The College Football Playoff is broken, boring and inevitable

The College Football Playoff isn’t what we had hoped it would be and it’s taking away the excitement and wonder of the best sport in the country.

Do you remember? Can you put yourself on your couch on that first time the College Football Playoff rankings were released way back in 2014? Mississippi State was the No. 1 team in the nation on that evening. Florida State was No. 2. Auburn and Ole Miss rounded out the top four.

After what felt like way too long of a slog through the BCS days, with true football intellect playing second-fiddle to a computer, we were finally seeing something new, something exciting. At long last, the road to the national championship was wide open.

Ha. Oh, how naive we were.

From that first night until the present, 43 rankings have been released. Alabama has appeared in all 43. Clemson has appeared in 42. Oklahoma has appeared in 41. Sprinkle in Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Georgia and you’re almost guaranteed to have that majority of the Top 4 on any given Tuesday night in the fall.

So why then were we surprised to see an undefeated Cincinnati team that whipped No. 10, Notre Dame, in South Bend ranked No. 6, on the outside looking in. If it takes “chaos” to get the Bearcats a shot they most certainly deserve, then what are we doing here?

Alabama, which lost to a Texas A&M team that was relying on a backup quarterback who had struggled to produce any points whatsoever against the likes of Colorado and Mississippi State, is No. 2.  Had Alabama won that game, they would be no worse than No. 2. So, why play the games?

Should Alabama be a Top 4 team? Are they one of the “best” teams in the nation? Probably.

But if that’s what this system is — one that gives the benefit of the doubt to the big players and tells everyone else they have to be perfect, and even that won’t be enough most times — then what’s the point?

This isn’t what we signed up for.

And honestly, coming from someone who as a kid stood in a downpour in a muddy endzone watching his team get thumped for what felt like the billionth time just to meet one of his team’s favorite players as they walked into the locker room. From someone who has spent the better part of a decade covering this sport and has devoted more time than is probably reasonable to dissecting all of its quirks. From someone that thinks the pageantry and ridiculousness of this game are unparalleled. I’m bored.

So don’t hear this as a critique of the Committee’s interpretation of where a Group of 5 team should be ranked. Don’t hear this as a complaint that an Alabama team with the best players coached by the greatest coach in the sport’s history isn’t deserving. Hear this as someone who, from the bottom of my heart, loves this game, is tired of *throws hands in the air with exasperation* this.

We shouldn’t be coming up with a 10-step plan to get our favorite team into the Playoff in early November. We shouldn’t be having to debate whether or not an undefeated Oklahoma or an undefeated Wake Forest is “good enough” to warrant a shot at the highest trophy in this sport. What we should be doing is enjoying this goofy, ridiculous game where teams can become allergic to the endzone in nine overtimes and unsuspecting blue bloods can fall on any given Saturday.

And right now, the College Football Playoff is making that really hard to do.

Perhaps there is salvation coming. Maybe a 12-team model will solve all of these complaints, maybe not. As beleaguered as I am, I know I’m going to stick around and keep watching. I always have. Even if I know in my gut the results aren’t going to change. Maybe someday they will. Today, it’s broken. And speaking as a fan of college football of all forms, that really stinks.