The Long-Awaited Revolution of College Playoffs

How college football has changed the playo system and the SECAlex Stewart The Santa Clara September 28, 2017

After a while, the world gets tired of see- ing the same sports teams contending for a championship. Whether it be the Patriots and Tom Brady, the Warriors and Steph Curry or Alabama and Nick Saban, sometimes the rest of the world needs to see their teams raise that famed trophy. With regards to Nick Saban and Alabama, the College Football Playo is exactly what the rest of the world needed.Before the CFP system was put in place, it was a no brainer where the four or ve star recruits were going to go: somewhere in the southeastern conference. That’s where Nick Saban, Les Miles, Urban Meyer and the rest of the famous college football coaches resided. From 2006, the SEC raised the champion- ship trophy a record eight times in the last 11 years, a record no other conference has even approached in that timespan. Thanks to the CFP, however, all that was about to change.To attract famed recruits and build a winning team, your program has to have a chance at a championship which requires a great coach. With the CFP, generally, the winners of the four biggest conferences (SEC, PAC-12, ACC, BIG 10) get a slot in the playo . Now, with more paths to the trophy than just through the SEC, big time coaches such as Urban Meyer, Chris Peterson, Jim Harbaugh and Lincoln Riley have revitalized programs in the other major conferences such as Ohio State (BIG 10), Washington (PAC-12), Michigan (BIG 10) and Oklahoma (BIG 12). These revitalized programs attract a level of talent never before seen in these confer- ences in the modern era. Jake Browning (Washington), Justin Herbert (Oregon), Sam Darnold (USC) and Josh Rosen (UCLA) are all big time quarterbacks that chose the PAC- 12 over the SEC. Now all the four or five star recruits don’t have to wait a couple years to play at a SEC school, and can instead, as first years or sophomores make a run at greatness with other teams across the nation.

All of this change results in huge hits to the SEC not only in the talent of their recruits and coaches, but in their rankings in the AP poll as well. Four weeks into the new season there are only two SEC teams [No. 1 Alabama, and No. 7 Georgia] in the top 10. This won’t change anytime soon because three out of the four other candidates to be a top 10 team from the SEC su ered major losses. These include then No. 22 Florida’s (SEC) loss to then No. 7 Michigan (BIG 10), then No. 13 Auburn’s (SEC) loss to then No. 3 Clemson (ACC) and then No. 12 LSU’s (SEC) loss to then unranked Mississippi St. (SEC). Current No. 7 Georgia (SEC) has games against now No. 24 Mississippi St (SEC), No. 21 Florida (SEC) and current No. 13 Auburn (SEC) that could ruin their chances as well. Now that the playing eld has changed, the results speak for themselves.In the first three years of the CFP, three different conferences have won the championship (BIG 10, SEC, ACC). The viewership for the playoff gets higher every year as the nation adjusts to the new system. With another exciting college football season just four weeks in, we can all sit on the edge of our seats knowing there are teams all around the nation, in each of the Power Five conferences, with a significant shot at hoisting that famed trophy. Football is here at last, and no matter if you root for the Bruins or the Crimson Tide, we can agree that that this new playoff system results in better competition and a greater level of entertainment for us all.

Contact Alex Stewart at astewart@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.