Blitz Podcast: National Championship Narratives Involve More than Just College Football Playoff

This week’s podcast looks at this year’s College Football Playoff picture and includes an interview with Saturday Blitz’s new site co-expert Chris Peterson.

Technical issues have kept the Saturday Blitz Podcast sidelined over the past few weeks. Since we last took to the air, the College Football Playoff selection committee has started to release its weekly rankings of the top 25 teams around the country.

Few surprises have emerged so far, with the usual suspects occupying the top four positions that offer passage to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Talking about national championship narratives drives our discussion this week on the podcast. With John still away until next week, we begin with a look at where the College Football Playoff stands as just one of a baker’s dozen of selectors recognized by the NCAA.

Peeling back the curtain on the devil’s bargain that schools won at the Supreme Court back in 1984 allows us to observe how decoupling TV rights from the NCAA and removing the institution’s future control over the national championship only served to muddy the waters further.

That fact is why UCF was able to legitimately claim a national championship after their perfect 2017 season, and why another Group of Five school could have a chance to do the same this year.

After the first break, the Saturday Blitz Podcast welcomes on Chris Peterson. Joining Connor Muldowney as a co-expert for Saturday Blitz, we get to know Peterson better through a look not just at his history as a writer and editor but also his story of a life spent as a college football fan.

Following the second break, we return to look at the latest batch of College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday night. What did the committee get right, what did they get wrong, and what leaves everyone scratching their heads?

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The Saturday Blitz Podcast goes live every Wednesday morning. You can reach John Mitchell at @jlmitchell93 and Zach Bigalke at @zbigalke on Twitter.