Change I Wish We Could Believe In

All right -- college football is finally here. As I'm sure you could guess, I've been waiting a long time for this weekend. There's nothing better than watching college football -- except, of course, watching NFL football. And that's just five days away.

As the college football season kicks off, I need to take a minute to point out just one thing that stands in the way of perfection. Of course, I'm talking about the way the so-called "National Champion" is crowned.

In my book, hard work should lead to success. Enough success should lead to the opportunity to prove one’s supremacy in that field of work. Unfortunately, that blueprint is crumpled up and tossed out the window in the college football world. Year after year, teams put in the work. Year after year, teams win every game on their schedule. And year after year, these teams are left out of the National Championship game.

Right now the college football regular season is followed by 30+ bowl games, including the National Championship game. It’s great that so many teams are able to participate in some form of a postseason, but the top programs are truly all fighting to win the big one, and right now, they aren’t always given a real chance to do so. In fairness to the players, coaches, and fans, some of these bowls need to be replaced with a playoff system in which a true champion can be determined on the field, not by a computer or selection committee.

Even President Obama says "We need a playoff. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this."

People against creating a playoff point out that weeks would have to be added to the end of the season. While this is valid, it could be solved by eliminating some of the non-conference games at the beginning of the year.

Another downside would be that the regular season would lose some of its intensity, as teams would have more room for error. However, with a playoff system that includes 8 or 16 teams, it would still be incredibly competitive to earn a bid, and losing more than one or two games could be enough to leave a team home.

The 2008 Utah team is a prime example of a team that was cheated by the system. The Utes won all 13 games of their tough schedule, including an upset victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, but finished the year ranked #2 overall, forced to watch Florida win the National Championship on TV.

Coach Kyle Whittingham was left in disbelief that his team wasn’t given a chance to achieve their goal. Utah won every game it played, and deserved to be considered the #1 team in the land.

With an 8 or 16 team playoff system, a true champion would be crowned while the other teams could still participate in the remaining bowl games. Otherwise, a lot of future players, coaches, and fans will be put in Utah’s shoes, and those aren’t too comfortable.

- Robby