Another football season, another year with the conference championships and playoffs being dominated by just 4 teams.
Alabama - 5 of 7 SEC Championships + they made the playoff in one of the years that they didn't win the SEC Title for a total of 6 playoff appearances
Oklahoma - 6 of 7 Big 12 Championships and 4 playoff appearances
Clemson - 6 of 7 Big 12 Championships and 6 playoff appearances
Ohio State - 5 of 7 Big 10 Championships and 4 playoff appearances
In 4 of the 5 major conferences, those same four teams have won 79% of the conference championships.
And those same four teams have received 71% of the playoff appearances. With Notre Dame making it this year, they are the only other team that has received multiple bids, and clearly their inclusion this year is questionable.
And it as some point it becomes a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. Those schools keep making the playoff and using that fact to recruit elite players, which in turn allows them to win their conferences and again make the playoff. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but I'm not sure how the cycle is gets broken. LSU and Georgia managed to do it for one year with Alabama. There is nobody in the ACC Big 12 or Big Ten that looks like a threat to unseat the other three however.
To me, the ONLY solution is to expand the playoff. Maybe those same 4 teams end up making the semifinals every year and its just Clemson vs Bama for another five years for the championship. But seeing the same four programs year after year is not good for college football in the long run.
Alabama - 5 of 7 SEC Championships + they made the playoff in one of the years that they didn't win the SEC Title for a total of 6 playoff appearances
Oklahoma - 6 of 7 Big 12 Championships and 4 playoff appearances
Clemson - 6 of 7 Big 12 Championships and 6 playoff appearances
Ohio State - 5 of 7 Big 10 Championships and 4 playoff appearances
In 4 of the 5 major conferences, those same four teams have won 79% of the conference championships.
And those same four teams have received 71% of the playoff appearances. With Notre Dame making it this year, they are the only other team that has received multiple bids, and clearly their inclusion this year is questionable.
And it as some point it becomes a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. Those schools keep making the playoff and using that fact to recruit elite players, which in turn allows them to win their conferences and again make the playoff. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but I'm not sure how the cycle is gets broken. LSU and Georgia managed to do it for one year with Alabama. There is nobody in the ACC Big 12 or Big Ten that looks like a threat to unseat the other three however.
To me, the ONLY solution is to expand the playoff. Maybe those same 4 teams end up making the semifinals every year and its just Clemson vs Bama for another five years for the championship. But seeing the same four programs year after year is not good for college football in the long run.
