March Madness... every year, thousands across the country tune in to check out their favorite college teams in the largest and most prestigious tournament in college basketball. One by one, round by round they dwindle their numbers down until only one remains... and that college is granted the honor of being named National Champion. Not two colleges... just one, hence the idea of a Champion, which is to be the best and not "one of" the best. Now, we look at how successful both athletically and financially this format is, not to mention how satisfying it is for the multitude of fans nationwide who can clearly make the claim that their school is the best for that year. So my question is... why can't the NCAA apply this same format... meaning the same layout, setups, sub-conferences and such... to college football? Every year, we are accosted with the same group of teams who go undefeated year after year after year, and go on to whichever Bowl game is chosen to host the National Championship. And in some cases, teams that remain unbeaten are NOT named Champion. In some cases, fans of college football have to settle for two teams splitting the championship between them, rather than simply playing each other for it, as we see in college basketball. Year after year this idea is brought up before the NCAA, and year after year they shoot it down, claiming their little popularity contest works just fine. Why not the same format as you have for basketball? Why not give everyone a clear, decise winner? Why not go the extra mile and give EVERYONE an equal opportunity at the National Championship? Sure, it's easier to say that Nebraska or whoever is "the best in college football" but how can you say that if they've never played an eligible team from the middle of Wyoming or something, who has an undefeated record, and was kept out of consideration because their name isn't Ohio State or USC? College basketball has proven for years upon years that their method is effective and extremely popular... so why is college football still a big popularity contest? The National Football League (NFL) has a playoff system, and has done fine for forty years with it. The National Basketball Association has a playoff system, and has done fine for a number of years as well. "America's Favorite Pastime" Major League Baseball has a playoff system, and has done fine for decades upon decades. And yet, here we have NCAA football... lagging so far behind everyone else it can't even see which way to evolve next... March Madness is about more than just basketball... it's about the madness of college football not following its example.
