Tyler Booker made an appearance on “The Next Round” YouTube show this past Monday and was asked the hard question. Does Alabama even want to play in the SEC Championship game? Booker’s answer would make Nick Saban smile as Booker pointed out the first concern for the Crimson Tide would be Oklahoma, before going on about how the values of Alabama Football made them want to compete for the SEC Championship no matter what was going on around it.
Booker’s answer was predictable. Let’s be real: who wants to stand up and say it isn’t worth it to win the SEC title? There would be condemnation and college football punditry would have ripped him apart, despite there being a legitimate argument about whether Alabama would benefit more from a week of rest headed into the playoffs.
It will be the subject of a lot of debate in the coming weeks. Alabama isn’t the only team in the country that will be hearing questions about the wisdom of missing the conference championship in favor of rest ahead of the playoffs. Ultimately, the current format and its power four heavy inclusion benefits multi-loss P4 teams. Only Notre Dame doesn’t have to worry about the benefits of a conference title.
What does it matter if you went 10-2 in the regular season if you’re rewarded with an extra week of rest while the 12-0 team has to play an extra game, risking injury and a loss that could knock you out of the playoffs?
Look at the logic behind not including Florida State last year. A quarterback injury was enough to logic them out of the playoffs despite an ACC Championship win. The expanded playoff format is supposed to keep that from happening. But in a hypothetical situation where Oregon had played Nebraska instead of Ohio State and lacked a marquee win headed into the BIG 10 Championship, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that with the wrong injury, the Ducks could be left out of the playoffs with a loss despite going 13-1.
The only teams for whom a conference championship is a real requirement at this point are the non-P4 conference representatives. For Boise State, Tulane, or, Army, which has consistently played weaker competition, an extra game against the top opponent in their conference makes some sense. It raises the RPI of those teams and helps get a better eye test of those squads.
But even with that consideration, it still seems unfair to make an undefeated team play extra games while teams with more losses get extra rest. The group of five teams is limited by the league around them and, when given the opportunity to deliver against P4 teams, will. SMU’s undefeated run through ACC play has shown it.
So what is the answer? College Football purists will tell you getting rid of conference championship games weakens the game, but there is a reason the NFL doesn’t have division championships.
The current format is designed to benefit teams based on the eye test and strength of schedule and is no different than the Four-team Playoff, the BCS Championship, or just having sports writers vote on a champion. Parity is growing in College Football and while the teams playing tougher schedules should be rewarded it’s time to start rewarding actually winning as well. College Football’s main problem is trying to be profitable and placing the best brand names in the playoffs instead of rewarding the challenge of winning week in and week out.
A college football playoff format that benefits putting your nose to the ground and winning every week benefits guys like Tyler Booker who want to play the game the right way. There is pride in winning your conference. There is pride in hanging that banner. It’s time to actually reward winning in College Football.