Just A Minute: Playoff Expansion in NFL Doesn't Mean it would be good for College Football
Depending on your point of view, this season's NFL playoffs are going to go down as being one of the best we've ever seen in terms of competitiveness, as every game in the two rounds leading up to Super Bowl LVI were extremely close.
Both conference championship games were decided by three points, including one in overtime. Three of the Divisional Round games were as well, with the fourth decided after regulation time.
But the closeness of those game probably had nothing, or at least very little, to do with the expanded format with 14 teams making the postseason tournament, seven in each conference. While everyone is focused on the looming championship, don't forget what happened on the other end.
The wild-card round was anything but spectacular, which shouldn't have surprised anyone. Some of the scores were 47-17, 42-21, 34-11, and 31-15.
We're just one team away from having the the most average finisher in the regular season -- that would be the eighth team in 16-team conferences -- being in the playoff, we're that much closer to embracing mediocrity.
College football needs to take note of this because when it comes to the postseason more does not necessarily mean better.
We're eight years into the College Football Playoff, and of the 16 semifinals just three have been decided by a touchdown or less, and that includes the 42-35 loss by Alabama to Ohio State in 2014, when everyone was still trying to figure this whole playoff thing out.
Last season's semifinal scores were 27-6 and 34-11.
The year before saw 13-14 and 49-28.
While the NFL is geared toward parity and making sure that no team should languish long at the bottom of the standing, the opposite is true at the collegiate level. A quick glance at the recruiting rankings on National Signing Day had many of the usual suspects at the top.
There's a lot more separation at the top in college.
Consequently, expansion would actually do the opposite of the original intention of the College Football Playoff, reward greatness.
Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
