The system is broken, and I’m not sure there is a way to fix it
A few months back on a local sports radio show, the question was posed to me about what I thought of the Big 10 reversing decision and deciding to play football.
I took in a long, deep breath and let loose with about 10 solid minutes of my thoughts. Key amongst them was the lone fact and only reason I saw behind the Big 10’s reversal: they had to get Ohio State into the playoffs.
Roughly three months later, the plot worked. Ohio State, who only played six games, two on the road and beat exactly two teams with winning records, is the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
Another quick note about the Buckeyes. Because Ohio State only played five regular season games, the conference had to convene a special meeting and vote to change the rule allowing Ohio State to even play in the title game.
But of course, there was never any doubt that the conference that mocked the others for playing during COVID-19 would do everything in its power to ensure its flagship football program reached the playoffs.
And the playoff committee allowed all of it to happen, while praising the Buckeyes the whole way.
When college football scrapped the BCS for the current four-team playoff system to determine the national champion, pundits praised the idea and talked about how it would allow all sorts of teams to now have a chance to win the national title.
In reality, the playoff has become a big snob party allowing a handful of teams to compete for the national title while making sure that certain conferences and any team not in a power five conference has almost no chance of sneaking in.