College Football: Winston’s Cup to lose?

Matt’s Take:

Welcome to uncharted territory.

As fans of college football, most of us complained and complained and complained that we hated the Bowl Championship Series. We begged, let’s do a playoff, let’s do a playoff.

Well, the powers that be finally listened, so buckle up your seatbelt and prepare for a wild ride. Do you really expect this to go smoothly?

You think the previous system was flawed? Just wait. Talk about controversy when only a few teams have a legitimate shot at playing for a National Championship.

I can hear the crying now.

But it really doesn’t matter, because there are only a handful of teams that will actually be in contention, so the rest can pull out their box of Kleenex now.

So who makes the 4-team playoff?

You can pencil in Florida State, who should run the table in a weak Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Crimson tide of Alabama, Michigan State out of the BIG 10, and the Oregon Ducks.

Like I said, no big surprises here.

You can count on the Ducks and Spartans falling short, so that leaves us with Florida State and Alabama in the National Championship game.

Sorry Roll Tiders, you’ll have to deal with another long offseason of sad Nick Saban. But never fear, there’s always next year.

Florida State repeats and raises the new trophy, which is awful by the way.

Bring back the crystal football!

That was easy, right? Now it just has to play out with no hitches.

Andrew’s Take:

Time to put your “fandom” where your mouth is.

College football fans, here you go. You asked for it. In all the controversy caused by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), you all had the same argument: “If there were a playoff, my team would go all the way.” And if your team doesn’t win a championship this season, then you were wrong, for all these years.

Going into this historic season, there is a very heavy favorite: The Florida State Seminoles.

What happened to sensationalism?

The news is the news. Reporters should do just that, “report.” But these networks realized a long time ago that they need to air on the side of “drama.”

You’ve never heard football commentators lead with, “This should be a blow-out.” But there are plenty of games that, in all likelihood, will be blowouts. But nobody wants to watch that.

Yes, if you look at the Seminoles’ schedule, each game should be a “W.” But you can’t just predict an undefeated season, especially for a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It took a miracle for a win against Boston College last year. FSU fans don’t be over confident.

In any case, Florida State makes the 4-team playoff.

Nick Saban didn’t win a championship last year. He’s not even happy when he’s No. 1. I can’t imagine his anger issues right now, since the Alabama Crimson Tide are No. 2. I feel bad for the players in Tuscaloosa, but Bama’s in.

Until Heisman Trophy front-runner, quarterback Braxton Miller’s season-ending injury, I would have said that the Ohio State Buckeyes will be there too. But now the Big Ten will be won by the Michigan State Spartans, and they’re going to the playoff.

Last in will be the Oregon Ducks, just based on the fact that their schedule is easy enough to make a run.

In the championship game, I’ve got Alabama over Florida State.

So the debate is over right? The team that hoists the newly designed Championship Trophy will be, hands down, the best.

Unless, of course, the No. 5 ranked team has a legitimate claim.