16-team tournament wouldn't settle college football debate

by Nick Bowman
staff associate

Well, the 2000 Nokia Sugar Bowl successfully wrapped up another season of collegiate football, with the Florida State Seminoles being the undisputed champions of college football, right?

You be the judge. Since college football rankings have come to be totally objective, anyone and everyone should have a say-so in the matter. At least that's what anyone who is not a Seminole fan believes.

Every year there are numerous bar fights and lost friendships over who the 'real' champion is. Every year people scream that college football should go to a tournament setup that would give each Division I team a fair shake at the Sears National Championship trophy.

People argue that popularity is the only thing that the AP poll represents. They say that small schools don't get nearly the opportunities to grow, and they don't have the money to gain exposure.

How would a national tourney set up? Let's say 16 teams make the tourney, the winners of the 12 conferences gaining an automatic berth, and 4 at-large teams, who qualify based on national ranking.

This setup would feature Florida State, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Fresno State, Stanford, BYU, Louisiana Tech, Boise State, Alabama, Marshall, Nebraska, and Southern Mississippi as the automatic qualifiers. The four at large teams, based on the AP poll, would be Michigan (5), Kansas State (6), Michigan State (7), and Tennessee (9).

The first argument, from a traditionalist's standpoint, would be the loss of the bowl games, which aside from their history, generate billions of dollars in revenue for the NCAA. Also, the amount of time teams would have to spend preparing for multiple games would extend the college football season well into January/February, which would interfere with athletes' study time. The two teams making the finals would be extending their season to at least 16 games.

As far as the Seminoles not deserving the college football crown, consider the following: they are the only team in the history of the NCAA to be ranked No. 1 in the pre-season polls, and keep that ranking through the post-season (pre-season polls have only been kept since 1950).

They received 70 out of 70 first place votes on the AP panel. This is their second title in a row. Quarterback Chris Weinke, the oldest quarterback in college football to date, has only lost one game out of his 22 as the Seminoles starter. Wide receiver Peter Warrick, if not for his extracurricular activity, was a strong Heisman candidate. And all of this is coming from someone who really doesn't care for Florida State all that much.

This year's title game featured two undefeated teams, both who won their conferences outright, and both who successfully played through tough schedules. Virginia Tech featured a true freshman quarterback in Michael Vick, who, with his precision passing attack, kept college football fans everywhere on the edge of their seats. Although the final score, 46-29, doesn't reflect it, this game was very competitive. If not for a Vick fumble with 11:58 left, V. Tech might possibly have won.

I believe that this year's title game featured two very deserving teams, and therefore was a fair measuring stick as what any NCAA Division I team should aspire to be.