The NFL playoffs start today. I’m so into it that I decide to write instead of watch. Let me rewind the clock and apply an NFL conversation to college football from the last two weeks when some NFL teams decided to rest their starting players, knowing they had their playoff position already determined. How would this fly in the world of college football?
A few thoughts…
Imagine a year in which Ohio State locks up the Big Ten Championship the week before heading into its final game against Michigan.
Under a college football playoff system, conference championship winners receive and automatic bid into the playoff.
Imagine, as was the case this year, Ohio State’s starting quarterback is suffering an injury so head coach Jim Tressel decides to effectively concede the game by not playing his quarterback and some of his starting offensive lineman (who also have been struggling with injuries throughout the season).
Is this scenario good for college football?
This is exactly what you would have if a college playoff were instituted.
As I said in my previous post, progress in college football that sacrifices tradition is not progress at all, and sacrificing college football’s most historic rivalries for the sake of a playoff is not in the best interest of college football.
Add a qualification that ties within a conference are resolved by whether or not the final game of the regular season is won. And that at-large bids will not be granted to teams which lose this game.
If Ohio State and Penn State both go 7-1, with the Buckeyes defeating Penn State earlier in the season; then Penn State still gets the bid because Ohio State lost their rivalry game.
Effectively, this makes rivalry weekend a play-in round for the playoffs. If Florida had lost to Florida State, then Alabama would have gotten the SEC bid and Florida would be disqualified from an at-large bid.
Also, the game which qualifies as the season-ending “rivalry game” must be a game that is scheduled for at least 4 consecutive years. This prevents schools from scheduling cupcakes.