Are the best two teams playing in the super bowl?

I’ve always preferred college football to the NFL. Teams always seemed to take chances in order to earn points in the eyes of voters. I understand that this may take away from the strategy necessary to win a game in some cases, but it gives the game a level of excitement that is not present in a more conservative gameplan.

That being said, I’ve come away from many seasons with a sense of disappointment at the way the national champion was decided. Not this season, mind you – I’m very happy my Gators pulled it off but in many other seasons, I’ve been less than excited.

I was hopeful when the BCS was instituted, and in my opinion it has done a better job of choosing a champion than the previous system. My problem with the BCS is that it seems to have ruined the bowl season. What I remember as one or two days of great football has become almost two weeks of mostly inconsequential games named after greedy corporations.

So, like many others I have been spouting off at the mouth about how college football needs a playoff of some kind. I’ve been a big proponent of a “plus one” system. When Barack Obama started talking about it, I was thrilled. Not because I want my president to worry about such trivialities, but because I was glad to hear that someone of his intelligence (and sports fan status) would agree with me.

But now I have to wonder if I am on the right side of the debate. Are we headed in the wrong direction? If we can stick to the current system I think things will be okay, but can we do that? Will a plus-one system simply lead to more controversy? If it does, will that not eventually lead to a full-blown playoff system? and is that what we want?

I’m not sure. If there were a playoff system, I think I would be disappointed. First, one of the things I like most about college football, playing for “style points,” will not be as significant a factor. Second, we may end up with a definitive yet mediocre champion. I did not think much about this until I read this piece in which the author makes a very strong argument that the playoff system in the NFL simply doesn’t work. Someone at SI raises the same issue. I’d argue that is even the case in other professional sports.

On the other hand, maybe it’s the process we enjoy anyway. Who doesn’t love the NCAA basketball tournament? One of the things I like best about March Madness is that anything can happen, yet that’s what I like least about the NFL playoffs.

I guess I really have no idea what I want now.