College Football Marches Onward

A week ago we frowned on unsportsmanlike conduct as seen at many of the college football rivalry week games.

This week we celebrate college football for its display of exciting battles in the conference championship matchups, all to settle on the makeup of the first 12-team championship playoffs.

Without breaking down the multitude of scenarios that existed or the rationale that went into the final determinations, we’ll just touch on the highlights.

It’s far too dizzying and pedantic to be sure to go into chapter and verse of the committee’s deliberations.

It is better to anticipate how delectable the upcoming tournament will be.

Look, there will always be a call for more teams to compete for the national title, but the 12-team format appears to be right. At some point it might grow to 16, who knows.

I remember when the NCAA basketball tournament once consisted of 24 schools. Now, it’s 68 and there are still arguments over the  final few spots.

That it’ll never change.

Two things I feel about college football.

The first, is that it is truly America’s biggest sports passion.

Yes, the NFL is head and shoulders above the rest in television audience and overall national impact. But while the pro league is all about the franchises in the cities, the college game is not only about the cities, but the towns, big and small, the alumni and tradition that goes back over 100 years for more.

Secondly, even in today’s crazy world of million dollar payouts to players and loose transfer practices, the fact still remains that if you simply watch college football in person or on TV, nothing has really changed.

The entertainment value of viewing the sport remains unmatched.

The champions of the four power conferences received automatic byes into the quarterfinals, while the other 8 will play first round games on the campus of the higher ranked school.

When there were just four teams vying for the national crown, it was rare that one of the power conferences would get more than one entry.

Now, there will be four schools from the Big Ten, three from the SEC, and two from the ACC.

The biggest argument, and the one most justified, was recent powerhouse Alabama being left off in favor of SMU, who staged a brilliant comeback against Clemson in the ACC championship game only to fall short.

That brought into play the question of strength of schedule which the Crimson Tide owned a big edge over SMU, which had a better record than ‘Bama.

Alabama was a Jekyll-Hyde outfit this past season, beating powerful Georgia, but losing to Oklahoma which lost half its regular season games.

The lurking danger here is that schools may be reluctant to schedule difficult non-conference games in favor of padding their record.

That is obviously not what the football audience desires.

They want attractive games to watch, so this aspect bears attention.

The other issue is head-to-head results, whereby a team that beats another contender gets left out due to other considerations.

South Carolina had a terrific season, beating Clemson in their matchup, but wound up 9-3, and so it goes.

The four teams not having to play first-round games are Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State.

It does seem weird that Boise State and Arizona State get to avoid an opening game. That’s the payoff of winning a conference championship even if it’s not one of the strongest leagues.

But that’s the never-ending story of committee selections that will never go away.

In other words, the system may never be perfect, but the games will be played by strong contenders, and a national champion will ultimately be crowned, always, it seems, by a well-deserving school.

By adding more teams to the playoffs this year, we get to see Indiana play at Notre Dame, Dec. 20, and a biggie, Tennessee at Ohio State the next day in Columbus. It’ll be the Buckeyes first game since they suffered that brutal home loss to Michigan.

Everybody will aiming their sights on Oregon, #1 in the nation, and at 13-0, the only unbeaten team.

It’ll be interesting to see whether avoiding a first-round skirmish is better than having played a game having their motor running instead of sitting around an extra week. I know they practice, but sometimes that’s not as good as actually playing.

The rest of the schools who had successful seasons will compete in the many Bowl games on tap.

Alabama will play Michigan in a game in Tampa on New Year’s Eve.

That’s matchup smacks of what could have been a battle for the national title in recent years.

Closer to home, Syracuse will face Washington State in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego Dec. 27th, a reward for the 9-3 Orange who knocked Miami out of playoff contention in the final regular season game of Fran Brown’s banner first year as head coach.

One of the aspects of college sports’ “new world” apparently will have an effect on the post-season.

In recent years, top-level players have refused playing in Bowl games to avoid possible injury in an effort to protect them entering the NFL draft.

Now, there are many who will not play because they have already made known their transfer plans.

These actions have hurt post season games and it looks to be a common practice moving forward. It also could play a role in the championship playoffs.

Obviously, barring injury, fans expect to see the players who made their schools the Bowl and championship teams they became.

We’ll see if that’s a growing issue.

In any event, whether the debate ensues as to whether the right teams are competing, or any of the other ramifications surrounding the sport, the reality is perfection is not likely.

The month of December and January has been strictly an NFL show.

That’s no longer the case.

There will be college games of significance played amid high stakes.

It only adds to the dreams of sports lovers who would always prefer to  have a year-round lineup of meaningful competition to watch and enjoy.

Let the games begin.