Source: ftw.usatoday.com - Sunday, December 30, 2018
If you watched on Saturday you already know: College football’s playoff is an abject mess. Alabama pushed Oklahoma around to win the Orange Bowl 45-34. And that game was miles better than Notre Dame’s listless performance in the Cotton Bowl, which it lost 30-3 to Clemson . There’s much consternation about these outcomes, and with good reason. As USA TODAY columnist Dan Wolken points out , we’ve now seen 10 semifinal games since the playoff was implemented and only two of them have been good games. So now the sentimentality for college football’s old way is being bandied about as a practical plan to save the game. College football was once unique because its regular season left practically no room for error and forced teams to indisputably prove they belonged by winning every week and winning convincingly. Every Saturday was a playoff game, basically — and at the end of the season the truth would be revealed. Two shiny, triumphant teams emerging to play for the national title. There’s merit to the idea. The old way was special. Whereas you might root on your NFL team and watch it grow and evolve — using setbacks to adjust strategy or change starters in an attempt to improve — your college team simply had to deliver, week after week, to have a chance. It was different than anything else. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports But we’re not going back there. In fact we’re almost certainly going the other direction and expanding the playoff.
Source: Breaking News
If you watched on Saturday you already know: College football’s playoff is an abject mess. Alabama pushed Oklahoma around to win the Orange Bowl 45-34. And that game was miles better than Notre Dame’s listless performance in the Cotton Bowl, which it lost 30-3 to Clemson . There’s much consternation about these outcomes, and with good reason. As USA TODAY columnist Dan Wolken points out , we’ve now seen 10 semifinal games since the playoff was implemented and only two of them have been good games. So now the sentimentality for college football’s old way is being bandied about as a practical plan to save the game. College football was once unique because its regular season left practically no room for error and forced teams to indisputably prove they belonged by winning every week and winning convincingly. Every Saturday was a playoff game, basically — and at the end of the season the truth would be revealed. Two shiny, triumphant teams emerging to play for the national title. There’s merit to the idea. The old way was special. Whereas you might root on your NFL team and watch it grow and evolve — using setbacks to adjust strategy or change starters in an attempt to improve — your college team simply had to deliver, week after week, to have a chance. It was different than anything else. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports But we’re not going back there. In fact we’re almost certainly going the other direction and expanding the playoff.
Source: Breaking News
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