College football used to demand perfection from champions—but Ohio State proved sometimes the sport's best team loses a few games. Can CFB keep the vibes we love, about our sport, even as it changes?
I’ve been enjoying your newsletter, but one of your hyperlinks just sent me to bluesky again. You can’t send us to the pedo network without warning. Keep up the good work, although I won’t be seeing your stuff anymore.
When the CFP committee voted in late 2022 to expand the playoffs from 4 to 12 teams, I told everyone that would listen back then, that the regular season will no longer matter to many of the top schools. And this year I was proven correct... As a lifelong (50+ years) Buckeye fan, losing to UM used to be the end of the World... That is no longer the case, which is the way it should be. The ultimate goal for every OSU team should not be winning that last game in Nov against UM, it should be winning the last game on the CFB schedule, as it did on Monday night.
With 18 teams now playing in the B1G, going undefeated is a pipe dream.. what Oregon did this season was a shock to all that follow the sport. I know that it will never happen (money talks always), but I'd love to see the B1G eventually go to a full 12 game league schedule and do away with the Conference Championship game. I'd also like to see the annual game with UM be moved off the final week of the season... While it will always be a rivalry game, it is no longer any different than a game against Purdue or Indiana. But like the 12 game league schedule, moving this game will probably never happen in my lifetime... But a fan can always hold out hope😁
Expanding the playoffs made the regular season far better. For every game that means less than it used to there are 10 more that mean more than they used to. Most teams in the country used to have nothing real to play for after the first month of the season. Now there are far more teams with realistic playoff hopes far deeper into the season. I don't care if some 11-0 blue blood gets bored by its last game not having the same importance.
As a Michigan fan I do believe it was just magic that helped Michigan beat OSU - the magic of rivalry games. And that magic (and subsequent joy) doesn't go away just because OSU won the title. I think those rivalries are so ingrained, often from birth (my dad went to Michigan), that the rivalries still matter even if it doesn't keep a team from the title anymore. I've really loved the 12-team playoff. And as an Indiana alum and fan it was great to see my team in the playoff even if we did lose. What was also great? Seeing Indiana's inclusion vindicated over and over in the next 3 rounds after they were so vilified after their game. I mean for God's sake their only 2 losses were to the eventual title game competitors! And we beat Michigan!
One of the other things that makes college football unique is the outsized role played by people aged 18-20, people who are often just removed from high school and who have never, ever played on a stage as big as college. They've never played on a field where they weren't easily the best player. Now they've got to learn this incredibly complicated system and adapt to better competition, and it's no wonder if Notre Dame loses to Northern Illinois in week two. It's no wonder if Michigan loses a lot of games and then gets better at the end of the year. It's no wonder if teams seems unstoppable one week and can't find the end zone the next.
Football is complicated. A lot can go wrong. If enough things go wrong in 60 minutes, anyone can lose. The NFL shows this year after year. The '86 Bears lost a game somehow. The NFL is a league where you try to get enough things to go right in enough games to make the playoffs, and then you hope you hit your stride. That's the pros. For college to demand perfection when the pros do not was always a bad system. I like the new one much better, and I don't care what it does to rivalry games. If a rivalry game means less, that's made up for by dozens of games meaning more.
Losing to Michigan gave OSU the easier path because they skipped the B1G title game. 3rd place in your conference shouldn’t even get you in the dance. Regular Season and Conference need to matter.
"The NFL, the only American major pro sport whose season is realistically short enough to feature a perfect champion, has gone 50-plus years without one". 1972 Dolphins?
I’ve been enjoying your newsletter, but one of your hyperlinks just sent me to bluesky again. You can’t send us to the pedo network without warning. Keep up the good work, although I won’t be seeing your stuff anymore.
We’re all devastated by your departure.
When the CFP committee voted in late 2022 to expand the playoffs from 4 to 12 teams, I told everyone that would listen back then, that the regular season will no longer matter to many of the top schools. And this year I was proven correct... As a lifelong (50+ years) Buckeye fan, losing to UM used to be the end of the World... That is no longer the case, which is the way it should be. The ultimate goal for every OSU team should not be winning that last game in Nov against UM, it should be winning the last game on the CFB schedule, as it did on Monday night.
With 18 teams now playing in the B1G, going undefeated is a pipe dream.. what Oregon did this season was a shock to all that follow the sport. I know that it will never happen (money talks always), but I'd love to see the B1G eventually go to a full 12 game league schedule and do away with the Conference Championship game. I'd also like to see the annual game with UM be moved off the final week of the season... While it will always be a rivalry game, it is no longer any different than a game against Purdue or Indiana. But like the 12 game league schedule, moving this game will probably never happen in my lifetime... But a fan can always hold out hope😁
Expanding the playoffs made the regular season far better. For every game that means less than it used to there are 10 more that mean more than they used to. Most teams in the country used to have nothing real to play for after the first month of the season. Now there are far more teams with realistic playoff hopes far deeper into the season. I don't care if some 11-0 blue blood gets bored by its last game not having the same importance.
As a Michigan fan I do believe it was just magic that helped Michigan beat OSU - the magic of rivalry games. And that magic (and subsequent joy) doesn't go away just because OSU won the title. I think those rivalries are so ingrained, often from birth (my dad went to Michigan), that the rivalries still matter even if it doesn't keep a team from the title anymore. I've really loved the 12-team playoff. And as an Indiana alum and fan it was great to see my team in the playoff even if we did lose. What was also great? Seeing Indiana's inclusion vindicated over and over in the next 3 rounds after they were so vilified after their game. I mean for God's sake their only 2 losses were to the eventual title game competitors! And we beat Michigan!
One of the other things that makes college football unique is the outsized role played by people aged 18-20, people who are often just removed from high school and who have never, ever played on a stage as big as college. They've never played on a field where they weren't easily the best player. Now they've got to learn this incredibly complicated system and adapt to better competition, and it's no wonder if Notre Dame loses to Northern Illinois in week two. It's no wonder if Michigan loses a lot of games and then gets better at the end of the year. It's no wonder if teams seems unstoppable one week and can't find the end zone the next.
Football is complicated. A lot can go wrong. If enough things go wrong in 60 minutes, anyone can lose. The NFL shows this year after year. The '86 Bears lost a game somehow. The NFL is a league where you try to get enough things to go right in enough games to make the playoffs, and then you hope you hit your stride. That's the pros. For college to demand perfection when the pros do not was always a bad system. I like the new one much better, and I don't care what it does to rivalry games. If a rivalry game means less, that's made up for by dozens of games meaning more.
Losing to Michigan gave OSU the easier path because they skipped the B1G title game. 3rd place in your conference shouldn’t even get you in the dance. Regular Season and Conference need to matter.
"The NFL, the only American major pro sport whose season is realistically short enough to feature a perfect champion, has gone 50-plus years without one". 1972 Dolphins?
Bryan - I hate to break it to you, but you are either really, really old or really, really bad at math. Perhaps both.
2025 - 1972 = 53