Brad Cesmat
Why should the Nation care about the results of a title game in college football, when the NFL playoffs are in full swing? The CFP title-game should NEVER be played in the second week of January. The Playoff is a good(not great) idea, but stretching out the season is not. Anything after New Years Day, should have an NFL logo on it, not the CFP.
The “quality” of the NFL Wild Card Weekend games can be debated for sure. Outside of the Packers game for about a half, the others three match ups did nothing for me. Thank goodness for the DVR. I was able to zip through bad backup quarterbacking, poor officiating(see Lions at Seattle), and less than inspiring play, in record speed. Anyone who thinks round one of the NFL playoffs was quality football, is getting their check with the League shield stamped on it. However, the two college semi-final games didn’t move the needle for me either. The two best games I’ve watched in 2017 took place in Pasadena and Tampa.
So what to do? Play the two College semi-finals on the Saturday before Christmas and the title game on New Years Eve. The Rose Bowl is the GrandDaddy, while these games in the CFP just feel like….well…games. Yes, Monday night had an amazing finish, but the first two-and-a-half quarters were anything but special. Alabama punted the ball 10 times, the most by the program since 2007. The two teams had their punters on the field for a combined 19 boots(woof).
After two rounds of this CFP format, I am wondering if there’s a Need for expansion of the playoff. We saw that Ohio State and Washington weren’t legitimate contenders for a national title. No other team showed that they were close to being on the same field as the Tigers or Crimson Tide. Of course, fans will disagree, because…well..they are fans. But c’mon. No one was close to the two teams in the title game. As one plugged-in college football observer pointed out to me, “the three games are for programming purposes.”
A great finish doesn’t equal a great game.
