The College Football Playoff (CFP) is far and away an improvement above and beyond the BCS era, and before that, the Bowl Coalition, and even before that, the Bowl Alliance. For the last three seasons, the final, top three rankings were rather obvious and even the debates about who would get the final slot, and who would be number five on the outside looking in, were short-lived.
The one problem which remains that kind of taints the whole process is perception. We all saw that take place in the ACC Championship. Either Clemson is scary good, or Miami was riding a high-ranking due to perceptions only.
Conversely, Ohio State's road loss may look bad on paper, but Iowa is a better team than their 7-5 record.
The CFP debate will continue every year as to which university should be awarded the coveted fourth and final slot. It seems that in 2017, the selection committee and their perceptions helped to make the final decisions when the numbers and records reviewed equaled just a bunch of parity.
All six bowls of the CFP will be high drama
There is a reason why the college football playoff is not just about the semi-finals. There were teams of yesteryear who got the short end of the stick bowl-wise after suffering a late-season loss. Anybody remember Kansas State ranked at No. 1 in 1997? Anybody remember Nebraska when they lost the Big 12 title game yet ended up playing for the BCS National Championship anyway?
How was K-State rewarded? They got stuck playing an unranked Purdue in the Fiesta Bowl marking an end to the fabulous Michael Bishop era despite their No. 4 ranking.
In present-day terms, No. 4 Alabama would face the second or third B1G bowl-eligible school because the bowls back then were all about contractual commitments and obligations.
That's why Ohio State made so many trips to the Fiesta Bowl, which will be quite refreshing this year.
The CFP has fixed all the inequities of the BCS era including ensuring that the other four bowl games have highly ranked, quality competition:
- No. 8 USC vs. No. 5 Ohio State in a de facto Rose of a Cotton Bowl should be quite epic. The universities have not been paired off in a big-time bowl since 1985.
- No. 11 Udub vs no. 9 Penn State in another de facto Rose of a Fiesta Bowl should be quite intriguing. The universities have never faced each other in the Rose Bowl, and haven't played since 1983 out of only two times ever. A streak of 2-0 belongs to PSU so there should be no lack of motivation for the Huskies.
- No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 10 Miami in the Orange Bowl should be quite insightful. There should be no lack of motivation for either school to use this high-profile setting as a propellant for next season after suffering disappointing losses.
- No. 12 UCF vs. No. 7 Auburn in the Peach Bowl should be quite telling. Who will be the more motivated out of the only undefeated school, or the school who was just there in Atlanta already?
Bullet number four in the previous list may not be the bowl match-up with the most pizazz, but it may be the most predictable.
The human condition elements already mentioned plus the coach's final game at UCF make for the most distractions of any team other than Alabama.
All bowl games matter
Which regular season matters more? Comparative analysis using the same baselines do not exactly mesh. The CBB season is three times as long as the CFB season, allowing for a margin of error. Any university qualifying for the tournament can win it all. Sub-par CFB performances can still win it all, marking a high-point of the year, just not the National Championship.
All the pomp, pageantry, activities, and an extra month of living the college football life make for a distinct experience. The weeks between the Scintillating 32 and the Sweet 16 vs.
an entire bowl week for any given university are just two, completely different platforms based on the respective school's regular season and how they got to a post-season. The bowl games matter and should be viewed as such.
