Normally I don’t think government and sports should mix, but in the current college playoff system, including mostly public schools, it may be time.
College football has always been controversial in the way it chooses its national champion. Because teams don’t all play each other it has depended on the eye test. Which school does a committee or coaches think would win if they played.
As that system left no one satisfied, several tweaks have been made to determine a national champion on the field. It started with the top two teams playing each other, but there were complaints about who the top two were. To fix the issue the NCAA went to a four-team playoff which still left everyone fighting about the fifth team. Finally, it was decided to go to a 12-team playoff.
But here we are again, still relying on the eye test. Currently sitting right outside the playoffs is BYU, a one loss Big 12 school. In front of it are three two loss teams. Why are the three two loss teams ahead of a one loss team, the eye test.
The committee has determined that if BYU played those teams the two loss teams would win. The committee feels that the fifth place team with two losses is more deserving than a second Big 12 School.
Is that true? We can’t know. That is why there is a playoff. I am the first to say the SEC is a stronger conference than the Big 12, but I will not agree that the fifth place SEC team is automatically better than a one loss Big 12 team (whose only loss was to the number five ranked team).
As for government, if this is just about a championship then I would say stay out, but its much bigger than that. It’s about money.
Last year each team that made the playoff received $4 million just for the first round. They received another $4 million for the next round then $6 million for the next two rounds. The conferences received $300,000 for each team.
If the playoffs happened right now, the SEC would receive $1,500,000, the Big 10 $900,000 while the ACC and Big 12 only $300,000. Notre Dame, a two-loss team and the only private college, would receive $700,000 because they are independent.
In 1890 congress passed The Sherman Antitrust Act. The law was created to curb monopolies, ensure a fair market and promote free and fair competition. When a committee decides that one power conference receives $1,200,000 more than another because it values its two loss teams more, it may be time for the courts to get involved.
I know this could all change before the end of the season. But if it does not, Sherman may need to be applied.
