College football will debut their new playoff format this season, adding two more teams to the national championship picture. Instead of having the top two ranked teams battle in the national title game, the top 4 ranked teams will battle it out in a 3-game, 4-team playoff. The #1 ranked team will face #4, with #2 going up against #3, and the winners of those two games will move on to the national championship game. This format not only adds to the intensity during the bowl games, but also to the regular season intensity as this will sure impact team's movements from week to week in the Top 25 rankings. Preseason rankings come out pretty much predicting the title game before the season begins. For the top 2 teams to move out of the top spots, it usually takes a big time upset to a lower ranked, or non-ranked team. As long as they get the job done, no matter how much of a challenge it may be, they usually retain those top spots. With the extra two teams involved, it will prove to be tougher to hang on to a playoff spot. This will cause the writers who decide the rankings to look even closer at the teams, rather than just checking if they won or loss, and who they beat. The quality of the opponent will factor in, but also how the team plays during the course of the game. Whether it's a blowout in the final quarter, or a tie game with 2 minutes left, teams will be forced to play the entire 60 minutes to prove themselves to the writers. A team will have to remain consistent throughout the season to sit atop the rankings, and find themselves in the playoff picture. No longer during the season will one or two good victories be enough to keep a team above the rest, and contending for a title. During the bowl season, the teams in the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl were normally teams who just missed out of a national title opportunity. The only bowl games that really mattered the most would be the national title game, and the Rose Bowl, and it didn't matter what was going on in the other games because your team wasn't voted to compete for a title. Either way, it was one and done for the team in the "postseason". This format gives more of a professional playoff feel, which will help players moving on to the NFL in their maturation process, and their preparation for the NFL playoff atmosphere. With the addition of just two teams, the NCAA has added to the intensity of the college football season, and the development of the future NFL stars.
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