Sunday, December 30, 2018

A change to the College Football Playoffs?

I've probably watched a total of six quarters of college football this season. Between big money despoiling the game and the risk of head injuries that are endemic to the sport (to which I don't want to be an accessory), I've pretty much given up on my former Saturday obsession.

But after the convincing defeats meted out to Notre Dame and Oklahoma in yesterday's championship semifinals, it gives me the impetus to throw in my two cents on an idea I have for changing the College Football Playoffs (CFP). Feel free to take the idea for what it’s worth. (And it’s probably not worth much.)

Here's the idea. Instead of expanding to an eight-team playoff as some are so fevered to do--many being the same people who wanted this format when just two teams were picked for a championship game and said they’d be content with a 4-team playoff), what if the committee delayed announcing the four entrants for the CFP AFTER all the bowl games are played, say on January 2?

That would give lots of bowl games greater significance and incentivize players who want to showcase their talents for NFL scouts as they play against top-tier opponents.

I'm sure that if the CFP committee could delay picking the four teams in the playoffs until after defeats like the ones suffered by Notre Dame and Oklahoma, neither of those teams would be involved in the national championship.

With a little adjusting, this approach would only add, at most, two games to teams’ seasons.

It’s possible that under this format, perennial also-rans like UCF, with convincing bowl wins over Power 5 opponents, could get invited into the CFP. (Which may be one reason that the Power Five conferences wouldn't adopt this idea.)

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