silliest college football playoffs yet

As a staunch (and possibly lone) defender of the old BCS system in college football, I'm here to say this year's playoff is an absolute mess. Messier than anything the computers ever gave us. This all could've been solved by the BCS, or, at worst, a 4-team playoff.

Let's start in the Big 10. We have a perfect situation. Ohio State vs. Indiana. Both undefeated. Number 1 vs. Number 2. This would've had so much drama if the winner goes to the national championship, loser goes to the Rose Bowl. The Big 10 championship game would function as a national seminfinal.

But what's at stake now? Both teams are making the playoffs. Loser shouldn't fall out of the Top 4. Still gets a bye. And still has to win three more games! Ohio State vs. Indiana isn't even a quarterfinals matchup. Honestly, it's more like an exhibition game where nothing's really at stake, at least from a national title standpoint. Should you rest guys for the playoffs? Reserve any top secret 4th down plays in case you see them again?

And what a setup; the Top 3 teams in the conference (Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon) have played each other a grand total of one time (Indiana defeating Oregon). This is the wacky world of conference realignment. It’s what happens when the Big 10 has 18 teams.

SEC has an even messier situation. Four teams finished with one loss in conference (Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M). Three teams (Texas, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt) finished with two losses. And one finished without a coach (Ole Miss. More on that in a second).

Alabama is 10-2, won the SEC, but if they lose the SEC championship, do they drop out of the Playoffs? They'd have three losses. And if they get in at three losses, don't you have to put in Texas, too? Especially since:

1. Texas beat Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt

2. They have Manning royalty at quarterback...

Six, maybe seven (!) teams from the SEC could make the 12-team playoff. We've even got the chairman of the committee doing the 6-7 dance.

Now look, I've got a healthy Midwestern skepticism of the SEC, but honestly, this is not an argument about whether these 6 or 7 teams are among the best teams in America. My complaint is this: What was the point of the regular season? Narrow 16 teams into a top seven?

And why stop there? Tennessee has four losses, but those are to Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt. We can use the classic SEC fan argument: Well, what if Indiana had a brutal SEC schedule?

A brutal SEC schedule… that's not the same for every team in the SEC. Somehow, the 11-1 Aggies dodged Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt. How is that even possible? It's like when you meet someone my age who never got into Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Marvel movies.

I get it. This is the wacky world of conference realignment. Sixteen teams in the SEC. Eighteen in the Big 10. Schedule disparities will happen. But why can't we do something like the NBA Cup, where, after eight conference games, the top eight teams in those conferences go into a conference tournament?

Call it the "Eight after Eight." Play at the top-seeded teams’ home stadiums for the first two rounds, then the championship game is at the neutral SEC or Big 10 championship site. Those would be three really exciting weeks of regular season college football.

Last thing on the SEC, we gotta talk about Ole Miss. Should they drop in the standings since Lane Kiffin is gone? Florida State fans are pointing at the TV like that DiCaprio Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meme. If their 13-0 team was left out because of an injury, shouldn't the same logic apply to a $90 million missing coach? And what about the inverse, if not having Lane Kiffin knocks a team down the rankings, could having Lane Kiffin move a team up? Maybe 7-5 LSU is back in the hunt!

Also, what an analogy delivered by Scott Van Pelt:

"This is a divorce. And the analogy I’d make is this: If you are leaving me for one of our neighbors who I hate, but you tell me you want to stay through Christmas for the kids – I’m telling you to take your ass on down the road and we’ll figure out Christmas with who’s here,” Van Pelt said while talking to Rece Davis.

Alright, moving over to the ACC. This is a one-bid league, but that one team (Miami) didn't make the conference championship. We now have a real possibility that 7-5 Duke, as in basketball school Duke, who lost to another basketball school, UCONN, could make the football playoffs. And the Selection Committee seems determined to still put Miami in largely because Miami beat Notre Dame.

And you gotta put Notre Dame in because, well, they lost two close ones to Texas A&M and Miami. Their two ranked wins are against USC and Navy. That's it. But that somehow keeps them ahead of...

BYU. The Cougars are 11-1 with ranked wins over No. 15 Utah and No. 22 Arizona. They've beaten teams just outside of the Top 25 like Iowa State and TCU. And could finish the season with two losses to Texas Tech, a Top-5, possibly Top-3 team. If Notre Dame is picked over BYU, the formerly independent Cougars have to ask themselves: What was the point of joining a conference? The Fighting Irish have it made!

And the Big 12 is being treated like the BYU of Power 4 conferences. Look at this:

• The SEC has seven teams in the Top 15, therefore, six or seven get into the playoff

• Big 10 has three, therefore, all three get in

• ACC has one, therefore... two get in

• Big 12 has three, therefore... one gets in

Doesn't make any sense. Beyond the three in the Top 15 argument, this is a conference with 10 bowl-eligible teams. Eight teams with eight or more wins. But unless BYU wins the conference championship, the Big 12 will only send one representative, aka as many teams as the American Athletic Conference. (And even if BYU wins, I could see a scenario where they screw over a 2-loss Texas Tech team in favor of the 3-loss Texas Longhorns).

Last but not least, the one part I do really like about the 12-team field: the autobid for a Cinderella team. Bummer that it's a true road game at the No. 5 team in the country's house, but nevertheless, at least we get one team in there. My only suggestion would be to shave off a few conference games and install another tournament. I was going to say just make this a 4-team field, but since it's called the "Group of 5," I think you gotta go with eight. And then I'd make Notre Dame have to play in this group, too.

This year, the field would be:

1. Notre Dame (Independent)

2. North Texas or Tulane (The American)

3. UCONN (Independent)

4. Mountain West Champ (Boise St., New Mexico, SDSU, or UNLV)

5. James Madison (Sun Belt)

6. Western Michigan (MAC)

7. Conference USA Champ (Jacksonville State or Kennesaw State)

8. Wild Card. This year I'd go with USF. They beat Boise State and won at Florida

First round played at home fields. Then the Final Four, feels like something that would be held in Vegas. Winner makes the field of 12. Some years, those last two games could be two ranked wins to propel the G5 champ higher up the polls. And if putting Notre Dame in here defeats the purpose of guaranteeing a Cinderella, easy adjustment. Make it a 6-team tourney (only G5). Top two get byes. Easy peasy.

I'm realizing now that my "simple" solution to the college football playoff is adding at least three new in-season playoffs. But at least we'd be using the regular season to build up to something special.

Which goes back to my original point, let’s just bring back the BCS. Apply it to this year, we'd be heading into this weekend with this scenario:

• Ohio State vs. Indiana = Winner is in

• Alabama vs. Georgia

  • If Georgia wins, they're in.

  • If Alabama wins...

• Texas Tech vs. BYU

  • If Texas Tech wins and Alabama loses, Tech is in because they have 1-loss

  • If BYU wins... controlled chaos breaks loose and we wait on the computers to decide between BYU, Ohio State/Indiana, or Alabama/Georgia

Is that really any messier than what we've got right now? Determining a top two from six teams rather than a top 12 from what... 20 teams?

During the BCS era, I think we were all still a little freaked out by computer rankings. It was like QR codes or roundabouts; it felt futuristic, intimidating, and vaguely European. But now all you gotta do is throw some AI jargon on it. These two teams have been selected by generative AI models, Nvidia-approved, using 10,000,000 simulations. Put that AI jargon out there, and we'll all nod our heads.

Let's simplify the college football playoff. Because right now, it's just plain silly.