December 6, 2016 at 6:09 p.m.
Playoff theory misses target
Rays of Insight
“If a team didn’t win its conference, it shouldn’t be able to compete for a national championship.”
Some version of that argument has been spouted by lots of college football fans ever since Ohio State beat Michigan and it became clear the Buckeyes would be in the College Football Playoff despite not making the Big Ten championship game.
To that idea, I say, nonsense. And not just because I’m an OSU fan.
Actually, to be fair, the idea is not completely nonsense. It’s a perfectly valid opinion to have, though I disagree with it. (After all, isn’t it possible that the best two teams, or even the best three or four, play in the same league?)
But the idea that a squad shouldn’t be able to compete for the national championship because it didn’t win its conference is an argument we hear only in college football. And that’s my problem.
Some version of that argument has been spouted by lots of college football fans ever since Ohio State beat Michigan and it became clear the Buckeyes would be in the College Football Playoff despite not making the Big Ten championship game.
To that idea, I say, nonsense. And not just because I’m an OSU fan.
Actually, to be fair, the idea is not completely nonsense. It’s a perfectly valid opinion to have, though I disagree with it. (After all, isn’t it possible that the best two teams, or even the best three or four, play in the same league?)
But the idea that a squad shouldn’t be able to compete for the national championship because it didn’t win its conference is an argument we hear only in college football. And that’s my problem.
Each March, 68 teams take part in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Do you know how many of them are conference champions?
Thirty-two.
And yet, I’ve never heard a single sports fan argue that those other 36 teams shouldn’t be allowed in the tournament. No one ever says the second (or third, four or fifth) team from the Atlantic Coast Conference shouldn’t be allowed to play for the national championship.
Just last season, Syracuse made it all the way to the Final Four. Do you know what place the Orange finished in the ACC?
Tenth.
But no one ever argues that the NCAA Tournament, widely considered one of the best events in all of sports, should be limited to conference champions only.
The same can be said for virtually any other sport.
In the NFL, six wild card teams — non-division winners — have won the Super Bowl. Five of those have come in the last 20 years, with the most recent being the Green Bay Packers in 2010.
And yet, we never hear anyone suggest that those Packers, or John Elway’s 1997 Denver Broncos and Eli Manning’s 2007 New York Giants, should not have been able to play for the Super Bowl because they did not win their division.
How about Major League Baseball?
Six wild card teams have won the World Series in the last 20 years, including three in a row from 2002 through ’04. I don’t recall anyone arguing that the 2004 champions — the Boston Red Sox — should not have been allowed to end their 86-year championship drought because they did not win their division.
And I’m sure no Indiana University men’s basketball fan is interested in giving up claim to the 1940 national championship — the Hoosiers finished second in the Big Ten behind Purdue that year.
Let’s circle back to college football, the NAIA variety.
The University of St. Francis, where Jay County High School graduate Eric Hemmelgarn plays, finished second in the Mid-States Football Association’s Mideast League this year. They trailed only Marian, a team that finished the regular season undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country.
But St. Francis made the playoffs, beating Missouri Valley, Morningside and Reinhardt to reach the Dec. 17 national championship game.
Should Hemmelgarn and the Cougars not have been allowed in the tournament?
Sports fans talk all the time about getting better throughout the year and peaking at tournament time. We value teams that learn and get better.
So, rather than arguing that a team should not be able to win the national championship because it didn’t win its conference, instead advocate for a better playoff. How about an eight-teamer in which each of the “Power 5” conference champions get automatic berths and a committee chooses three more at-large participants?
Such a system could have resulted in the following first-round games: SEC champion Alabama vs. at-large Wisconsin; at-large Ohio State vs. Big 12 champion Oklahoma; ACC champion Clemson vs. at-large Michigan; Pac-12 champion Washington vs. Big 10 champion Penn State.
Fans are certainly free to continue to believe a team shouldn’t be allowed to play of the national title unless they win their conference. But if they do so, they should be more consistent with that theory.
Otherwise, their argument is like a last-second field goal attempt that clangs off the upright: almost effective, but ultimately not a winner.
Thirty-two.
And yet, I’ve never heard a single sports fan argue that those other 36 teams shouldn’t be allowed in the tournament. No one ever says the second (or third, four or fifth) team from the Atlantic Coast Conference shouldn’t be allowed to play for the national championship.
Just last season, Syracuse made it all the way to the Final Four. Do you know what place the Orange finished in the ACC?
Tenth.
But no one ever argues that the NCAA Tournament, widely considered one of the best events in all of sports, should be limited to conference champions only.
The same can be said for virtually any other sport.
In the NFL, six wild card teams — non-division winners — have won the Super Bowl. Five of those have come in the last 20 years, with the most recent being the Green Bay Packers in 2010.
And yet, we never hear anyone suggest that those Packers, or John Elway’s 1997 Denver Broncos and Eli Manning’s 2007 New York Giants, should not have been able to play for the Super Bowl because they did not win their division.
How about Major League Baseball?
Six wild card teams have won the World Series in the last 20 years, including three in a row from 2002 through ’04. I don’t recall anyone arguing that the 2004 champions — the Boston Red Sox — should not have been allowed to end their 86-year championship drought because they did not win their division.
And I’m sure no Indiana University men’s basketball fan is interested in giving up claim to the 1940 national championship — the Hoosiers finished second in the Big Ten behind Purdue that year.
Let’s circle back to college football, the NAIA variety.
The University of St. Francis, where Jay County High School graduate Eric Hemmelgarn plays, finished second in the Mid-States Football Association’s Mideast League this year. They trailed only Marian, a team that finished the regular season undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country.
But St. Francis made the playoffs, beating Missouri Valley, Morningside and Reinhardt to reach the Dec. 17 national championship game.
Should Hemmelgarn and the Cougars not have been allowed in the tournament?
Sports fans talk all the time about getting better throughout the year and peaking at tournament time. We value teams that learn and get better.
So, rather than arguing that a team should not be able to win the national championship because it didn’t win its conference, instead advocate for a better playoff. How about an eight-teamer in which each of the “Power 5” conference champions get automatic berths and a committee chooses three more at-large participants?
Such a system could have resulted in the following first-round games: SEC champion Alabama vs. at-large Wisconsin; at-large Ohio State vs. Big 12 champion Oklahoma; ACC champion Clemson vs. at-large Michigan; Pac-12 champion Washington vs. Big 10 champion Penn State.
Fans are certainly free to continue to believe a team shouldn’t be allowed to play of the national title unless they win their conference. But if they do so, they should be more consistent with that theory.
Otherwise, their argument is like a last-second field goal attempt that clangs off the upright: almost effective, but ultimately not a winner.
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD