CFP: Better But Still Needs More Work

As the college football season winds down, mostly everyone will be paying attention to the top 5 or 6 teams in the nation to see who gets into the playoffs. This system has drastically improved from the old BCS system that made the top 2 teams in the nation face-off for the title voted by the BCS committee. However, there still is work to be done into making this college football playoff system one that everyone would employ.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban looks to win his 6th national title!
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Years ago, before the BCS, the national champions went by who was voted #1 at the end of the season by the AP and Coach's Poll. The problem with that system was that there were times when there would be 2 national champions. Plus, teams #1 and #2 would not face-off sometimes due to the bowl restrictions. The Rose Bowl had a contract with the Pac-10 and Big 10 that the winners of each conference had to play each other in the "Granddaddy of Them All". In 1994, the Penn State Nittany Lions went undefeated and wound up winning the Rose Bowl over Oregon. However, Penn State did not win the national championship because Nebraska wound up going undefeated as well and was voted the national champions. Many college football fans felt shafted and wanted a change in the system since the two best teams could not play for the title.

The Grand Daddy of them all at times was a flaw in the college football system.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Enter the BCS system. The Pac-10 and Big 10 agreed to enter into this system where the top two teams in the nation would play each other every year for the national title. At first, this system succeeded. A team like the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes would've never won the national title under the old system, but thanks to the BCS they were able to upset the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes to win the national title. 

However, the next season saw the flaw in the BCS system. The USC Trojans wound up finishing the regular season at #1 in both the AP and Coach's polls after a late season loss dropped Oklahoma to #3. The BCS decided that because of Oklahoma having a tougher schedule, they were voted #2 behind #1 LSU. USC wound up not playing for the national title while Oklahoma lost to LSU for the title. 

Oklahoma exposed the flaw in the BCS system.
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Now, we have the current system where the top 4 teams in the nation play for the national title where team #1 plays #4 with the winner of that game facing the winner of the #2 vs. #3 teams in the nation. While fans thought this system would finally be the answer to all of the prayers for the college football world, right off the bat this structure saw an imperfection. In the first season that this system was used in 2014, Ohio State was put in the playoffs over TCU who was ranked #3 in both the AP and Coach's polls. This was due to the fact that TCU lost to Baylor midway through the season, but won out the rest of the way. Because Baylor had a better conference record, Baylor wound up getting ranked higher than TCU in the CFP rankings. Eventually, Ohio State wound up winning the national title so some say the committee picked the right choice for the final playoff spot. However, there was still lots of controversy to this pick.

Ohio State won the first ever college football playoffs.
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

While the current system is better, it still has its weaknesses. What the committee needs to do is expand the amount of teams in the playoffs to possibly 6-8. That way, all of the Power 5 conference champion winners would get an automatic bid, just like in college basketball. Then have possibly 1-3 wildcard teams make it to the postseason as well. The 6 team playoff sounds promising, but there are faults to that system with just one wildcard. The 7 team playoff system could really work well, with the #1 team in the nation getting a bye in the first round, which would make teams want to play for that top regular season spot. However, that can still provide a defect since some would disagree who should be #1 at times.

Here's the system that would work the best for the college football playoffs. The conference champions of the Power 5 get an automatic bid, as explained from above (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC). Then, two non-conference champions also make the playoffs as voted by the committee. 

Head coach Jim Harbaugh and his Michigan Wolverines hope to make it to the playoffs.
Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Now here comes the real kicker. The best mid-major team gets the final playoff bid. Putting a team like Boise State or Western Michigan in the playoffs, could provide the underdog story that the college football world severely lacks. This is why everyone loves watching the college basketball tournament in March because you never know who could win. If college football had that Cinderella story, it would be a breath of fresh air that college football fans would necessitate. 

The only other undefeated team in the nation other than Alabama, Western Michigan, would be able to play for title under new playoff theory.
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

If the NCAA invoked this system into play, you would never see a college football fan, or even non-fan, complain about the damaged postseason anymore. Every team in the nation would then have a shot to win the national title, even the smaller schools. This why the NFL is the most watched sport in the country. Fans love seeing their team getting a chance to win it all, since with the now 8 division system, most of the teams have a shot to get to the postseason. Plus, the NCAA would get more money by adding more playoff teams and more games with sponsorship revenue. This can only help and not hurt college football. The NCAA is almost there, but they just need to twinge things to the above system. Then, everything would fall into place and 95% of the controversy would end.