Quote:
Originally Posted by jaxmagicman
Ok, think of it this way.
Ohio State is undefeated at the end of the year. They are going to the playoff as the big 10(+2) champ. The game agains Michigan means nothing. Michigan hurts your starting quarterback in the first quarter. Certainly he could return to the game, but why risk it? He can sit out, and you guys lose, it means nothing. That is why it loses the intensity. There is nothing to play for other than beating your rival. At the behest of your future games you would not send your best player back out there because you would want to save him for the playoffs.
|
Maybe a tiny bit of intensity lost, but far more lost because Michigan is bad. It also assumes that OSU has a 2+ game lead on everyone else in the Big 10, which is a rare instance. In my system, that loss could still knock someone out of the playoff should they fall below #10. You could also make the case that OSU was left out of the postseason because of bad luck (an injury). Luck plays a huge part in the current BCS model, a playoff mitigates that at least a little.
If such damage exists, then arguably it's already happening with championship games. Did Auburn-Alabama have a lackluster game this year even though Alabama had no chance of making any relevant bowl? People were still putting a one-loss Auburn in over an undefeated TCU. You could make the exact same "hurts rivalries" argument by noting that rivalry games played with teams that have no chance of making a title game mean nothing. Did UF-FSU hurt this year?
All that would also never hurt a fraction as much if Michigan and OSU never played each other because one was in a different division.