At what point do we as a society wake up and take stock of what this attitude has and will continue to cost us?
I have a feeling you turned 35 at 15
A 24/32 team playoff has downsides, sure. Bowls become even more meaningless than they already are and maybe even obsolete.
That sucks.
But, there’s upsides too.
1. Illinois. Yes, that Illinois. Would have made the playoffs two years ago. The level of joy I would personally have by watching Illinois football play in the playoffs, even if we got smoke by 20, would dwarf every bowl game since the Rose Bowl.
2. And it’s not just Illinois. 40-50 teams each year will have a realistic shot of making the playoffs. That adds significance and meaning to an extra hundred regular season games.
3. Is Texas vs Ohio St as valuable? Not quite. Because it doesn’t impact whether or not they’ll make the playoffs. But, at least they’ll continue to play the game! As it stands now, the incentive to play big games like that has been eroded because there’s too much risk in a loss.
4. It’ll add parity to college football. The more teams that have a realistic shot of making the playoffs, the more teams that are able to recruit based on that. You don’t have to go to Ohio State to play in the playoffs, kids.
Again, there are downsides. It’s not perfect. But I think there are enough upsides to justify it.