Column: College Football- The End of an Era

Early January is the prime time of the year for many college football fans. People across the nation only consider it a good season if their favorite team makes it to a BCS bowl game or the National Championship. Admittedly, those games are the only ones that have true meaning. Not many teams in the country strive to go 7-6 and proudly hold the trophy for the Little Caesar’s Bowl and say “we did it.”

Football is a way of life. Men learn the game as children and everyone wants to become the next big star. Recently, the NCAA passed a rule that will forever change the game as we know it. Whether it is for better or worse has yet to be determined.

On June 27, 2012, the NCAA approved a four-team playoff system. To the modern era of fans, this was outstanding news, but to the traditionalist, this could be a death sentence to the college football system.

Ultimately, this was a change that needed to be done. The current BCS system already erased the olden days and the addition of a playoff simply updates this era. In 1998, the modern BCS system was born. Even though the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl still existed, the adoption of the BCS system paved the way for less desirable bowl games.

Before the 1998 change, going to a bowl really meant something. If your team made it to any postseason play, you had a great year. Now, if you barely break even and defeat Western Kentucky, teams call it an outstanding season.

The playoff games will be between the best four teams in the nation. However, the BCS will still have its presence. Each year, the two games played will rotate as to what each one will be called. For example, one year you will have the Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl, and the next you may have the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. As far as the National Championship, NCAA officials are still deciding on an official name for the contest.

With the emergence of the playoff system, one can safely assume that the talk of three or four “super conferences” is quickly approaching reality. Having one representative from each conference would be a great way to have teams represented from across the country. However, that would not necessarily mean you would see the top four teams in the nation competing for the title.

As of now, the playoffs will run from 2014 to 2025. Fans can be sure to see plenty of changes to the system, but most of which will most likely take place in the first two and three years of its existence.

The addition of a playoff is an attempt to remind people of a truly “great season.” Many consider college sports as the training grounds for the pros, and sadly, that is essentially what they have become. A university, to a high profile athlete, is the gateway to millions of dollars, and not a first class education. However corrupt the system may be, fans do not pay thousands of dollars a year to ask what a player made in biology class.

Since these changes will not take effect until 2014, fans of the current system still have another year of SEC dominance before a new champion will possibly be crowned.