Did Alabama, Clemson Break College Football?
Did Alabama and Clemson break college football?
It's a reasonable question to ask if you're in the camp that college football is broken. After all, there have been seven College Football Playoffs. The Crimson Tide and Tigers have made a combined 12 appearances. There hasn't been a single semifinal day without one of these two teams in it since this all began in 2014.
Alabama and Clemson have won a total of five national titles during this playoff era. The only outliers are Ohio State (2014) and LSU (2019). It's pure domination. It's also pure predictability.
Just seven other teams not mentioned yet have made the CFP: Florida State, Michigan State, Georgia, Oregon, Notre Dame, Washington and Oklahoma. The Sooners have accounted for four appearances while the Irish have now been there twice.
Essentially, it's about as exclusive a club as one can find in all of sports. And for that reason, many people, from fans to media members to athletic administrators, feel like college football is failing.
If you want to use ratings, then there's some evidence of that. Last Monday's national title game between Alabama and Ohio State was the least-watched broadcast of the combined BCS/CFP era. The two semifinal games this year did better than the championship.
Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports
Again, predictability played a huge factor, as did the pandemic. It just doesn't seem like fringe college football fans in America ever really tuned into the games in 2020. Even some die-hards seem less interested. Blame it on other options in life, the virus being such a concern, few or no fans in stands at stadiums and an abundance of uncertainty at every turn.
So maybe 2020 isn't the season to judge college football and its vitality. Is the sport still strong? Absolutely. One of the main reasons it was played during COVID-19 was cash. Schools and conferences desperately needed it.
But it's not crazy to think that in general, college football has lost some luster. Look through the way-too-early top-25 rankings from various media outlets, and guess who you'll find at No. 1 or No. 2?
Clemson, Alabama or Ohio State. Throw in Oklahoma in the top-4, which you'll also find quite often, and you've got a ready-made CFP for 2021. That's not good. Sure, you can toss in Georgia, but if preconceived notions can't account for a surprise team or a uber-talented Group of 5 squad, then we're headed for some sort of postseason tournament with very likely at least three of those four teams.
Are people going to continue to care? Will they watch that again? If a Georgia or Oregon could crash the party, would it change how we view the sport?
One problem is we expected the CFP to transition us into a great, new era of football that left behind the antiquated polls and numbers-based computer systems. Instead, we got a room full of people cycling through the same old teams every year.
The other obvious problem is recruiting. Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State are still bringing in the best players, with many others still going to Georgia and Oklahoma. LSU is trying to remain in the mix, but as of right now, the SEC Tigers look like a one-hit-wonder.
Florida has reascended to the level of "really good, not elite" along with teams like Notre Dame and Oregon. None of them are ready to beat the teams listed ahead of them in regular rankings and recruiting rankings.
Will expanding the playoff, the hottest topic in the sport, solve any of college football's problems? It's not likely. That's just a bandaid. Including more teams for Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State to whip up on doesn't mean the sport gets healthier. It just means we're bringing in more regions and fan bases into the postseason.
That's not an argument against expansion. In fact, why not at this point? We all want more high-level games, and the regular season is already devalued. Let more teams into the CFP, give the Group of 5 a place at the table and appease conference commissioners and athletic directors who have been whining for years.
Don't assume that makes college football any better. The top teams simply aren't going anywhere. It's more about the next-level squads finding a way to reach the elites. It's just so hard though.
Clemson has been a CFP mainstay since 2015. That was back when they were barely cracking the top-15 in recruiting rankings. Now, the Tigers are annually landing top-5 classes. The coaching and facilities are still top-notch.
Alabama is still producing an NFL machine, and Ryan Day has even enhanced what Urban Meyer did at Ohio State with better players and coaches. Kirby Smart is just a few steps away, maybe, from turning all that Georgia talent into a true contender, not a paper one.
And Oklahoma continues to develop the most important position on the field: quarterback.
There is an incredible number of factors that go into high-level recruiting, and every young prospect is different, but at the end of the day, it's clear that great players want to play with great players.
That will never change. So do we wait around on Nick Saban to retire at Alabama and Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley and Day to get bored and go to the NFL?
Or do we expect the power brokers and the revenue kings of college football to hatch great plans to enhance their sport?
Or will the NCAA get around to finally changing the transfer rules and allowing players to make money on name, image and likeness, which could both shift some power around the country?
That's a lot of what-ifs, and none of those are really tied together. So if you're struggling with the game right now, you're going to have to get over it.
And if you're favorite team is one of the fortunate few loved by the CFP committee, congratulations. You aren't going anywhere for a long time.
