It has been said that with each sunrise the sun sets somewhere else.
As January 1st, 2015 marks the dawn of a new era in college football it signifies the end of another era.
Since 1869 major college football has been competing without a playoff while attempting to maintain amateur standards. With the new College Football Playoff, those days are a relic of the past.
Until now, a mythical National Champion has been voted on by coaches and media and the results have often ended seasons in controversy. Certainly, Penn State fans know that tune all too well. In 1968, 1969, 1973 and 1994 Penn State finished the season undefeated but not national champions.
That problem was supposed to be erased by the BCS designed to insure the top two teams would be selected to play for the national championship. That created more controversy as a number of worthy teams were left at No. 3 and on the outside looking in.
Finally, after nearly a century and a half of college football, we have arrived at a four-team playoff but once again there is controversy. TCU was No. 3 heading into the last week and somehow slipped out of the top four despite winning their last game in a rout.
But on the plus side, any fan has to admit that the playoff does include more teams and thereby is at least somewhat more fair. On the negative side, this current system relegates the fate of a college football season to the decisions of just 12 people in a room — who do not have to face the light of transparency.
The BCS system for selecting the team was better in this respect. It relied on two polls including roughly 50 current coaches as well as computer input on strength of schedule and results. It was a far more inclusive system. We went from a more open and fair election system to what appears to be a backroom meeting of just a dozen people who decide the playoff participants and pairings for the “New Year’s Six” bowl games.
The championship game will also be put up for bid and rotated around the country. This year it is in Arlington Texas before heading to Glendale, Ariz. and then Tampa over the next two years. This brings up another question. Will the game ever come north giving a Big Ten team a home field/proximity advantage? Will Indianapolis or Detroit with domed stadiums that have already hosted Super Bowls be considered?
The playoff system certainly creates some interesting questions that will have to be answered along the way. It also gives us a moment to ponder what might have been. As a Penn State fan it’s fun (or aggravating) to look back and see how many times Penn State might have been selected for the playoffs.
A quick perusal gives a list of years when Penn State certainly would have been in the discussion on the last day: 1911, 1912, 1920, 1921, 1947, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2005 and 2008. That is 21 times overall and a whopping 16 times since 1968.
Besides the undefeated seasons, the most intriguing years may have been 1981 and 2005. In 1981 Penn State finished 9-2 in the regular season but had played the nation’s toughest schedule. The closing arguments were wins against Notre Dame and a 48-14 rout on the road over No. 1 Pitt. Penn State also won at Nebraska that year (the team that Clemson defeated for the mythical national title in the Orange Bowl). Would that season-ending rout and the No. 1 strength of schedule have been enough to get Penn State into the No. 4 playoff spot?
In 2005 Penn State would have been a solid No. 3 seed and played No. 2 Texas in a national semifinal. Penn State’s Michael Robinson would have faced off against Vince Young and Texas. To have those two dynamic players on the same field would have been something to behold. I give Penn State the slight edge because of the Nittany Lions’ stronger defense.
But it was not to be and that is why we should appreciate what we finally have. We will see Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Oregon’s Marcus Marriota on the same field — a showdown between the past two Heisman trophy winners. We’re also seeing the argument for the continuing college football trend toward mobile quarterbacks as all four playoff teams have dual-threat QBs. In the other semi-final, we’ll see Alabama and Ohio State. For all those who have written off the Buckeye’s chances, remember there are no guarantees in college football.
Okay there may be one guarantee. You never get anything for nothing — there is always a price to be paid. As the new year dawns on a long-awaited college football playoff, understand there is no turning back. The 12 year/$7.3 billion television contract for these playoffs changes the college football arithmetic forever.
Those eye-popping numbers and ever-escalating coaches’ salaries will fuel demands for student-athletes to get paid. Today’s sun rises with a giant television contract for this new college football playoff and may signal the sunset on a century of traditional, if imperfect, amateurism.
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