MARLER: 12 team playoff proving great for college football

By Chris  Marler

Do you remember way back when we thought the 12 team playoff would diminish the college football regular season? Ha! 

Or how about when we thought Alabama would be a lock for the playoff? Ha. Ha.

Or how about when we thought Alabama, Ole Miss, Boise State, and BYU were all potential locks for the playoff? How many old takes exposed is 2024 going to give us at this point?

Going into this season one thing that many seemed to actually agree on was that the 12 team playoff was going to somehow diminish the importance and relevance of the regular season. The last 13 weeks could not have proved that to be any more wrong.

As sports fans there always seems to be this desperate need for us to compare some thing, some player, some team, some championship to something else. How many times have you heard that 2024 has been the best college football season since 2007?

You remember 2007, the year we saw the No. 2 team in the country lose for nine straight weeks? The year where Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy. The year where LSU became the first BCS champion with two losses.

The 2024 season hasn’t been just like the 2007 season. It’s been better. There have been more upsets, more parity, and more “oh my God, did you see that?” moments than I can remember watching in my 38 years on this earth.

This season has been one crazy M. Night Shyamalan twist after another. Turns out that just like Bruce Willis, Ole Miss and Alabama were dead the whole time.

There have been upsets every week, Colorado became relevant again, Florida State is 2-9, and Oregon and Indiana came within an eyelash of playing for the Big Ten Championship. You know, just like we all thought would happen.

So I guess my biggest takeaway from week 13, and this entire season is to resist the urge to compare 2024 to anything. It is unlike anything we’ve seen in college football, and seasons like that should just be enjoyed. Not compared.