Thank goodness an expanded 12-team playoff starts this season because, more than any other sport, college football needs a fresh batch of contenders to eradicate its staleness.
It’s no guarantee that eight additional playoff spots will change the narrative of the same programs — mostly from a behemoth Southeastern Conference that just got stronger by cherry-picking Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 — dominating the national landscape.
Georgia and head coach Kirby Smart were barely squeezed out of the CFP last year, denying the Bulldogs a chance to become a three-peat national champion. In Nick Saban’s final season at Alabama, the Crimson Tide was one defensive stop against Michigan away from playing for its fourth national title in nine years.
After Kirby Smart and his Georgia Bulldogs barely missed the rarefied air of a national championship threepeat, you have to wonder if college football overall benefits by seeing the same programs contending year after year.
Mentor-mentee relationship: Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Brian Thomas Jr. can lean on veterans Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis
Over the last decade, a 4-team CFP format only exacerbated a way-too-predictable postseason storyline. College football went through eight consecutive years of either ‘Bama, Georgia or Clemson being in the national championship game.
Not that college basketball is a valid comparison because a lot more schools have the resources to compete on that Final Four stage. But at least March Madness offers variety, not the same old script.
In the last 10 basketball Final Fours, 28 different schools got there and only three programs (North Carolina, Villanova and UConn) made three appearances.
Over a decade of college football sending four teams to its playoff, only 15 schools made a national semifinal and six programs — Clemson, ‘Bama,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/gene-frenette-maybe-expanded-12-012538851.html
Author : The Florida Times-Union
Publish date : 2024-08-02 01:25:38
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
