From the Braintrust: NCAA Needs a College Football Playoff Plan that Works

~ From the Braintrust ~

With the College Football Semifinals in the books, we’re down to two teams, Alabama and Ohio State, playing for the title of 2020 College Football Champion. Unfortunately, the brains(a term used loosely) that run college football STILL haven’t been able to figure out a system that makes sense.

If it seems like the few select programs keep playing for the national title every year, it’s because that is the way it’s been.

College football has been bumbling through a myriad of plans to decide on the best team in the land since the beginning of time. Despite the efforts from university presidents, conference commissioners, and the NCAA brainpower(ok, it just sounds funny using NCAA and brainpower in the same breath) we’re not much closer to having a decent system now than we were 40 years ago.

Timeline of College Football Championship Plans

1. Let the teams play, have the press vote for a mythical champion.
2. Develop the Bowl Championship Series and allow computers and formulas to determine matchups for the top two teams.
3.  Create the current playoff system and a committee creates a season-long poll and hoopla about identifying the final four teams. Current Playoff system.
4. Invention of the wheel and sliced bread.

Of the four above plans, which seems to be the outlier? If you answer…. #3, you are right. The rest were all part of logical and sensical evolution of ideas.

The system we have now isn’t going to work, for many reasons. We’re doomed to a yearly mix of Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson and a few other teams, with the rest of college just looking on.

Monday evening’s championship game between Alabama and Ohio State will produce the College Football Playoff ‘Champion.’ That’s for certain.

What isn’t for certain is how this system makes much sense, however.

The pandemic this year provided Football with the opportunity to do what would have made sense: Create an 8 team playoff, or even a 16 team playoff.

What would that have looked like this year? The Braintrust will share those details in an upcoming column.

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