By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
I have written in the past about why I’m not a fan of the College Football Playoff (CFP) system. When it began in 2014, I was intrigued. After all, that year did provide some memorable moments and entertaining games. On the surface, “more” games played by the best teams against each other should be better for us fans, right? Depending on whom you ask, this has or hasn’t been the case. Well, whether any of us like it or not, the playoffs are expanding from 12 teams to 24.
I was 16 in 2014 when the playoff began, so I didn’t think too much about whether or not I liked the playoff format or how it would alter the future of the sport. When it expanded in 2024 to the 12-team format, I formed an opinion that I continue to hold today. I don’t like the playoff, and I don’t like how it altered the college football landscape.
I sometimes wonder, are my feelings just another case of nostalgia? Because, naturally, all the best music, movies, sports and culture happened when I was a kid. Funny how that works. I try not to be too blinded by my childhood memories, but, for the life of me, I can’t figure out exactly why I feel the way I do about the CFP. I finally saw someone express it in a way that fully resonates with me.
College football’s regular season used to be the best regular season in American sports. The NBA and MLB are too long, and most of the games simply don’t matter. In the NFL, most of the games do matter, but there are enough bad teams in a 32-team league that we are bound to get a few stinkers each week. But, in college football, if a team wanted to make the National Championship, it could not take a regular season game off or it would cost the season.
That meant dominating the conference mattered. Beating the most-hated rivals mattered. If Alabama or Auburn want to make the National Championship, they were going to have to go through one another. So, when No. 1 Bama and No. 4 Auburn met in the Iron Bowl (their rivalry game name) a week before the conference title game, it had massive implications. It resulted in arguably the greatest moment college football has ever seen.
That loss to Auburn knocked Bama from No. 1 to No. 3, kicking them out of the National Championship game. They would eventually lose to No. 11 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Auburn’s win sent them from No. 4 to No. 2 and got them a spot in the national championship.
If that result happened today, well, both teams would still be guaranteed a spot in the playoff. The regular season no longer has the same punch it once did, and the problem is now nationwide. Before, Ohio State and Michigan needed to beat each other. Now, they don’t. Texas and Oklahoma. USC and Notre Dame. Georgia and Georgia Tech. Heck, in recent years, both Iowa and Iowa State have flirted with making the playoff. In the past, if one or the other wanted to be in the post-season, they would need that Cy-Hawk trophy in their cabinet. Not anymore.
Before, a team needed to be perfect — or darn close to perfect — to make the most prestigious games in the sport. Now, teams can take a week off here and lose a game there. It doesn’t matter. The conferences are blown up, rivalry games are losing their significance, bowl games don’t carry the same meaning, and the sport is fundamentally different than what it was just a decade ago.
I am now convinced that this is not one of those cases where I am blinded by nostalgia. For so many reasons, the direction this sport is heading is wrong, and it is losing sight of what made it great in the first place. If you want a lesson in why chasing a fancy new post season isn’t always the way to go, just ask NASCAR fans how their sport is doing since the formats were messed with.
Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.