Okay, so “selection day” for College Football came, and for some strange reason, everyone football fan in the nation is upset. As a hockey fan, I’m mostly confused, and frankly concerned. I’m going to explain why college hockey playoffs are significantly better than college football.
First, why are the teams in the playoffs getting picked by people?
People are biased, they will make decisions based off of past years and past wins, not the season that just happened. In college hockey teams aren’t chosen by people at all; teams get in because of conference championships, and the PairWise rankings.
To explain to those who don’t know, there are six conference champions. If you win your conference tournament, you make it into the playoffs. Then, the top 10 teams in PairWise that didn’t win their conference advance. Hockey fans can predict if they’re going to make it by PairWise, or if they must win the conference tournament to get in weeks before playoffs even starts. There isn’t any drama about a group of guys who say that one team is better because they were the champions in a past year. It’s all in games in the current season.
Hockey uses math. PairWise isn’t perfect, but it puts it fairly for everyone using statistics. PairWise rankings come from earning points by beating teams. You get more points for beating teams that are good, and you drop if you lose to teams who aren’t good. For a more detailed explanation, go here. It’s explained in great detail and you’ll have a better knowledge.
Second, why are there only 4 teams in the playoffs?
Is there truly no circumstance that a number 5 team could win? It’s almost not even a tournament, it’s just two games. College hockey is fair; 16 teams make the tournament and all of them have a chance to win it all. None of the tournaments are at a campus rink; although they are all at a neutral rink, it is usually closest to the number 1 seed’s campus. Again, there are more than 4 teams so it makes the tournament a little more interesting; also, it gives you more games to watch.
Lastly, it’s not the same teams in the playoffs every year.
Sure, there are teams that can consistently win and make it to the playoffs, but the result varies a lot. College hockey doesn’t see the same team in the championship, like basketball sees Duke/North Carolina/UCLA/Kentucky and football sees Alabama and Clemson. Hockey sees different teams every year, and everyone has a fair shot to make it. There are no true powerhouses in hockey.
College hockey playoffs aren’t perfect, no tournaments are. In fact, college basketball might be the most ideal playoff scenario, but hockey is in second, and football a distant third. I guess good luck to the teams in in the football playoffs. I’ll stick to watching hockey.