The College Football Playoff has been around for just one season, and Alabama head coach Nick Saban is already not happy about where we are heading. In Saban’s mind, the playoff takes away from the rest of the bowl structure.
“I learned what I feared the most would happen,” Saban said in a story published by Al.com. “All the attention, all the interest would be about the four teams in the playoffs, which is exactly what happened, which was great to be a part of.”
He’s not off the mark with this comment at all. From the start of the season to the final games, the conversation pushed on a regular basis was about the four teams that would be in the playoff, thanks in no small part to the constant cramming down the forced debate of which four teams deserved to be in if the playoff started today, even after one or two weeks of games was played. Of course, this was all brand new to everyone following college football, and we can hope that year two of the new format sees a step back from the constant need to name the top four playoff teams in the middle of September by the masses.
“But what I was most fearful of is college football is unique,” Saban explained. “A lot of young men get a lot of positive self gratification from being able to go to a bowl game and that’s always been a special thing. That by having a playoff we would minimize the interest in other bowl games, which I think is sort of what happened and I hate to see that for college football.”
Saban’s point holds some merit, but the bowl system is still largely in place just as it has always been. There is no more harm to going to the Outback Bowl and winning now than there was four years ago or 10 years ago. Many teams can still have a successful season by ending it with a bowl victory in any bowl game. Those games still exist just for that reason (and money). And how different is it now compared to what it used to be? The BCS system still had high-profile games and a championship game, and the bowl system still survived. Even before the BCS, most of the hype of the bowl season would center on the game or games involving the top-ranked teams.
Sure, some things have changed, and Saban is right that winning the Sugar Bowl may not have the same special feeling it once did. The bottom line is there will likely never be a perfect college football postseason format that is universally accepted. That is the way it has always been and always will be moving forward.