James Franklin suggests a fix to one of College Football Playoff's problems

USA Today

4 days ago

James Franklin suggests a fix to one of College Football Playoff's problems
Penn State head coach James Franklin has always had thoughts and opinions on the current state of college football. With the talks about the future direction and decisions being made with the College Football Playoff, it is no surprise Franklin has voiced some concerns about where the postseason is heading. Talks of possible expansion and comments from rival coaches like Ohio State's Ryan Day about how many teams from the Big Ten should be in the playoff have not gone unnoticed by Franklin. And he once again has shared his concern about how the whole operation conducts itself.
"It's funny, because I think there's all these complaints about the BCS, but then we go to this, and I think it goes back to really, my answer is, the problem is, everybody voting and everybody involved in the process whether you want to be biased or not, we all are biased," Franklin said in a recent offseason press conference. "I think in a lot of ways, you could make the argument a formula could be better. But we didn't love the formula. So we went to this other system."
Judging by his comments, Franklin is prepared to stump for the return of the old BCS formula to eliminate as much of the potential bias as possible in the selection process for the College Football Playoff. And he is fair to point out this concern, and he is not alone in that line of thinking.
The BCS was created with the intent of guaranteeing a. true national champion in college football, a sport where a matchup of the top two teams in the rankings was not guaranteed at the end of the season due to bowl partnerships. Penn State is well aware of the flaws of the old style with championship-caliber seasons ultimately going unrewarded in the history books. The BCS was not a perfect system, but it ultimately did more to improve the championship issue than not. The College Football Playoff was the natural progression in college football's postseason format, but the move to the playoff removed the BCS-style formula from the picture. It replaced the BCS computer rankings with a selection committee, a decision that was questioned from the beginning by some.
The selection committee is tasked with being as well-educated on all of the developments in the sport on the field throughout the season at all levels, from the Big Ten and SEC to the Sun Belt Conference and MAC. But even with that responsibility, Franklin echoes the concerns that even that is not necessarily enough to ensure a break from any bias in the process.
"In my mind, a formula makes the most sense because it takes the bias out that we all have," Franklin said.
At this point, the removal of the selection committee in favor of a return to a BCS-style formula is highly unlikely. The College Football Playoff's broadcast partner, ESPN, has invested far too much into the product and has created weekly appointment watching in late fall with the weekly selection committee rankings show as part of the package. Removing the selection committee drama and debates would not be in ESPN's interest from a ratings perspective.
And perhaps that is the larger concern with the current state of college football.
Penn State is coming off its first College Football Playoff appearance in the playoff era. The Nittany Lions reached the semifinal round after a home victory over SMU in the first round and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Boise State in the quarterfinal round. The College Football Playoff has already adjusted how the seeding will be done in the playoff beginning next season by rewarding the top four seeds of a first-round bye regardless if they are conference champion or not. Under the updated seeding procedure, Penn State would have had a first-round bye in the 2024-25 College Football Playoff.
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