I didn’t watch last week’s Fiesta Bowl in its entirety. I did, however, watch the last 15 minutes. That thrilling ending was enough to point to one conclusion: college football needs a playoff system.
I had actually tuned in a bit earlier in the game, when Boise State had built up an 18-point lead. Assuming that things were wrapped up, I changed the channel. The next time I flipped back to check the score, Oklahoma had the lead 35-28 with only one minute and three seconds left in regulation. The luck of the underdog appeared to have run out, but a perfectly executed “hook and ladder” on fourth-and-18 extended the game into overtime.
Something I love about college ball is the overtime scenario. Both teams get a crack at scoring, starting at the opposing 25 yard line. If the first team scores, the second team must match that score in order to continue the series, or beat the score in order to win the game. I like this scenario a lot better that the NFL rules. In professional football, the first team to score wins the game, placing an enormous amount of importance on something as small as a coin toss.
Oklahoma played offense first, and scored immediately on an Adrian Peterson run. Boise State coach Chris Peterson appeared to have given up on a conventional victory, opting instead to empty out all the tricks in his playbook. Faced with another fourth down, Coach Peterson called a direct snap to the wide receiver, who rolled out to the right and completed a touchdown pass. The play he called, the “Statue of Liberty,” is almost never seen outside of playgrounds and videogames, but like everything else in the fairy tale game, it worked to perfection. Quarterback Zabransky acted as if he would pass with his right hand but instead handed Johnson the ball behind his back with his left. Ian Johnson,the running back who sauntered into the endzone for the win, proceeded to ask his girlfriend, Boise State’s head cheerleader, to marry him on national television.
This game had everything, didn’t it? My understanding is that Disney is working on a screenplay as we speak.
There was just one thing missing: a game against Florida to determine the best team in college football. I won’t repeat all of the arguments we’ve heard in favor of a playoff system over and over again. But the fact remains that BSU was the only Division One team to finish the season undefeated. And yet, in a recent AP Poll after the Sugar Bowl, they were ranked #5. Maybe BSU were the best team this season, and maybe they weren’t. But they deserved the chance to prove themselves one way or another.
There won’t be any changes until Fox’s four-year $320 million TV deal ends with the 2010 bowls, and even then the most that is currently being discussed is a plus-one model which would create a four-team playoff.
While an improvement, this simply isn’t going to be good enough, particularly with a field of teams this large. If fans want a full NFL-style playoff format, now is the time, before 2010, for them to make their voices heard. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl is all the evidence you need.
