This is a fine point, but an important point in understanding the Playoff.
The point of the playoff is to determine the best football team in the country, not the four best football teams.
The point of expanding to four teams is to increase the odds that the best football team has a chance to play for the title.
It may be hard to understand, but think of it this way -- if you polled 1,000 people and asked them who the four best football teams in the country were, you'd get a lot of teams with votes. But if you were to ask people to just name who the best football team in the country was, you'd get a much smaller list of teams.
Think about Iowa. Would a lot of people say they are one of the top four teams -- perhaps. But very few people would honestly say they are the best football team in the country. Baylor was similar. Did anyone really think that Baylor was the best team in the country?
This isn't basketball, that rewards a team for their performance at the end of the year. Or even the NFL. The collegiate football champion has to be a team that has demonstrated elite excellence throughout the year.
Sure, if you expanded the playoffs to eight teams, every now and then an 8 or 6 seed would win it all or come close. And that 8 or 6 seed would be a team that perhaps started slow, didn't play a good schedule, but got on a roll late and found a way to win. But look at this year -- does anyone really think that number 5, 6, 7 or 8 is THE best team in the country? No. Might one of them win an eight team playoff? Sure. But it would not be a team that demonstrated elite excellence throughout the year. And that is what we have always judged our football champions on. Put a different way, I would argue that there has never been a year in college football history where the 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th ranked team in the country could, at the end of the year, make the case for being THE best team in the country, based on their body of work.
Right now, there are only three teams with a legitimate case to be considered the best team in the country -- Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama. They are the only teams receiving first place votes. But which of these is the best? The playoff system was designed to answer that question, which was a question that the old poll system solved by voting.
The BCS system was designed not to match the number 1 and number 2 team, but to match the two teams with the best case for being the best team, and let them settle it on the field. It failed, and the playoff system expanded to four because, in almost all years, the list of teams that could be considered the best team is usually more than two, but is usually no more than four.
This year that list only has three teams on it right now. If Oklahoma or Oklahoma State runs the table, maybe there will be four teams that you could consider as the best team in the country.
Long story short is this -- I don't care who the top four is, as long as it includes all the teams that can make a legitimate case now for being THE best team in the country. If you can't see how any one could vote them number one, then they don't belong in the playoff.
The point of the playoff is to determine the best football team in the country, not the four best football teams.
The point of expanding to four teams is to increase the odds that the best football team has a chance to play for the title.
It may be hard to understand, but think of it this way -- if you polled 1,000 people and asked them who the four best football teams in the country were, you'd get a lot of teams with votes. But if you were to ask people to just name who the best football team in the country was, you'd get a much smaller list of teams.
Think about Iowa. Would a lot of people say they are one of the top four teams -- perhaps. But very few people would honestly say they are the best football team in the country. Baylor was similar. Did anyone really think that Baylor was the best team in the country?
This isn't basketball, that rewards a team for their performance at the end of the year. Or even the NFL. The collegiate football champion has to be a team that has demonstrated elite excellence throughout the year.
Sure, if you expanded the playoffs to eight teams, every now and then an 8 or 6 seed would win it all or come close. And that 8 or 6 seed would be a team that perhaps started slow, didn't play a good schedule, but got on a roll late and found a way to win. But look at this year -- does anyone really think that number 5, 6, 7 or 8 is THE best team in the country? No. Might one of them win an eight team playoff? Sure. But it would not be a team that demonstrated elite excellence throughout the year. And that is what we have always judged our football champions on. Put a different way, I would argue that there has never been a year in college football history where the 5th, 6th, 7th or 8th ranked team in the country could, at the end of the year, make the case for being THE best team in the country, based on their body of work.
Right now, there are only three teams with a legitimate case to be considered the best team in the country -- Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama. They are the only teams receiving first place votes. But which of these is the best? The playoff system was designed to answer that question, which was a question that the old poll system solved by voting.
The BCS system was designed not to match the number 1 and number 2 team, but to match the two teams with the best case for being the best team, and let them settle it on the field. It failed, and the playoff system expanded to four because, in almost all years, the list of teams that could be considered the best team is usually more than two, but is usually no more than four.
This year that list only has three teams on it right now. If Oklahoma or Oklahoma State runs the table, maybe there will be four teams that you could consider as the best team in the country.
Long story short is this -- I don't care who the top four is, as long as it includes all the teams that can make a legitimate case now for being THE best team in the country. If you can't see how any one could vote them number one, then they don't belong in the playoff.
