THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410090138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Saturdays in the fall remind me why the notion of a college football playoff is such a bad idea.
I've never liked the idea of a big-time college football tournament. I've never understood the need, or noticed a great demand for it from anyone who didn't expect to make money from the idea.
My position on this is hardening, even as we inch closer to the inevitable. There is something now called a bowl coalition, a mechanism that defies easy understanding.
The coalition is the advance man for a playoff. As such, it should be feared.
In its desire to be like every other sport, college football is willing to sacrifice its most precious asset - its regular season.
There is, in fact, nothing regular about the games played in September, October and November. Because teams take the field only 11 times, each outing is a jewel to the alumni and boosters. To the faithful, each game represents something that games in other sports do not.
When Virginia Tech went to Syracuse a week ago, the Hokies treated the game as if it were everything.
The loss left Tech's players and coaches feeling empty and bewildered. They believed they had blown an opportunity - however remote - for the national championship.
That's the beauty of college football. The sense that each week can make or break a season is what's missing from other games and from pro football.
Take the emotion and anxiety Virginia Tech felt going into the Syracuse game and multiply it by dozens and dozens of teams on dozens of campuses and you have the essence of every college Saturday autumn afternoon.
Lasting impressions are formed each week during the football season, as imperfect pollsters grade and rate each team, boosting or deflating morale in college towns all over the continent.
Because impressions made in September or October can follow a team to the very end of the season, there are no unimportant losses or hollow victories.
No other sport works quite this way.
Last night, Florida State and Miami met under what can only be described as playoff conditions. The sense of anticipation - of each team believing that it absolutely had to win - could not have been stronger had it been a post-season game.
In college football, the regular season takes the form of a tournament.
It is best we leave it that way. Even with all its flaws, including the moldy bowl system, college football can claim a specialness other games cannot.
The weekly rankings, even with all their obvious prejudices, are good for the game. That the polls often infuriate more people than they delight is a fine thing for a sport whose vitality depends on healthy debate.
A tournament for college football is almost redundant. Incorporated into every season is a string of games that have a do-or-die feel.
Still to come this year are Penn State vs. Michigan, Nebraska vs. Colorado, Florida State vs. Notre Dame, Florida State vs. Florida.
The introduction of a playoff will water down these weekly armageddons. With teams jockeying for one of eight playoff spots, reaching No. 1 in the polls will not be what it is today. When that happens, must-win games will diminish. So will excitement.
The playoffs cannot be stopped. They will arrive one day because people have a greater appreciation for money than for the quirky nature and treasured traditions of college football.
Then we will be left with one more game that looks like all the rest.
Instead of mimicking basketball or the NFL, college football should be celebrating its differences. by CNB