Oh man, the weird cultural and historical quirks that led to interscholastic, nominally amateur “U23” football being a top 5 sports entertainment business in the US could fill volumes!
And basically yes, every single system designed to name a champion is doomed in a sport with (1) no enforced parity (either by salary cap or by relegation), (2) a huge number of teams nominally in the same tier, (3) a 12-game regular season, and (4) vast and barely concealed corruption. Honestly, the stupidity of college football is a non-negligible part of its charm.
the stupidity of college football is a non-negligible part of it’s charm
100% and I feel like the bowl system was a much better reflection of this than any playoff will ever be. The ridiculousness of 2+ schools claiming the same titles on a regular basis, and everyone else mostly agreeing both claims are valid but still bickering over which is more valid, was a big part of the sport’s charm.
Oh man, the weird cultural and historical quirks that led to interscholastic, nominally amateur “U23” football being a top 5 sports entertainment business in the US could fill volumes!
And basically yes, every single system designed to name a champion is doomed in a sport with (1) no enforced parity (either by salary cap or by relegation), (2) a huge number of teams nominally in the same tier, (3) a 12-game regular season, and (4) vast and barely concealed corruption. Honestly, the stupidity of college football is a non-negligible part of its charm.
100% and I feel like the bowl system was a much better reflection of this than any playoff will ever be. The ridiculousness of 2+ schools claiming the same titles on a regular basis, and everyone else mostly agreeing both claims are valid but still bickering over which is more valid, was a big part of the sport’s charm.