With the holiday season comes the finale of another great season of college football, and is almost time for the second annual college football playoff. The new format has the top four teams pitted against one another with the #1 ranked team playing the #4 ranked team and the #2 and #3 ranked teams playing each other respectively. The new four team playoff replaces the old BCS title game that only featured the two best teams playing for a national championship based off a system of rankings that was determined to be seriously flawed. Now a panel of college football coaches meet and determine the rankings and decide on the top four teams and who deserves the opportunity to play for the coveted national title.

This year the playoffs are set with #1 and undefeated Clemson (14-0) taking on Oklahoma (11-1) in the Orange Bowl at Miami, FL and #2 Alabama (12-1) will take on #3 Michigan State (12-1) in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, TX where both games will be played on Thursday, December 31, 2015, or most commonly known as New Year's Eve. The two victors will then play each other for the national championship.

Both games will be very entertaining, with all of the teams appearing to be pretty evenly matched. It is anticipated that both games will be the focus of many family's New Year's Eve celebrations as the bowl games, especially the more important ones, such as the two that will determine which two teams will play for the national championship, usually get a pretty high amount of viewership. It is crazy to think how much sports have factored into how families celebrate the holiday season, with some fans even having tailgate parties to celebrate the big game involving their team one last time before football kicks off again next fall. Watching college football games has been so ingrained into our lives that when the playoffs are already done and the super bowl has already been won, it will feel weird to not have any football to watch.


It would seem that the new format with the four team playoff system put into place has gone over well with fans as it feels more fair to give teams the chance to compete for a national title. Before only two teams were given that opportunity based off a BCS system that was flawed and not accurate as to who the two best teams were that deserved to play in the national championship game. With the new playoff system it gives double the amount of teams to compete for the national title, with four teams being enough where the playoffs do not have to drag on over a long period of time. A big question with the new system was if four teams are enough and if the playoff should be expanded to eight teams or more, but eight seems like too many and we may see some games that have already happened such as Clemson vs. Notre Dame for the second time, where Clemson pulled out a tight 24-22 victory at home in Clemson, SC. Even though the game would be exciting because it is a rematch and Notre Dame would want revenge, it may be repetitive for some viewers who want to see Clemson play another great team they have not played such as Oklahoma. For now it seems that a four team playoff is just right, giving more than just two teams the chance to play for a national championship, while also, not dragging on the playoffs and giving fans just enough entertainment for the New Year's holiday.