Can we please stop discussing parity and playoff expansion in college football?

As a college football fan, I am begging everyone to please stop.

It’s the same story every single year when pundits and college football heads on Twitter advocate for a team to get a shot that has no business competing for a title, because the eye test clearly shows that they aren’t on par with the two best teams in the FBS.

This year we have the same cycle happening once again. Georgia and Alabama are far and away better than every other team in college football, but we are going to spend weeks talking about the other two teams that could fill up those two other playoff spots.

Georgia just shut out a top-ten team and dropped close to 40 points on them with a backup quarterback. Alabama just embarrassed one of the best offensive minds in all of college football in Lane Kiffin who had a team ranked in the top 15.

There is no true parity in college football right now. No matter how much we like to think it is.

As long as the recruiting rankings still favor the same four to five teams every season, nothing is going to change, because the talent will still be enrolling at those universities.

So are we wasting time opening the playoff up to more teams who don’t have a shot at winning? And more importantly, why are we exposing these young athletes to more punishment on their bodies and potentially damaging their future pro prospects by forcing them to play more games for free (which is still the case for many, even with NIL)?

In the seven years of the playoff, there has never been a competitive 1 vs. 4 game. Frankly, there have only been a few 2 vs. 3 games that have made you feel like the move to a four-team playoff was worth it.

And it’s not like the controversy will go away. Every year somebody will feel slighted, whether you keep it at four or expand to 64 teams.

I’m not naive to the fact that this is all about TV money and the potential broadcasting deals that could be in play if you expand the playoff. I get that. This is why what I’ve been saying will likely be a moot point in the next couple of years.

The schools will probably need to do whatever it takes to garner up as much capital as they can so they can be ready to pay these players when one of them sues for compensation. That’s probably a large reason why these schools are starting to form these super conferences.

At some point, you have to realize when you have a good thing, and that’s what college football has right now with the four-team playoff and a regular season that basically works as a double-elimination tournament by itself.

The intrigue, the pressure, the excitement, and the pageantry are still there.

You don’t have to mess with it.