Is it time for College Football playoffs?

On Monday night, I had to force myself to watch most of the BCS National Championship game between LSU and Alabama on ESPN. The game was incredibly boring and low scoring and I thought it was never going to end. Alabama ended up beating LSU 21-0 and Nick Saban was the winner of another National Championship. After the game was over, I found myself wondering why College Football does not get rid of the BCS bowl games and introduce a playoff system.

A College Football postseason would improve ratings and give more teams a chance to compete for a National Championship. The NCAA could host this playoff system in many ways.  First, they could do it similar to NCAA basketball’s tournament. They could give tournament bids to the winners of the 11 conferences and then hand out at large bids to the remaining deserving teams. The tournament could have 32 teams and have 4 regions just like the March Madness tournament. The teams would be seeded, with the highest seed in the region playing the lowest seed in the region. To prevent the tournament from dragging out, each team would play a maximum of two games a week. This way, the players wouldn’t get tired and 32 different teams would have a chance to win the National Championship.

Another way the NCAA could format a postseason is by copying the current system that the NFL uses. The top 12 ranked teams would compete for the National Championship, with teams being seeded 1 through twelve. Since College Football does not have an AFC and NFC, the system would be set up a little differently. The top 4 teams would get byes and the 5^th seed would play the 12^th seed. The highest seeds would have home field advantage throughout, with the National Championship being played at a mutual location. Bowl games would still take place for deserving teams ranked outside the top 12 and conference champions.  With this format, there would not be as many bowl games and more teams would have a chance to compete for the National Championship.

ESPN reported that BCS officials plan to meet and discuss possible changes to the College Football postseason. The meeting will include all 11 conference commissioners and almost everything will be discussed. However, a playoff format where teams would have to play many additional games does not appear likely. This is unfortunate because only two teams have the chance to compete for a National Championship with the current system. With the ridiculous amount of bowl games and only two teams in the spotlight, changes to the postseason could only benefit College Football.