Saving College Football (+CFP Bracket)

Alright alright alright. We can all put our phones down, and stop the delusions that the College Football Playoffs have created this year. No more false narratives from 2 and 3 loss teams who create fantasies on why they should be in. No more lying to ourselves. The official and 100% flaw-free College Football Playoff Bracket for 2025 is here.

Thank god for the omnipotent CFP selection committee and their totally accurate and never wrong opinions. Seriously, what would we do if we didn't have a group of 13 all-knowing volunteers to determine the 12 best college football teams to compete in an evenly matched bracket for the National Championship. I couldn't think of a better way to crown the champion in the second most watched sport in America.

College Football is the only multi-billion dollar company in the world that is run by volunteers. As much as I love socialism and the gone but not forgotten regime of the USSR, we have to be smarter than this. History has proven that this system of trusting a small group of people to carry the best interest of the country in making massive decisions doesn't prove successful. Corruption is inevitable.

I'm not going to suggest such a thing, but I also don't want to give even the slightest bit of opportunity for corruption to find its way into College Football. Especially when there are logical alternatives to letting a handful of senior citizens decide.

I am not proposing anything that has not been proposed before. I am simply reiterating what many have been suggesting for years: a system that features play-in games to determine playoff participants. This makes conference championship week 100x more relevant, and removes the chance for anyone to claim their 2 and 3 loss teams got 'screwed out of the playoffs'.

In a nutshell, we will replace debates with head-to-head matchups in a wild card style weekend. Here are some examples of games we should see with this proposed system:

Miami vs. Notre Dame

BYU vs. Texas

Tulane vs. James Madison

Miami vs. Notre Dame

This one is a no brainer. I've heard many claims from both sides to why one is better than the other. Miami beat Notre Dame is the best claim for obvious reasons. Winning by 3 points by way of a last minute 47 yard field goal isn't the most definitive victory. But nevertheless, a win is a win.

When you take a deeper look you'll see this was the first game for Notre Dame's sophomore quarterback who finished the season strong. Notre Dame the next week played against the 7 seed 1 loss SEC 'powerhouse' Texas A&M and lost by one with 13 seconds left. Notre Dame has much better wins and losses compared to Miami.

Here's the thing, why have the debate? Why have the discussions? Put down the twitter fingers, pick up the remote, and tune into your favorite 18-22 year olds battle it out.

BYU vs. Texas

This one is tricky. I think we unanimously agree that you cannot punish teams for having a hard schedule. In addition, you also deserve to have a chance to make the playoffs without a conference championship. With that being said, BYU and Texas both had plenty opportunity to prove themselves in the regular season. At times, they did.

BYU defeated 2 ranked teams (Arizona and Utah) and (brutally) lost to a highly talented Texas Tech. A resume that isn't the prettiest, but not far off from teams like Miami (1 ranked win 2 unranked losses), Alabama (2 ranked wins 2 ranked loss + 1 embarrassing loss) , and Oklahoma (2 ranked wins 2 ranked losses). All who found their way in.

Texas is known for having the most talked about resume. They have 3 impressive ranked wins over Texas A&M (7), Oklahoma (8), and Vanderbilt (14). They also have 3 loses, which in theory is enough to send Matthew McConaughey home. However, their losses include at Ohio State (2), Georgia (3), and one bad loss at Florida.

Once again, why have the debate? Why punish a team for having an extremely hard schedule? We respect Texas for going to Columbus Ohio the first game after their National Championship with a new quarterback. Why punish them for losing to 2 of the best 3 teams in the country? I get why you'd not let in a 3 loss team, but "it'd be a lot cooler if you did"

Tulane vs. James Madison

This one is controversial. Everyone has spent all week dunking on the little guys. To be honest, I'm not a fan of it. As a graduate from the only group of 5 school to make it to the final four (University of Cincinnati), I'm here to say this: knock it off. These "small schools" have just as much love for the game as everyone else. You think because your school has more rich alumni that you deserve a better chance to win it all? Well, you're right.

Unfortunately, we glorify our group of 5 guys in college football. What happened to Cincinnati that year is all but forgotten because Alabama reminded the world there's levels to this. This isn't basketball where you see David upsetting the Goliath every year.

The best group of 5 schools are all auditioning to get a chance to leave as soon as possible. All 3 group of 5 schools who are ranked have coaches that will be leaving for a power 5 school. Therefore, there should be one spot in this playoff and it should be the winner of the group of 5 bowl.

Parlor Sports official prediction for the 2025 CFP

In conclusion, we need to knock it off with all of this communism in college football and let the decisions be made on the field. Are you really opposed to seeing these play in games? Notre Dame at Miami would potentially be the best game of the year. You don't think BYU or Texas would love a chance to put their money where their mouth is? And having the group of 5 compete in a group of 5 championship gives purpose to the beloved small schools. Look i'm not the commissioner for good reason. But this does seem like an obvious fix to the age old idiotic debates. Get those old socialist off the committee, and let the 19-22 year olds decide their fate!