FLASHBACK: Mike Leach Torches College Football Playoff Format
Mike Leach was years ahead of the times when it came to trashing the College Football Playoff format.
The college football world is on fire after 13-0 Florida State was left out in favor of 12-1 Alabama for the fourth and final spot.
Apparently, winning a P5 conference as an undefeated team is no longer good enough to get in the playoff over a one-loss SEC team. It's the first time in the history of the CFP an undefeated 13-0 P5 champion didn't get in.
Florida State fans are livid, and many people who don't even cheer for the Seminoles are right there too. You know who would agree if he was still alive?
Mike Leach famously torched the four-team College Football Playoff model. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Mike Leach famously torched the four-team College Football Playoff.
The CFP is expanding to 12 teams next season, and it can't get here fast enough after what happened to FSU. However, Leach was far ahead of the times when he talked about the insanity of a committee just picking the four teams.
" is a mind numbingly short-sided notion that four teams for a playoff somehow establishes something and that that’s a very clever approach. I mean, that’s such a brilliant approach, that’s why everyone does it that way, you know. Nobody does it that way. If we were so smart, wouldn’t all the other sports say ‘I know. Let’s have a committee. Because why not? Because we’re America. We love committees. Let’s get us a committee. Well who should be on the committee? Well, I don’t know, this guy’s a good guy, let’s have him on the committee.' There's people on the committee who don't even have remote associations with football, nor have they at any level other than being a fan. But, you know what? Let's have them on a committee. Why not," Leach said during the famous 2017 rant while he was at Washington State.
The line that hits home the hardest following FSU getting left out is when he claimed the results on the field don't matter.
"We don't need to solve this on the field because we're the ones that know," Leach said while pretending to be a committee member.
Watch the famous rant below, and send me your reactions to David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
Leach, who passed away last year, always seemed to be ahead of the curve on just about everything. This rant has aged like fine wine, and has never been more relevant than it is following FSU being iced out.
In a fashion only Mike Leach could pull off, he perfectly explained why having just four teams making it by committee selection over the results on the field makes no sense.
But this is America! We sure do love committees!
Mike Leach wasn't a fan of the four-team playoff model. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
I really wish Mike Leach was still with us. The world lost the famous football coach way too soon. His brain worked in a fascinating way, and he was just a genuinely good guy. I would have paid a lot of money to get his thoughts on 13-0 Florida State not getting in. That probably would have been the rant to end all rants. Let me know your reactions to his 2017 rant at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.