A Look Back on College Football - The SEC…Still the Best on the Block

I’m always a little down after the college football championship game is over because that means no more college football until September. This was the case on Monday night after I witnessed LSU win it’s 3rd national championship by defeating Ohio State who had just lost it’s 2nd straight national championship game. Oh yeah, both teams Ohio State lost to, Florida and LSU, were from the SEC.

The SEC has proved yet again it is hands down, top to bottom the best conference in the country when it comes to college football. Consider the following points when comparing the SEC to the other 5 BCS conferences for 2007:

-The SEC sent the most teams to bowl games (9)
-The SEC had the highest winning percentage in bowl games (78%)
-The SEC sent 2 teams to BCS bowls (winning both)
-The SEC won back-to-back national championships (Florida last year, LSU this year)
-Since the inception of the BCS, the SEC has won the most national championships (4)

This season, we learned that not only is the SEC the best football conference but we also learned that the season would be better if we had some sort of playoff system in place. I know when I say “we” I may not be talking about everyone because clearly not everyone shares my opinion about this topic. However, there are many that do.

Think about how crazy this country goes for 2 weeks in March when the college basketball playoffs commence. I know comparing the current basketball playoff system with 64 teams to a possible football playoff system with 6-8 teams isn’t exactly apples to apples but you get the point I am trying to make. For instance, I would love to see if USC could take down LSU. Or who would win if Georgia and West Virginia squared off. Or if Kansas could win it all.

I know there is little chance the NCAA will ever move to any playoff format for college football because the sponsor money from the bowls (especially the BCS bowls) is just too lucrative. But to me, that is a lame excuse. If Div. I-AA, Div. II and Div. III college football can have a playoff system, Div. I should be able to follow suit. There has got to be a way that the bowls can even be working into a playoff format. I’m sure with all the mighty brain power the NCAA has at their disposal that they can make it work. They problem is they don’t want to make it work.

The BCS system is better than the way the national champion was crowned before 1998. Before 1998, voters decided the best team in the country instead of letting things be decided on the field. However, a playoff system is ultimately the best way to crown the best team in the country. Hopefully, the NCAA will get it’s act together sometime in the future and make a playoff system work. Until then, there will be teams left out of the national championship which could actually be the best team in the country.