Amidst the scramble, chaos, joy, anger, relief and agitation that the student sale of Rose Bowl tickets has incited since Sunday evening, one facet of the reaction from both sides has stuck out to me. Many of the students who did not get tickets and reacted either on Facebook or some other public forum—at least the ones that I witnessed personally— included some sense of entitlement in their proclamations of dismay.
Now, I don't intend to levy judgment on any of these people, or on the process, reaction or anything of the sort. I only bring it up because the idea of merit is interesting to me. We see it used as an argument in all sorts of societal situations—college admissions and entry-level jobs come immediately to mind—but rarely see it actually employed in a pure form when difficult decisions must be made. Maybe it's because, in many cases, merit is an ambiguous and generally subjective measuring stick.
For all the imperfections of straight-up meritocracy, though, it's become painfully obvious that the NFL needs to give it a whirl. Do you know anybody who thinks an NFC West team deserves a spot in the playoffs this year? Do you even know anybody that can name all four teams in the NFC West? No offense to Derek Anderson, but the criticism he got for being seen laughing on the sideline during a nationally televised blowout loss to the ‘49ers is the most compelling thing that's happened to any of those teams in the last month (I doubt he thinks that's funny, but it's true).
The St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks are tied for the division lead at 6-6. I hope that sounds as gross to you as it does to me. The ‘49ers started the season 0-5 and now they're just two games out of the division lead. Not one team in the division has a positive point differential this season. Among the starting quarterbacks in the NFC Weak, the highest-ranked is Rams rookie Sam Bradford at No. 20 (81.0 quarterback rating). Granted, Troy Smith has recently been playing for San Fransisco and has been better than Alex Smith, but still, elite quarterback play does not exist in this division.
None of this would bother me except for the fact that one of these middling squads is going to make the playoffs. Moreover, one of these teams is going to host a playoff game.
At this point, that means either the Giants, Eagles or Packers, each currently 8-4, would be left out. That means there is a very real possibility that one of those three teams or the New Orleans Saints could win 11 games and have to travel to an 8-8 or—heaven forbid—7-9 NFC West ""champion"" for the first round of the playoffs.
It's just not right.
Unlike the most extreme dissenters, I wouldn't agree to taking the top 12 teams regardless of conference alignment. Like I said, meritocracy very rarely works in pure form. However, the automatic berth to division champions needs to go.
I understand the argument that it will neuter the intensity of division rivalries. To some extent that may be true. Maybe this year's final weekend showdown between the Bears and the Packers would not have the same playoff implications, but the two teams and fan bases will still hate each other. On top of that, say Green Bay enters the game at 10-6, Chicago at 11-5 and Seattle at an NFC West-leading 7-8. Should the game in Green Bay have playoff implications in the first place? Of course not.
College football is dealing with a similar problem. Six conferences have automatic Bowl Championship Series berths and no conference can have two representatives per year. In terms of this year, that means an 11-1 Michigan State team ends up in the Capital One Bowl while 8-4 UConn gets the Big East's automatic berth.
The problem with changing the college football system is money. Good luck telling the Big East it isn't guaranteed the cash associated with a BCS game each year.
The NFL should not have that problem. It is a conglomeration of professionals with no academic institutions and no amateur athletes to worry about. Their only objectives are to win football games and make money. If one division can't do it in a given year, forget it. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has no business pigeon-holing his league into putting sub-standard teams in the playoffs.
Does the NFL playoff system need to be changed? Have a better idea for a playoff structure? E-mail Parker at pjgabriel@dailycardinal.com
