College Football Playoff Counterfactuals: Who would win after World War II?
By Zach Bigalke
A playoff in 1946 would help reset college football after the war
After fighting to preserve freedom, the table was set to fight for a more equitable college football world. Instead of leaving the process to the polls and debating the validity of national title claims, football could have taken a different direction. The opportunity was on the table to generate a postwar reset on college football.
While this did not come to fruition, the immediate postwar period was a time of rebuilding. Europe and Japan were reconstructed after the destruction wrought by World War II. Rebuilding could also have taken place at the NCAA level, had teams had the fortitude to challenge the organization.
The poll-and-bowl system that came to dominate college football was still just one decade old at this point. During the war, these systems became further entrenched. This happened even as the talent pool was diminished by conscription.
A total reset was on the table for college football. The sport could have rethought its attitude toward the postseason. Conference affiliation could either have been emphasized or deemphasized.
It was ultimately an opportunity lost for college football.
The significance of regionalism, the importance of conference affiliation, and the opportunity for independents all sat on the table. Then again, wrinkles are still being ironed out four years after the inauguration of the College Football Playoff. There is no guarantee that moving forward more quickly would have had any significant impact on the current quality of the playoff.
What teams lost, instead, was a chance to really prove their worth on the field. The bowl selection committees, of which there were 11 in 1946, did not always reward the top seasons in the country. In some cases this was due to agreements to host conference champions, as was the case with the Rose Bowl and its relationship with the PCC and the Big Nine.
In other cases, regional identity trumped hosting a major team. The Tangerine Bowl proved this by selecting Catawba and Maryville for its first-ever edition. Montana State and New Mexico (combined record: 10-8-2) played in the Harbor Bowl.
Bowls became entrenched in the football landscape at this point in time. The opportunity was there for the college game to go down a different path. The NCAA Tournament as well as the NIT were already beginning to take off in college basketball, and professional sports such as basketball and hockey began to introduce playoffs at the same time.