The College Football Playoff is set. #1 seed Alabama who held on against Florida to win the SEC Title Saturday will play #4 Notre Dame – coming off a drubbing by Clemson who is the #2 seed facing #3 Ohio State who gets in after winning 6 games this year including a struggle in the Big 10 Championship game against Northwestern.
Left out was one-loss Texas A&M who I felt probably deserved to go over Notre Dame or certainly Ohio State and undefeated Cincinnati who struggled through a rainy victory in the AAC Championship to finish 10-0 on the season but without any signature power conference wins because – of course- they never had the chance this year.
These are probably the four best teams – although I would argue Texas A&M is better than Notre Dame but there’s no way to know for sure. The bigger controversy amongst the college football chattering classes (and I use that term affectionately as, I hope, a fledgling member) is how the G5 conferences have no shot to play for the national title. They get a New Year’s Six bowl slot – one – and that’s about it.
Compounding that sense, particularly on behalf of undefeated Cincinnati, is the way the bowls shook out this year with really bad teams from major conferences getting bowl invitations ahead of outstanding G5 or Independent schools like Coastal Carolina, Army and BYU. More people are calling for a change to the playoff to go to eight instead of four teams with an on-campus first round. In addition, the popular belief is that there are too many bowls (in a normal year there are now 40 and growing when there are only 129 FBS teams) and that they are meaningless outside of the playoff.
I’m a lover of bowls, I think there may be a few too many but they give downtrodden teams something to aspire for, lower-level conferences more showcase opportunities and extra practice time for those who participate. I may be in the minority in my age group and among the college football intelligentsia there is a growing push to get rid of them at least for being part of the playoff. I believe there is a way to reinvigorate the bowl system and also give a greater chance to G5 schools. So here’s my plan:
We could go back to the old bowl system where there were locked in bowl tie-ins in the major bowls. Adjustments could be made to ensure that two G5 schools (rather than just one) can get into the “New Year’s Six” of Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton, Orange and Peach.
In the early 1990’s (my coming of age as a college football fan), the Big 10 and Pac 12 (was 10 then) champions always played in the Rose Bowl. The SEC Champion went to the Sugar and the Big 8/12 went to the Orange. The ACC often was in the Orange Bowl but sometimes in the Sugar. The Cotton Bowl had the old Southwest Conference Champion matching up against Notre Dame, an ACC or an SEC opponent. The Fiesta Bowl typically was a high profile matchup of teams that didn’t fit into that easy definition. Of course this led to frustration when trying to match up one versus two in a January 1 bowl. In the mid-90’s the BCS came into being but the Big 10 and PAC-10 stuck to the Rose all the way until 2004. Back in the early 1990’s everyone would play and then the AP and coaches polls would vote. Sometimes (1990, 1991 and 1997) there was a split champion.
BUT – you had New Year’s Days where you went into it with multiple games having national championship implications. It’s part of what made college football so interesting. Have you watched final day of the NFL season when several games are going at once that impact who gets in the playoffs? Check out the January 1’s following the 1989 season and 1990 season.
My proposal is this – return to the days of conference tie-ins and include at-large teams and spots for the two best G5 conference champions or an independent like BYU. Notre Dame was usually protected if they had a season like this one.
THEN – you have the playoff committee meet and select the two best teams for a plus one OR the four best teams for a Final Four. You could have the final games at bowl sites or somewhere else. This would bring instant interest to several bowl games – possibly including bowls that are even a step down from the New Year’s Six in case total chaos struck.
Here’s what the bowl schedule COULD look like (assuming all games were being played in a non-pandemic normal) today:
Rose Bowl (Big 10 vs. PAC 12): Ohio State vs. Oregon – admittedly the PAC 12’s odd resolution to Washington not being able to compete in conference title game makes this less competitive.
Sugar Bowl (SEC Champ vs. At-Large): Alabama vs. Iowa State
Orange Bowl (ACC Champion vs. G5 #1): Clemson vs. Cincinnati
Cotton Bowl (Big 12 Champion vs. Power 5 at-large): Oklahoma vs. USC (or Indiana)
Fiesta Bowl (Power 5 At Large vs. G5 #2) Texas A&M vs. Coastal Carolina
Peach Bowl (SEC Runner Up vs. Big 12/ACC Runner Up): Florida vs. Notre Dame
The only injustices here would probably be whichever of USC or Indiana got left out and possibly one loss BYU or Louisiana, which beat Iowa State head to head. However, you’d have real opportunities for either Cincinnati with a win or Coastal Carolina – with a win and some other help – to make a final four. If Alabama or Clemson lose, they are out – losing to inferior opponents. If Notre Dame beats Florida, they make it clear they can beat elite, athletic teams. Florida, with a win over Notre Dame and other chaos could conceivably make a Final Four.
The competition to be a conference champion or at least finish really strong after a couple of early defeats to get into the NY6 bowls would renew hope for teams – including G5 teams – to get into playoff contention. It could even filter down to the next tier of bowls like the Capitol One, Outback, and even Holiday – if old tie-ins could be restored.
It’s not perfect and there would still be controversy but it would be controversy after everyone has had a chance to make a statement against an elite – or at least unusual – opponent. And as we know, sports controversy drives national sports conversation which can only be good for the game all across the country with every region involved.
Have any thoughts? Want to argue? Hit me up on Twitter @ReadyCFB.