Originally Posted by
indio
I'm a big college football fan but let me put a different perspective on the Top 4. I DON'T CARE. Why? Because the NCAA is a fraud, and there is no such thing as a National Champion in college football. There never has been, and until they come up with at least an 8 team playoff with some results oriented criteria, there never will be. When you believe that a system is fraudulent before the season starts, you don't worry about the results week to week, or even the end result because if you truly hold to your ideals, it is meaningless. Just because a bunch of paid corporate mouthpieces tells you so and so is a "National Champion" or just because a bunch of shills keep telling you every week how important it is, you don't have to go along with it.
I was a kid in the 70's, wondering why there was always an AP "National Champion" and a UPI "National Champion"? I mean, look at 1975 or 1977, or 1978, even 1979 and it's just laughable. It was as silly to me as Eusebio Pedroza being the WBA Featherweight "Champion of the World" and the great Salvador Sanchez (WBC Champ) not even being ranked in the Top 10 by the WBA.
I mean, after we all got insulted in the 1990's by the NCAA and their greedy "old money" masters, whose corporate commitments and delusional self-importence robbed us of some great finales, and giving us duel national champions (while those "co-champions" always refer to themselves as "National Champions" like a bad wrestling script from the AWA/NWA/WWF days) we as a fan base should of put our foot down. It was like investing hours watching a great movie, or days reading a great book, and then having the last 10 minutes or last chapter removed.
While 1990 gave us two "National Champions', 1991 not only gave us two national champions, but robbed us of seeing two undefeated teams, who were arguably two of the best teams ever, from playing each other. Miami vs, Washington would have been a game for the ages, but now, it's nothing more than each team claiming themselves the 1991 "National Champions" as if the other one never existed. We were robbed of seeing undefeated Penn State play undefeated Nebraska in 1994, We were robbed of seeing undefeated Michigan play undefeated Nebraska in 1997. But the people making money didn't care.
The fans began demanding a playoff, so the NCAA gave you the BCS. This charade wasn't much of an improvement, but you were told it was "the answer" so fans went along with it. 2003 gave you a BCS title game with a team that had just lost it's conference championship by 4 touchdowns, and even though LSU won the BCS Championship and with it, the "National Championship", USC fans still call themselves the 2003 champs because the AP decided to vote them as such, BCS be damned. 2004 gave you a great undefeated SEC champion with Auburn, and a gritty undefeated Utah team led by Urban Myer, and neither one of them even got a chance to play for the "National Championship". So after 15 years of the BCS (and the television contracts that go with it), public demand wanted more, and we got the 4 team playoff. It only took 1 year to expose this as the fraud most of us knew it was. The worst part is the creation of a "selection committee", as if the teams are being chosen by great wise men (and woman) from Mt. Olympus itself. This, along with the now multitude hours a week of television punditry and promotion of this "playoff" is insulting to anyone with an IQ over 85. There is nothing more annoying than some moron saying "they got it right" because Ohio State happened to win the 2 playoff games last year. Doesn't seem to bother them one bit that TCU destroyed beloved SEC member Ole Miss in their bowl after getting left at the curb. While a rational person wants to know how getting soundly beaten at home to an unranked Viginia Tech team vs losing by a last second field goal on the road due to a controversial call vs. a Top 10 team doesn't seem to matter, those of us who know who the exalted committee really wanted aren't that surprised. Heck, it doesn't even matter who is "better", because this is sports, and it's supposed to be about earning the right to play for something, and maybe beating someone who's better than you to win something.
I'll still enjoy watching college football games, I'm still intrigued by watching games between great teams (heck, I'm even intrigued by games between any teams), and I'll always put my own betting lines on them, and look to bet on games I find value in. And I'll enjoy the simple pleasure of watching a good college football game just for that alone, and If I happen to have a little action going, I'll enjoy that aspect as well. But as far as who they want to call "National Champions', and as far as who they want to declare the "Top 4 " teams, I'm sorry, but I don't care. If they want to ever have a real playoff system (along with every other collegiate and pro league from every other sport), then I'll start to care.