Coaches and sports directors have talked about it, former and current players have petitioned for and against it, the talking heads in the media have endlessly discussed it, but yet, collegiate football continues to go about its business without a playoff system.
It’s easy to see how the installment of a playoff system in the Bowl Championship Series tournament would affect the NCAA. There are many different factors that would be strongly affected by a tournament-style structure.
No more talk of “who’s deserving”
One of the biggest issues in the current setup of the NCAA collegiate football system is the fact that one, if not both teams in the national championship game, and other bowl games for that matter, are sometimes questioned about being deserving of the chance to play for the bowl championship.
The teams within the playoff system would be competing equally, not just “chosen” to be able to play for a championship. With this way of handling the top teams, the questions surrounding a team that may be undefeated, but a lesser-known football program such as Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, and a team that has one loss, but is a prominent football school, such as the University of Texas Longhorns, can battle it out to see who is more warranted to have a national championship in their trophy case.
More money for universities
If the system utilized an eight-team, four-game arrangement, the number of games played for those eight schools would increase by one or two games, thus increasing the revenue of those particular schools.
The four-game quarterfinal and two-game semifinal would be played before New Years, leaving the national championship game to be played after, as usual. The teams in the playoffs who didn’t make the championship would also be given bowl game bids to play in yet another game.
The increased revenue and exposure would greatly benefit the universities, especially if the school isn’t considered to have an upper-echelon football program.
Fans get more football
With the increase in the number of total games played, fans of those universities and football fans alike will get to see an increased number of games. The playoff system would also mean that there are more games of importance, which, in turn, increases the number of fans attending the games and viewers watching on television.
Overall, the positives in developing a strategically designed system for a collegiate football playoff strongly outweigh the negatives, and implementing the playoff should be the top priority on the list for the NCAA.
For more information, visit www.collegeplayoffs.com