There is an old joke regarding soccer. They say it is a game
that has 22 people run around for 90 minutes and then Germany wins.
College football in the age of the so-called definitive
play-off system has rewritten the joke. The sport is one where hundreds of
teams play 12 or 13 games and Alabama plays for the National Championship. I
admit that most of this dominance is testimony to the awesome machine that is
Crimson Tide football. I do not want to detract from their skill or their éclat
in any way. And during those seasons where they finish as they should, on top
of their conference, winners of their championship game and ranked among the
top four then by all means they deserve their place at the table.
Nor do I want to suggest that this year’s Alabama squad is
not one of the very best teams in college football. Their defensive victory
over Clemson was comprehensive. If they can do the same to Georgia then perhaps
they deserve the National Championship. But there is no scenario where you can
convince me that they deserve to be playing there.
The regular season must stand for something. But the third
and fourth seeded teams are playing for the title. Conference championship must
stand for something. But one of the final teams did not even make their
conference championship. Why insist that the regular season be played at all,
except as a money maker for the schools. Schedule eleven fluff opponents plus a
couple of rivalry games to keep the fan base happy and then choose four teams
by reputation to play in the play-off. No, three teams, for one of those spots
is already etched in stone for the foreseeable future.
College basketball has both suffered and benefited from
inclusiveness over the years. Teams are hampered or unfairly helped by position
on pre-season polls. Losses are weighted differently by the reputation of the school.
Who cares about a February game against a mid-pack opponent when you know your
conference will get four or six teams into the dance? Who cares about a conference
tournament when even a first-round upset can’t knock the front-runner out of
their high seed at the NCAA? The Tournament is a separate season and has diminished
the regular season to a mere speck of light.
College football is at risk of becoming college basketball
when a team that does not win its conference, does not even play in its
conference championship and finishes ranked outside the top four in all but the
Play-off poll is playing for the National Championship. The games mean
something. Rivalries mean something. Conferences mean something. I think the Play-off
committee needs to look up the word “definitive.” Spoiler: the definition does
not include the word Alabama.
