It really doesn’t matter if you’re a college football fan or not, you can’t escape the rather unrealistic overhyping of it all.
That is of course unless you’ve been living under a rock with no access to the proliferation of sports talk shows featuring the alleged experts, which in turn has provided you with a rather envious respite from the multi-billion-dollar tsunami being billed as a totally legitimate College Football Tournament.
Forget the fact that the committee in charge of ranking and bracketing the twelve teams who received the sacred invitations to participate in this made for television debacle is comprised of former coaches, athletic directors, players, and even a sportswriter. They can’t even agree on what pizza toppings they want to devour when their lunch arrives in the fancy conference room that is home for nothing short of an old-fashioned mensa meeting.
Things like strength of schedule and what conference you labor in doesn’t carry the weight you’d think they would, as it’s all about how many lethargic opponents you bulldozed 55 to 0 in route to compiling that most important and shiny resume for the committee to peruse as they do their very best impersonation of the man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz.
Before you lash out and shoot down my opinions, explain how two teams (IU and SMU) are guests at the colossal financial banquet when neither have defeated a Top 25 team this year? I’m all ears.
How about Boise State with their “distinction” of defeating UNLV twice in one year, along with the exclusion of some pretty good multiple loss teams from power conferences. Is it really that difficult for the standard eye test to serve as a barometer to separate the true contenders from the obvious pretenders? Uh, no it’s not.
Many blame television for demanding an expanded playoff field but I’m certainly not amongst those who quickly point that finger.
If you were paying those obscene amounts of legal tender to televise this unorganized circus, wouldn’t you want more games to dangle in front of corporate America to secure more advertising revenue?
While there may be no perfect system it’s clear Pandora has not only left her box, she’s exited the stadium as well. The fact is there aren’t twelve championship caliber programs in the country this season but it really doesn’t matter to most of you rooting for an “underdog” or perhaps your alma mater, which is more than fine. The cream should indeed rise to the top and a worthy champion shall (l hope) be crowned accordingly on Jan. 20.
Until then, l will continue to ponder why the money train precludes the obvious credentials that should be required of every team in this playoff and look at it as l do the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, which also in my opinion invites far too many participants every March.
Here’s hoping the CFP Committee will someday (next year) see the need for not only a more stringent, uniform set of qualifications to be deemed a playoff team, but also the importance of reseeding the field after the conclusion of round one.
Until then, the argument on how this gargantuan television event should be run will continue to rage on with ABC/ESPN now currently running the show. They’ve paid the cost to be the boss, and as long as the money is there, the merry-go-round will continue to spin very rapidly. I just wish a smaller field of teams were the ones getting to ride the crazy carousel this season.
Danny Bridges, who would’ve been rather content with a field of Oregon, Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State, can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com
