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College football has evolved quite a bit since the Misery Index came into existence a decade ago, but one thing about this sport hasn’t changed: The bigger the stakes, the bigger the misery.
Is that still going to be the case next year and beyond?
We ask that question as the 2023 regular season concludes because, 12 months from now, the sport is going to look very different. The expanded 12-team playoff is going to be better in some ways, but it’s also going to rob college football of something that can’t ever be replicated again.
At the end of Michigan’s 30-24 win over Ohio State on Saturday, the enormity of the result was clear. Michigan was headed to the Big Ten championship game and likely the four-team CFP, while Ohio State’s entire year of work to prepare for this moment was ruined. One side leaves in elation, the other in devastation because there is usually no second chance. You have to live with the result for the next 364 days.
That’s what has separated college football from the NFL for decades, and it’s been a beautiful thing − even if your team is the one that suffers for it. There is no option but to care deeply about every single result.
Michigan fans cheer during the first half of their team’s game against Ohio State at Michigan Stadium.
But next year in a 12-team playoff world? It won’t be the same. It can’t be the same. Sure, Michigan and Ohio State will always have a great rivalry, but it’s impossible to have the same intensity from players, from fans and from those who just enjoy the spectacle when everyone knows that they’re both getting into a playoff bracket no matter what happens on the field.
The desperation Ohio State fans are feeling right now and the anger at head coach Ryan Day only happens because there’s no second chance. Because as good as their team has been all…
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Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2023-11-26 12:12:31
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