[Husker] RE: playoffs

[Schammel, Wayne P]

One quick comment on the playoff string of notes.  I just wanted to
point out that we already have a playoff; it is just that 2 teams are
invited using a very imperfect system to chose those teams.  This is
compared to the 16 teams chosen in all other College divisions.
Increasing the field to 4 or 8 is the thing to do in my opinion.  The
system will not be perfect but it will be closer.  The argument that if
you invite 4 then the 5th place team will be miffed and if you invite 8,
then the 9th place team will be mad doesn't hold any water for me since,
if you are not ranked in the top 4 or 8, you shouldn't be given the
opportunity to play for the title anyway.  On the other hand, if you are
11-1 and only lost to the consensus #1 team on their home field by 3 pts
and you are not given an opportunity, you do have a beef (although I
personally was pleased that Florida was chosen :)) .  

College football is the only sport I know that does not have some sort
of tournament that ends the season and it is definitely time to change
that and get away from the mostly political solution we have now.  You
can argue that a tournament does not determine the best team and that is
correct but not necessarily the goal of the tournament.  The process of
a tournament or playoff is the goal (it's the journey not the
destination).  If this is not true, then maybe we should stop playing
World Series and Super Bowls because the best team does not always win.


Wayne