Actually, it means nothing to me, and never really has. To me, it’s just another day. In the past, I looked forward to watching some bits and pieces of parades, then settled in for a long day of football. Now, even the bowl schedule is all screwed up, with this intense desire of TV Sports to “crown a National Champion.” And that serves what purpose? Nothing except to increase viewership of a particular bowl each year, and increase the money going to the athletic departments of the two schools involved.
Some (many) advocate a playoff system as the only way to truly determine a champion. Both Division II and Division III of the NCAA have playoffs. Can you name this year’s champions?
Even that system has its limitations. My oldest son played for Cornell College (Div III) and his team was 10-0 his freshman year. They were ranked #4 in the nation. They didn’t go to the playoffs because another team in their geographic area was rated higher than they were. A bit of a farce. If they hadn’t had a playoff system, Cornell would have finished the season as the #4 team in Division III that year. Wouldn’t that be preferable to missing out entirely?
The BCS system was set up to account for both human intuition and computer analysis. This year, Oklahoma is ranked #1, even though they lost their conference championship. Is that right? Or, would it be better to have co-champions, as it was in the past when the UPI and AP each ranked the teams, and selected different #1s?
College football has already grown beyond anything else in college sports. Each team used to be limited to 10 games a year. Many of them now play 12, not counting bowls. Most players are ready for the season to end. It takes a huge toll on them physically. But don’t be surprised if they soon end up playing a schedule made up only of conference games followed by playoffs. What a boost in revenue. But it will be a loss to college fans when USC never plays Notre Dame, and Florida State never plays Miami unless they meet in the playoffs.