Wonder who in college football is opposed to a playoff system? Look no further than Ohio State.
President E. Gordon Gee, athletic director Gene Smith and head coach Jim Tressell are all opposed to a playoff, and they think the current system is fine. It's actually not just them, but pretty much everyone in college football except the fans.
President Gee actually calls the issue his Maginot Line without a hint of irony. So we're stuck with hoping that one of the TV networks brings Hitler out of retirement in Bolivia.
Red line represents burning couches.
"We will not cross that line and get onto the slippery slope -- the professional-ization of college football and a furthering of the arms race," he said. "We simply have to say no. If we don't say no to this, the horse has left the barn totally. I will vote against it under any circumstance."
He will continue to mix metaphors though.
Gee and Tressell have come up with five reasons to support the current system:
1) Adding more games is bad for the players' welfare, particularly those who plan to try their hand at pro football.
Not sure I understand this particular argument. We currently have teams playing 13 and 14 game seasons, those extra two games coming from conference championship and bowl games. With an eight team playoff system, at most you would have 2 teams playing an three extra games and 4 teams playing two extra games.
2) Shortening the regular season to make room for playoff games in December won't work, because schools need all the home-game revenue they can get.Start the season earlier.
3) You can't ask fans to travel to neutral-site playoff games two or three weeks in a row.See Tournament, NCAA Basketball. And don't try to pretend you're concerned about the fans when it's the vast majority of fans who are pushing for a playoff.
If you're concerned about the travel distance, make the playoff sites regional or give the higher ranked team home field advantage.
4) If you have home-site playoff hosts, you crush the bowl system. And bowls are worth preserving.Some bowls are worth preserving. Most are not.
5) They don't see the necessity to clear up the "Who's really the best team?" debate that seems to pop up annually.
Every other NCAA sport has a national champion decided through a playoff system.
Thoughts?