OUR OPINION: Fans want college football playoffs

— If nothing else, Alabama's convincing 21-0 win over Louisiana State Monday night muted the controversy that sometimes follows college football championship games about whether the No. 1 team really was the best.

Even fans who prefer offensive shootouts had to be impressed by the Crimson Tide's fierce defense, which held LSU to just 92 yards.

Still, the game was unsatisfying in several ways.

One reason can be traced to the several million fans who weren't able to watch it. For the second year, the championship game was on ESPN instead of on a broadcast channel.

Granted, most fans have that sports network on their TV lineup. But a national championship game ought to be available to everyone, and probably many people who aren't hardcore fans would have watched if they'd had the opportunity.

Major college football lost the chance to turn those people into fans by requiring that they subscribe to cable or satellite to watch.

And it has long ignored the opportunity to satisfy those who already are fans by implementing a true playoff system, as exists for every other NCAA sport, including lower football divisions.

There's a glimmer of hope along those lines. Support may be growing for a format that would pair the top four BCS teams in bowl matchups, with the winners advancing to the championship game.

Ideally there would be at least an eight-team playoff featuring the winners of the major conferences and one or two at-large teams.

Not only would that generate far greater interest, it also would help establish continuity in the season. Not to make excuses for LSU, but isn't it likely the Tigers would have played better if there hadn't been a five-week layoff between its last game and the championship game?

One of the objections to a playoff system is that it would hurt the bowl games. But some of those bowls could be incorporated into the playoffs, and how many more people would have watched, say, last week's Cotton Bowl game if the winner had a chance to advance to the title game? The other bowls could continue as they exist now with no harm to them.

If a larger playoff format is unacceptable to the decision-makers, then the four-team tournament is the next best option. Football fans have waited long enough.


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Comments » 3

brooksncc#234739 writes:

OK this is getting really weird. That's two days in a row that the standard times has made logical, practical statements in the "our opinion" section. Whats going on?

2Little2Late writes:


This may speak to that "Signs of the apocalypse" chat thread....dunno

dons_mind writes:

fan base is not important to the world of sports. it all revolves around the $$$$$$$$ - and that's why we'll never see a playoff style in collegiate football. the $$$$$ involved between the BCS, NCAA and all the sponsors, PLUS what the various schools receive is not conducive to a playoff type situation.

it is weird tho - two days in a row the S-T editorial board has slipped in something that actually makes sense.....


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