The College Football Playoff: We Got The Outcome We Needed

In the end, we got what we needed.

For many, the Oregon-Ohio State College Playoff Final isn’t what they wanted, but from a big-picture perspective, this is what College Football probably needed: A final game that doesn’t involve any southern schools, and instead features teams from two of the most maligned football conferences in the NCAA. The institution of College Football, in particular, needed this matchup because in the end we desperately need the southern region of the United States to finally accept that schools from the Midwest and West Coast are closing the perceived gap in talent and athleticism on the SEC, having likely already equaled or surpassed that of the ACC.

The only way that shift in perception accelerates is if there’s no school from the South playing for the title, forcing even the most ardent SEC fans to have to stomach that it’s a new day on the gridiron, and that the swagger of past champions means nothing once toe-meets-leather in the here and now.

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Going forward into the 2015-16, this non-southern final game actually creates an environment where the entire country can feel energized about college football, without the South being able to stake some faux claim on the “best brand” of the sport. (By the way, did you see the “vaunted” SEC West’s bowl performances this year? Ugh.) Instead, this may force those southern football programs to rise to the occasion to re-assert their self-perceived dominance, if they can. Either way, this is sure to bring out the best in programs across the country and, if The Playoff ever extends to eight teams, create some room for the best of the rest as well. (TCU, hang in there!)

And finally, for supporters of the College Football Playoff itself, the Oregon-Ohio State matchup is a testament to what can happen when you force traditional powerhouses to actually prove their mettle against worthy (non-conference) competition; the cream rises to the top, and we couldn’t ask for a better outcome, even if it’s the outcome many of us didn’t initially want.