Jimenez 1

Filiberto Jimenez

04/20/2020

ENG 101

Black

Evolving and Expanding

College football is one of the more controversial topics in American sports. Issues range

from whether to pay athletes and how a champion should be crowned. My interest goes beyond

personal bias towards teams or players, but just for the love of the game. It is a sport that mostly

exclusively takes up an entire weekend in a fan's life. Athletes showcase their talents on national

television and prove that they can take their talents to the next level. People love to see one clear

winner no matter what the sport is. It gives a sense that the teams have given their best.

Crowning a champion in college football is far from easy.The four top teams in the country,

voted by a committee, face off in a final tournament to decide the champion of the current

season. The number one team faces off against the number four team in the first semifinal and

the number two team faces the number three team in a second semifinal. The winner of those

games then goes on to face each other in a championship game. This format carries a love hate

relationship and is always in contention to be revised.

Before this format was put into place in 2014, the way to decide the champion was

through a one game decision. The number one team in the country simply faced the number two

team at a neutral site. This gave no other team but the top two a chance to win the national

championship. This was simply known as the BCS, or Bowl Championship Series. Some fans

enjoyed this format but others wanted change immediately to level out the playing field. Seeing

only the top two teams compete can start to seem as “old-fashioned” and boring. College football
 Jimenez 2

fans want to see and experience excitement. The NCAA knew they had to put a new format into

place or else the game would eventually lose its reputation. The BCS experienced several issues

and had a few years where fans were left disappointed. Adam Augustyn states, “The process was

still occasionally a subject of controversy. In 2003 USC was not selected to play in the

championship game because of its relatively low computer rankings, despite having ended the

season atop the polls.” A well deserving team who played at a championship caliber all year was

left out of the title game. Not only did this specific season affect the players and fans, it also

negatively impacted the BCS system.

Fans always want their teams to win the “big one” but there are not enough slots to put

every team in a playoff. The big well known schools such as Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson

have been historically successful and will almost always be in contention to be chosen for a

playoff spot. The current format gives other schools, who are also well known, a chance to knock

off the blue-collar teams out. These teams that are always in reduces the chance for bragging

rights to be earned by others. Underdogs will not usually have the opportunity to put their team

on the map. Upsets would be more readily consistent and give more intensity to the game.

“America loves Cinderella. Whether it’s the upstart Wild Card in the NFL playoffs, the plucky

8th seed in the NBA playoffs, or the mid-major double digit seed in March Madness, the

underdog narrative is woven into the fabric of American sports.” (McIntyre) Fans, coaches, and

players all have their own take on this. Culturally, in the world of American sports, college

football is innovative and people want to see more change to further climb in the positive

direction.

The current format is both well and not well received by people. It involves the top four

teams that are voted by a panel of experts, which does not always mean that winning your well
 Jimenez 3

respected conference guarantees a spot. There are a total of ten conferences in college football.

The power five conferences include those blue collar teams that are well known. The group of

five conferences entail smaller schools, but every year, in recent years, a team from one of these

conferences makes a miraculous run but will not get to playoffs just because they will not receive

enough votes and played a relatively weaker schedule, even though they were one of the top

teams throughout the season. For these instances, there have been propositions to expand the

playoff format to allow those teams that make an exciting run to have a shot at the national title

game. Mike Gundy, who is the head coach of Oklahoma State, voiced his position, “There

should be eight. If you win your conference, there's five of us, you win that, you're in. Then the

Central Floridas of the world, the Boises of the world, who are 12-0, or whoever is the highest-

ranked team, they should be in.” (Dinich) He mentions two schools who have been very

successful recently, but have not made the playoffs due to the fact they are in a group of five

conference and play weaker talent. Opinions regarding this issue are scattered throughout the

spectrum. Should they expand, should they keep it the same way, or should they go back to the

original format? This is the controversy that lives on every year and has fans on the edge of their

seat.
 Jimenez 4

Works Cited Page

Augustyn, Adam. “The Arrival of the College Football Playoff.” Encyclopædia Britannica,

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 June 2015

Dinich, Heather. “The College Football Playoff Survey: 62 Coaches' Opinions and Why

Half of Them Favor Expansion.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 8 Dec. 2019

McIntyre, Jason. “The Case for an 8-Team College Football Playoff.” FOX Sports, 15 Dec.

2019