The 2015 Final Four is officially set following the weekend’s Elite Eight action.
Wisconsin, Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke will all head to Indianapolis to compete in what will probably be the cherry on top of a masterful 2015 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The uproar of March Madness has led many pundits and fans to believe that a similar format could be successful in college football.
But as great as it would be to see it happen, an expanded College Football Playoff similar to the NCAA basketball tournament isn’t foreseeable for the simple reason that football is not basketball — in case no one knew that.
Fifty-two basketball games were played in a span of six days to decide which teams would head to the Sweet Sixteen.
For the teams who won, that’s two games in a span of three days.
Football is an incredibly violent sport that is far more punishing on the body than basketball.
It would be ridiculous to ask college football players to play multiple games in a span of a week, considering the extreme plausibility of injuries.
Based on the current schedule, the most the playoff could expand to would be 16 teams.
Not 32, not 64 or 68, but 16.
Last season’s college football postseason ran between Dec. 20 and Jan. 12, which meant the playoff had roughly four weekends to play itself out.
In this 16-team format, there would be eight games on the first weekend, four the next. two the following weekend and then the national championship.
The simple fact is, with so many games spaced out, eventually the playoff would lose its emotional appeal — something March Madness is known for.
Moreover, with the exception of the Auburn-Alabama game from more than a year ago, football isn’t generally a sport that comes down to the wire.
In fact, out of the three College Football Playoff games in 2015, only one had point differentials in the single digits.
So, as much as people would love to see “Winter Madness” for college football, those with visions of last-second games where dramatic upsets can occur will be incredibly disappointed.
More than that, the expanded playoffs would diminish the values of the other bowls, considering the way the NIT and CBI are viewed by college basketball players.
Granted, it doesn’t seem like many bothered to watch the other bowl games anyway.
The flair and majesty of the NCAA basketball tournament is one reserved for March Madness and March Madness alone.
This year’s College Football Playoff did nothing to make any knowledgeable fan think otherwise.
Enjoy the Final Four this weekend because it signals the end of a rare event that cannot be recreated by any team in any other sport.