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| "Who'll be kissing the crystal ball this year?" |
Before we even kickoff the 2011 college football campaign let me take all of my novice fans to school real quick. You're a novice if you're one of those people that are constantly screaming for a playoff in college football. All of us that are experts completely get it. The fact is, college football and the NFL are two different animals. There is no playoff needed because it would destroy the game completely and here's why.
All we ever want to see was #1 play #2 and until 1998 we didn’t have that luxury. Previously schools like #1 Alabama would have played in the Sugar Bowl and #2 Texas would have played in the Cotton Bowl on New Years Day. They both would’ve won their respective games and we’d have Co-Champions. The next morning we all would sit back in our recliners and say, “Man I wish that #1 could’ve played #2.” That’s all we ever wanted. Now that we’ve got it no one’s satisfied. The BCS has solved that dilemma. I here you in the background saying, “We need a playoff like the NFL.” That sounds great but it doesn’t make sense and here’s why. There are 120 teams in the FBS division formally known as Division 1 or D1.
Within the D1 ranks there are 3 or 4 levels of competition, from the very best teams #1 Alabama and #2 Texas, using the 2009 rankings for example, down to the worst, #119 Eastern Kentucky and#120 Western Kentucky. The NFL has only 32 teams and 12 of them (37.5%) get to go to the playoffs. If we did the same thing in college football we’d have to put 45 teams in the playoffs if we want to be fair, right? That would be impossible to do because this isn’t basketball.
You can only play one game a week not two like they do in the NCAA Tournament. I here you saying, “We only need the top 8 to play”. Well… 9, 10, 11 and 12 would be upset because we would still be voting on who gets to play and who doesn’t. So we really didn’t accomplish anything. All we want to see is #1 play #2, right? We’ll we’ve got that. You’re saying if we get rid of the bowls at the end of the season we could have a playoff.
You’re right, but that would be unfair to the other 105 schools because there are only 15 schools or so that will ever win the national title. I’ll name them: USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio St, Michigan, Penn St, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Auburn, Florida St, Miami and Georgia. Maybe we could throw in Notre Dame if their administration ever wakes up. So what do you tell the other schools? It was nice doing business with you.
See schools like Purdue, Indiana and Arizona will never even play for the title because they don’t get the players those schools previously mentioned get. If there isn’t a bowl for Purdue to play in after they’ve won 6 to 8 games on a good year, what are those kids even playing for. Sure every 30 years or so they’ll get a player that everyone slept on like Drew Brees or Bob Grease and win the Big Ten Championship. However, they won’t ever play for a national title because they don't sign enough 5 star recruits at one time to compete at that level. It is what it is!
So by taking the bowl games away we would be cheating college football of the pageantry that is college football. It’s a playoff starting week one! I still here you saying that those bowls are meaningless, we’ll… not to the kid playing at Missouri, Ole Miss or Western Michigan. The bowl game is their Super Bowl, if you will, not to mention the revenue that the schools receive as a result of playing in those bowls. Do you realize that each bowl has a guaranteed payout for just showing up?
If you’re fortunate enough to get to a BCS bowl it’s a $17 million payday whether you’re playing in the title game or not. The mid level bowls like the Chick-fila-A, Cotton and Outback pay $3 million each. The Sun Bowl which Purdue has participated in previous years pays out $1.9 million. Even if you play in a bottom tier bowl like the Emerald it’s worth $850,000 to your school.
So, if you were the presidents of Fresno State and Wyoming would you have voted for a playoff or accepted the invite to the 2009 New Mexico Bowl which paid them $750,000 each just for showing up? See the greatness of college football is the pageantry and the excitement of the regular season and the culmination of events with the bowls. If I’m a Texas fan I’m not only concerned about the Longhorns, I’m concerned with all the chess pieces moving around them. Now really… do you want to take all that away just to see Alabama and Texas or any of the other 13 schools mentioned earlier play for the national title anyway?
P.S.: It's all about the money for the university. Nobody is going to leave guaranteed money on the table so that a small few can enjoy the fruits of a playoff! Kids don't go to Ohio State with national title hopes initially. They go to Columus to play in "The Game" to beat Michigan! They go to Alabama to beat Auburn and those that go to Texas look forward to playing in Dallas in October against the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry! Naw bruh, it's about growing up in a particular state and being apart of the program you've watched your entire life and playing in the rivalry game that means everything.
Even if you are playing at one of the elite programs at best you've got a 10% chance of winning a national title. The best of the best programs, Michigan/Notre Dame, have only won 11 titles in more than 100 years. As a college football fan, I want it just the way it is because the playoff starts on September 3rd!
Holla At Ya Boy
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport
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