their best. An 8- or 16-team playoff (with separate sponsorships for each level and financial rewards for advancement) would still make each game important, and could easily accompany the 50 or so other bowl games that reward the decent, but not best, teams....

posted by -dig- @ 5:20 PM