Playoff model has fatal flaw

By Brian Bailey
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The debate rages on.

A team has to win convincingly in order to move up in the polls unless the team plays a higher-ranked opponent, and then any victory will move the needle upward.

East Carolina is a tough spot as the new College Football Playoff rankings come into play. The idea is to run the table and hopefully be the highest rated of the "Group of Five" and play in a major bowl.

Strength of schedule will factor into this equation. National rankings play in. Unfortunately for ECU, some of the team's marquee wins have turned out to be not so marquee.

Both Virginia Tech and North Carolina are in the midst of down seasons. South Carolina is also struggling and that may turn out to be a "bad" loss for the Pirates.

Do you ever wonder why there are very few one-loss and even fewer unbeaten teams in college football?

It's because everything is so even in the sport. It doesn't matter which teams are on the schedule. To win that many games in a year is rare.

I'm as guilty as anyone of comparing this season with the 1991 "dream season" at East Carolina. That team won 11 games in a row after an opening game loss at Illinois.

That team had several close calls. But somehow, some way, that Pirate squad got the job done.

Those close wins set the Pirates up for the biggest win of them all, the come from behind victory over North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl.

Coincidentally, the Peach Bowl is among the options for this East Carolina football team in 2014.

There is still plenty of work to do, but the dangling carrot is out there.

It is a sad state of affairs when fans not only have to hope for wins, but hope for convincing wins. It's another reason the new playoff, even though it's better, is still not the answer.

It should never come down to how much a team wins by in order to figure out a ranking.

Pirate Coach Ruffin McNeill agrees.

“A couple weeks ago we didn’t even play and moved up two spots," said McNeill at his weekly news conference. "That’s why I don’t focus on them. I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but I am informed. We didn’t play a game and moved up."

The rankings are just a parameter, a source that changes with each week of the season.

That's why a 16-team playoff is so much of a better plan. Everybody gets to play. All of the major conference champions get automatic bids. That still leads several at-large slots available.

In this system the Pirates only concern would be in winning the American Athletic Conference title. A one-point win would truly be the goal. Just get into the playoff and see what else can happen.

If it's good enough for the Football Championship Subdivision, then the big boys should be able to handle it, right?

How exciting would that be! East Carolina in a first round matchup with another conference champion or maybe an at-large team, say from the SEC.

A conference champion moving to the post-season would be much better than trying to win games in convincing fashion.

For that matter, what amount counts? Are the Pirates, as a 7-point favorite this Saturday over Temple, moving up if they win by 10? By 14?

Perhaps the Pirates coach put it best.

"We don’t coach for rankings," McNeill explained. "I’ve never coached that way and I’m not going to start now. What we coach is playing our best on every play and embracing our roles to make the team better. That’s what we can control.”

Or in the words of the late Al Davis, "Just win, baby!"

BB

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