By Mark Vaccaro
Contributing Writer
It has been a few weeks since the college football season has wrapped up, with Clemson’s blowout win over Alabama in the National Championship being the biggest take away. There was no doubt when the season came to a close that a worthy champion was crowned, which was the goal of instating the College Football Playoff and moving to four teams.
There was no logic behind the number; it was the obvious next step after the two-team BCS system. Like any system with a selection committee, there will be a debate for the worthy teams, but in the end, all we care about is giving the best team a chance to win.
College football has a playoff so small, and only a 12-game season, running the risk of the best team getting left out altogether. College football should expand to an eight-team playoff, including the conference champion of each of the power five conferences, plus three at large teams. This system guarantees that every team has the opportunity to play its way into the playoff.
The problem with leaving out a dominant team dates back to the first playoff in the 2014. The playoff committee demoted TCU from No. 3 to No. 6 and out of the playoff after a win in the final week. TCU and co-Big 12 champion Baylor, competed for the final spot. Both teams finished 11-1, with TCU’s only loss coming in a blown 21-point lead at Baylor. Even though Baylor beat TCU, many analysts believed that TCU was the better team. The two Big 12 teams were so closely ranked that no one was sure who was going to get the final spot.
Selection Sunday came and neither team was put in; instead Ohio State got the final spot, which was almost out of the discussion. TCU went on to the Peach Bowl, where they routed Ole Miss 42-3, a team that beat No. 1 Alabama earlier in the year. Big 12 champion TCU may have been the best team in the country and was left out of the playoff.
Since the original playoff, there have been a few other notable teams left out, but none as talked about as much as UCF. They don’t play in a power five conference, and therefore, don’t play anything close to the tough schedules the other teams in consideration.
Nevertheless, a win streak lasting for two years is impressive. The team went far enough to declare themselves national champions in order to get the attention of the committee. We learned nothing from UCF after their Fiesta Bowl loss without their starting quarterback and half of their starting linemen. Next year, their future NFL quarterback Mackenzie Milton will return to try to, once again, go undefeated. An eight-team playoff would finally give us the chance to see if this team really does belong.
Along with UCF, the teams that would have been represented in the playoff if it were eight teams would be Big Ten Champion Ohio State, Pac-12 champion Washington and a second SEC team in Georgia. Two of these teams were already considered for the final spot in the playoff and definitely appeared to be worthy of it. The exciting matchups and the traveling fan bases of these added teams would surely be good for the sport. The greatest benefit is the lack of drama as the season ends. No more debating about which team is better, it would settle itself on the field, and that’s all any sports fan really wants.
vaccarma16@bonaventure.edu
