Life is a funny thing.
Beyond the world of sport, we all strive for the dream that is a comfortable living no matter our background.
For some, this is a relative guarantee due to their internal support and financial literacy.
For others, they are forced to grind their way through the muck and maybe – just maybe – they will find their way to the proverbial end of the rainbow where a pot of gold awaits.
That’s life.
You are dealt the cards in front of you.
In college athletics, this attitude remains…for the most part.
When basketball rolls around, all 31 conferences and their members have the same shot at earning a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Is it likely that the New Jersey Institute of Technology – or NJIT – usurps a Kansas and grabs that highly regarded seed?
Not at all.
But the fact that both have the same chance and that there is precedent for a mid-major capturing a high seed allows us to believe the fantastical lie that everything is equal.
Since 2000, there have been nine instances where a “mid-major” has snagged a one seed on Selection Sunday:
Saint Joseph’s in 2004.
Memphis in 2006.
Memphis in 2008.
Gonzaga in 2013.
Wichita State in 2014.
Gonzaga in 2017.
Gonzaga in 2019.
In the cancelled 2020 season, both San Diego State and Dayton were vying for one seeds.
Gonzaga in 2021.
And Gonzaga in 2022.
Even if you take out the exception that is Gonzaga, there are still four instances of a Cinderella reaching the top of the sport by the end of the regular season.
Despite the Hawks and the Shockers making it, there was no immediate conversation about how the seeding process needed to be changed or that the strength of schedule disparity was so vast that those in “lower” conferences shouldn’t be able to take away from high major leagues.
College football?
Nah.
This glorious and imperfect sport has always suffered from a hierarchy that is much more pronounced than in any other sport.
Usually, this didn’t cause a major ruckus as the BCS system never gave way to a G5 team making the national title game and the four-team CFP was never going to slot a non-P4 team higher than number four – if they were even included in the discussion.
Last year was the first time that Cinderella was reserved a spot at the table with everyone else.
And, in a rare moment, there was no ceiling placed on how high that Cinderella could rise.
With Boise State riding eventual Heisman runner-up and top-six draft pick Ashton Jeanty to the College Football Playoff, it became clearer and clearer as the season pressed on that not only were the Broncos going dancing.
They would have a chance to earn a vaunted top-four seed and a bye straight into the CFP quarterfinals.
ESPN’s Tuesday night studio ranking ensemble, led by Rece Davis, didn’t pay much heed to Boise State’s spot as they and most around the country assumed that the Big 12 and ACC champions would leapfrog the Broncos by the end of conference championship weekend.
That is why you are never taught to assume, even in the world of big-time college football.
Clemson upset SMU in the ACC title game, booting the Mustangs from a potential bye.
In the heart of the country, Arizona State defeated Iowa State handily to snag the Big 12’s lone bid.
A Boise State win in the Mountain West championship capped an incredible string of events that led to the Broncos receiving the number three seed in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
Casual fans complained, and prognosticators began detailing how No. 6 Penn State’s path of SMU and Boise State was the easiest of anyone’s in the field.
The narrative of how both the Nittany Lions and Texas received more advantageous roads than better seeded teams was already in full swing.
In the end, these two did make the CFP semifinals.
The results played out as most pundits expected.
And while some used the losses of Boise State and Arizona State to further fuel the argument for not designating conference champions with the top four seeds, most acknowledged that the 2024-25 season was, in all likelihood, an anomaly.
Like Saint Joseph’s.
Like Wichita State.
But in the last few months, the feeling in P4 offices and – in particular – the SEC and Big Ten, turned sour in regards to seeding.
That is why last week, the College Football Playoff announced a straight seeding model for the upcoming 2025-2026 season.
From reports by multiple outlets, it appears the “Management Committee”, all ten of the FBS conference commissioners, and Notre Dame’s athletic director agreed to make the adjustment as a temporary ceasefire more than anything.
The SEC and Big Ten will continue to threaten to take their ball somewhere else each time an issue of this magnitude is brought up.
And the rest of the room has little ammo to fire back with.
If the suggested “4-4-2-2-1” model with three at-large vacancies that provides the big two conferences with four automatic bids each is accepted, then the fantastical lie that basketball embraced with the little guy will die on the vine.
A potential 5+11 model would at least preserve some sense of equality, even if it does leave more influence in the hands of the CFP Selection Committee.
No matter what model is chosen to cater to the big bad bullies of the SEC and Big Ten, the one year of Boise State and the little guy crashing the party was historic and significant.
And in the end, the Big Ten can still boast a champion in the Ohio State Buckeyes.
You don’t have to win every single battle if you know that you are going to win the war.
Let the little guy win Yorktown instead of suffocating them into oblivion.
Because if history tells us anything…
The Utahs.
The TCUs.
The Cincinnatis.
The UCFs.
The Boise States.
Every time that the powers at be attempt to stratify and lower the ceiling on programs that are considered less than, the Davids of the world come back swinging and swinging with a vengeance.
Goliath can only manipulate the rules so much.
Play the game on the field.
Don’t rig it just because you can.
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