The Gould Standard: `Reversal of Fortune Saturday' Puts Pressure on Big Box Committee
Here’s a sentence I never thought I would write: Indiana is in good shape for the College Football Playoff, while Alabama and Ole Miss are shaky.
Some experts think the Hoosiers’ 38-15 margin of defeat weakens their case as the fourth Big Ten team in the inaugural Big Box 12-team playoff. To which I say, If The Committee actually watches games, which it claims to do, it will see that Indiana gifted 14 points to the Buckeyes with punt-team gaffes.
Not that previously unbeaten IU was going to remain unbeaten. But it was very competitive, especially when you factor in that one-loss Ohio State was at home, and feeling that its back was to the playoff wall.
Barring something ridiculous against hapless Purdue this week, Indiana is a lock in my mind, along with Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State. My favorite part about that: Let’s see what the Hoosiers do in a playoff game against an SEC stalwart like Georgia or Tennessee. Or Penn State or Notre Dame, for that matter.
In case you haven’t noticed, this 12-team playoff was designed to favor the ruling-class Big Ten and SEC. And it was doing its job really well until the Crimson Tide laid an egg at Oklahoma, and Ole Miss couldn’t get out of its own way at Florida.
For years, it was the SEC that worked the four-team playoff to best advantage, while the Big Ten tended to do the self-destructing. So—there’s that reversal of fortune.
But that’s what happens when Alabama and Oklahoma play a conference game.
My friend and colleague Tony Barnhart gave an excellent rundown here of what to expect once we hear The Committee’s thoughts for this week.
Tony’s most interesting comment: ``If the SEC only gets three teams and the Big Ten gets four, it will hasten the day that we get to a 16-team playoff, which could happen as early as 2026.’’
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I absolutely agree. Not only would a 16-team playoff take the worry out of mega-conference powers cannabalizing their playoff prospects. It will create more lucrative playoff games. And it will allow the mega-conferences to schedule additional lucrative regular-season armageddon matchups without costing them playoff spots.
And then the moaning about the inequity of it all will come from different corners of the college football world.
It appears that I’m the only skeptic when it comes to games on-campus in mid-December.
The rest of the world has no problem abandoning neutral-site games in good weather conditions that reward alleged ``student-athletes’’ with bowl trips to attractive destinations and keep the playing level to determine who’s better.
Oh, and by the way, good luck when you’re trying to watch playoff games on December 20 and 21 while attending holiday parties.
And one last thought. Remember the days of yesterday when the Big Eight, Southwest, Big East, Pac-10, ACC, Big Ten and SEC all were college football conferences?
How interesting would it be if they were all still around, sending their champions to a playoff along with an at-large like Notre Dame or a ``lesser conference’’ champion? And playing their playoff games in New Year’s Day bowls, the way Bobby Bowden, Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes intended?
And now, I’ll hang up and listen. . . to the arguing about The Committee.
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Editor's Note: If there's a sports-history buff on your holiday shopping list, check out ``The Run Don't Count,'' Herb's historical novel about the 1908 Cubs and the dramatic season that opened the door to the soaring popularity of spectator sports in America. Narrated by the team batboy, it's attractive for younger readers as well as veteran sports watchers. Reviews and sales available at Amazon Books.
