Is the College Playoff a Good Idea?

Is the College Playoff a Good Idea?  It is soooooo very “Good Idea”.  While not the gold standard set forth by Yahoo sportswriter Dan Wetzel http://sports.yahoo.com/news/wetzels-playoff-plan-money-talks-085100096--ncaaf.html , it is nonetheless a great start and a marvelous replacement for the idiotic BCS formula.  Now there is legitimate debate that will be forthcoming about the composition of the selection committee and that will be tricky indeed.  The people who have the experience and the context to make the best decisions are the very same people that will likely have a vested interest in one of the teams being considered.  As long as they maintain a high degree of integrity and independence, and keep the process transparent, this will eventually take care of itself.  The larger question is, of course….what exactly is the right number of teams to put in the playoff?  That, my friends, is a very interesting question and should bring forth a fascinating discussion by college fans all across the nation.

Without putting forth a specific number, I will put forth a specific rationale for selecting that number.  I will also go on record as saying that “4” is not the right number.  This year, the magic number would have been “6”; the four that have been selected plus TCU and Baylor.  Why?  Because any of those six would have a reasonable chance to win out and capture the championship; the drop-off that occurs after six does not cover that contingency.  The guiding principle in setting the selection number should be this: Any team that would have a reasonable (as defined by the selection committee) chance to win out in a playoff should be in the playoff.  The seed is not nearly as important as simply giving every team that might be the best the chance to prove it.  Now some that have put forth the magic number as “6” have said that the teams should be seeded and numbers 1 and 2 should receive first round byes.  This is worth considering, but I submit that if you are conducting a championship playoff with as few as 6 teams, it is difficult to justify giving two of those teams the huge advantage of a first round bye.  This year, six would be the correct number; but would it be correct every year?  No, it would not.  Some years, the selection principle might limit the teams to 4; other years, it might be more than 6.  The selection number needs to consistent and set in stone.  So, we now consider bumping the number of playoff teams up to eight.  If we move up to eight, we eliminate the prospect of first round byes; I like that.  However, we bring in the distinct possibility that there will some teams, in certain years, selected for the playoffs that really have no business playing for a national championship.  Two points about this…If the selection committee is going to err, I would prefer they err by putting a lesser team in the mix rather than leaving a worthy team out of the mix.  After all, if a team considered “lesser” wins out; they were not “lesser” after all, were they?  Secondly, if the selection committee does a decent job of seeding the playoff teams, the last teams in will have the most difficult first round games and that should deal rather effectively with any question regarding their worthiness.  One thing is fairly certain: Any number larger than eight, without implementing a full-blown Wetzel plan, would be too many.  How many years can you think of where you thought more than the top eight teams in the first post-season rankings had a chance to be the best team in land?  I can’t think of a single one in my lifetime; eight ought to cover it.

So as we celebrate the death of the BCS, let’s enjoy some potentially great matchups in this inaugural college playoff and look forward with interest to the debate that will follow.  The first step to the playoffs was the most difficult; it will only get better from here on in.  Settle…it…on…the…field.