How many of you actually expected the 2024 College Football Playoffs to hit a home run the first time out?
No, seriously.
A lot has been made with the first-round matchup pitting Indiana vs. Notre Dame, where the Fighting Irish pulled out a deceitfully close 27-17 win over the Hoosiers.
OK, I get the Hoosiers were outclassed and outmatched in every phase of the game, until the final couple of minutes or so when the Irish likely began substituting freely, with victory in hand.
And sure, there may have been teams more worthy of getting a spot in the 12-team playoffs. Some names mentioned: Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina, among others. I guess even Iowa State could have been in the conversation, outclassed as they were by Arizona State. A lot was mentioned about Indiana’s strength of schedule, where the lion’s share of victories came over sub-.500 teams, all teams staying home for the holidays.
The same, by the way, could be said about the other three first-round matchups, which were also one-sided: Ohio State over Texas, Penn State over Southern Methodist University (SMU) and, probably the most competitive of them, Texas over Clemson.
Someone made an excellent point about these post-season tournaments where teams have to be invited: What about other sports that have elimination tournaments or series, such as the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, or baseball’s race to the World Series?
Even with defined criteria, such as having to win a conference championship, when you put two teams on the field, sometimes you’ll get a one-sided game. That’s just how it is.
But this is Year 1 of what fans have been clamoring for for years – a true playoff post-season. It’s trial and error as the ever-elusive goal of finding the correct “12 best teams†and inviting them to the playoffs.
Along the way, there invariably will be mistakes in who should or should not have been invited, and one-sided games will result. But I suppose there would be those gross mismatches even if the matchup is a true 1-vs.-2, such as, in the championship game, as we’ve witnessed before. The 2023 CFP championship, where Georgia destroyed TCU 65-7, is an example.
There are a couple of good things that can result. No. 1, the team that got the “lucky berth†– in this case, Indiana – gets a taste of what it’s like to be in the playoffs and what needs to be done during the off-season and 2025 season to get better and perhaps redeem themselves next year.
No. 2, to those teams that got left on the outside looking in – i.e., Alabama – they will work to make sure they leave no doubt they’ve earned their opportunity to be part of the 2025 College Football Playoffs.
Let’s give this 12-team CFP experiment a chance to work and let it play out like it will.
The blowouts will always be there. But so will good games and those that will truly define who is the best of the best.
* * *
Anyone who gave someone the proverbial “coal†in the stocking for Christmas is a Scrooge in my humble opinion.
I am really starting to dislike the song “Nuttin’ for Christmas.†That’s the song where a naughty little boy has an empty stocking and gets (literally) nothing for Christmas because of a long list of misdeeds, some minor some a huge deal.
I get that there has to be a way to hold people accountable for such things as making people eat bugs or using a penny slug to buy gum. And there are, quite honestly, offenses that do deserve to get people put on a permanent “naughty†list.
But when people get “Nuttin’ for Christmas,†it’s usually or things far less serious than that.
It’s to “comfort†the non-gift giver when he/she has a grudge against the victim and to be a bully, nothing more.
The holidays are a time to set aside petty grudges, not talk about emotional topics such as politics, finances, etc. and so forth, and just enjoy time with the family and so forth. It should not mean cancelling Christmas and New Year’s because whatever topic gets brought up will lead to a high-decibel argument that would make Archie and the Meathead blush.
If that’s too much to ask, then maybe it is indeed best to stay away.
My post-Christmas wish is this: For everyone to get along in the new year, and to constructively work out disagreements and such, or – when appropriate – just simply agree to disagree. (As it is never good to just “agree to disagree†when it comes to such things as bigotry and racism, something that should be called out immediately.)
I also hope for prosperity, good health, tidings and wishes to come for everybody in 2025.
Let’s be good to each other.
Celebrate safely and we’ll see you in 2025.
