Colton's Corner: College football does not need playoff

My worries about the soul of college football began when both Texas and Oklahoma announced their move to the SEC.

Then my worries were exacerbated when both USC and UCLA made the decision to move from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten Conference.

Then the Pac-12 died as multiple schools jumped ship.

These illogical realignment moves have destroyed a near 100-year conference in the hopes of chasing dollar signs, which won’t be seen by the athletes who make it possible, and are moves that have seemingly changed college football for the worse.

Then the College Football Playoff Committee had topped it all.

This past weekend’s Conference Championship Weekend was thrown into chaos as Alabama upset Georgia while Texas defeated Oklahoma State and Florida State defeated Louisville sending the Playoff Committee into an unfavorable spot.

While everyone made their opinions heard on who would nab the spot, to me the decision was an easy one.

Texas (12-1) was a conference champion who defeated Alabama (12-1) in non-conference play while Florida State remained undefeated (130).

While critics point out the injury to Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis made the Seminoles a different team, Ohio State was on their third string quarterback when they made the playoff in 2014.

So in my opinion it was a no brain-er. #1 Michigan, #2 Washington, #3 Texas and #4 Florida State.

Except that’s not what happened.

Alabama got the nod over Florida State for the #4 seed as for the first time in the playoff era a Power 5 team that had an undefeated record was left out.

Then to twist the dagger even further, the playoff committee added Liberty to the Fiesta Bowl who had an undefeated record despite having one of the weakest schedules in the FBS excluding both SMU and Troy.

If realignment didn’t further my case on how college football is broken, this decision sealed it.

To tell a team their 13-0 record wasn’t good enough while a 12-1 team gets the nod just tells everyone that the regular season does not matter.

To dump the weight of the world on Travis as the scapegoat to why Florida State isn’t in the playoff, then witness him have to apologize on his social media account that, “I wished I had broken my leg sooner” is disgusting.

It finally made me finally realize that the College Football Playoff is nothing more than a scam.

Which is why we need to move away from the playoffs.

College Football has and will never need a playoff to determine a champion.

While the sport evolved for the better in some aspects of the game, the need for a playoff was not one.

College Football was built on one simple fact. Playing in the fall against your hated rivals to win your conference championship. That’s it. No playoff, no national championship, nothing.

All we have done is let power hungry TV executives continue to ruin the sport we hold dearest to for giant sums of money that neither the fans or the players will ever see.

That is not what College Football is all about.

So enjoy the 2023 season as much as you can.

Because as the college football landscape continues to change, we are moving closer to a sport we will no longer recognize.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc