Is the NCAA Playoff Big Enough?
College football got ripped apart for years for not having a playoff system. How was it fair, critics asked, to just vote two teams into the title game? What if a third team was better than both but never got a chance to show it? With the NFL, NBA, NHL and most other major sports all using playoff models — not to mention lower divisions of college football — this made a lot of sense. Finally, the NCAA changed to a four-team playoff system. But is that really enough?
You’re Still Voting
Part of the problem is that the NCAA is still voting on the teams that get in. In the NFL, there’s a clear set of rules. Win your division, and you’re in. To get a Wildcard spot, be one of the best teams to come in second — or, in rare cases, third. The tiebreakers include things like head-to-head play and divisional records. That doesn’t mean there’s never controversy, but it’s typically pretty clear who earned it.
It’s not as clear in the NCAA. Take this season, for instance. Ohio State rose to No. 2 in the country despite losing to Penn State. However, that means they don’t get to play for the Big Ten title. Penn State does. Even if Penn State wins, it’s likely that the committee is going to vote Ohio State into the playoff. Depending how everything falls, the Big Ten winner could get left out entirely.
You Don’t Need 20 Teams
People who are against expanding the playoff system seem to think it would get too large and make it so that the season didn’t matter. What they like now is that many seasonal games are huge because there’s little room for error to get into the postseason. If more teams got in, teams could afford some losses.
That’s technically true, but you don’t need to have 20 teams in the playoffs. Even moving it up to eight teams would include a lot of those fringe teams that complain every year when the top four make it. This doesn’t have to turn into the basketball tournament. It can still be small and exclusive.
The Money
There is often talk that the playoffs shouldn’t happen because the bowl games make a lot of money. That’s true, but the playoffs make a lot of money, too. While many fans watch their favorite teams during the season, many of them tune into playoff games for teams they’ve never watched to see how the drama plays out. That’s true in every sport, and it’d hold true for college football. That increased interest generates more revenue.
Watching the Playoffs
The college football playoff may only have four teams and three games, but it’s already proven to be a huge hit. Once you know if your team made it, come to us at Headline Tickets to get excellent deals on your seats!
