College football is a tradition that millions of Americans care deeply about. Every January, impassioned fans gather around their televisions to watch the College Football Playoff.
And a number of those fans are Greenhill community members.
Emotions were all over the place this year. There were moments of pride, shock, anticipation, relief, frustration, hope and heart-crushing defeat.
Ultimately, on Jan. 20, the Ohio State Buckeyes were crowned the national champions, beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 in the championship game.
Expanded Playoff Format
This year marked the beginning of a new era of college football with the introduction of the 12-team playoff format.
In the expanded bracket, byes were given in the first round to the top four ranked conference champions: the University of Georgia as the Southeastern Conference champion; the University of Oregon as the Big Ten Conference champion; Arizona State University as the Big 12 Conference champion and Boise State University as the Mountain West Conference champion.
None of those teams won their first game after having a bye, stirring debates among fans.
“I think that [seeding] could instead be based on just the rankings top down, which is proven by the way that Penn State cooked Boise State,” said junior Dylan Millimet.
Other fans have suggested a format that consists of either eight or 16 teams, in which no team receives a bye.
“I think a bye week in most sports is a good thing, but in college football, it just kind of hurt the teams because they have a routine they’re in,” said senior Noah Piper, a national-caliber kicker for Greenhill who has committed to play football at Yale University.
Greenhill athletic development specialist Joshua Harris, who played the sport at Wake Forest University and in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers, says he felt similarly, adding that having an enlarged playoff opens the door for weaker competition.
“Maybe it needs to be cut to eight just to make sure that we have the top eight most competitive teams,” said Harris.
In addition to the grievances with the bye system, some fans say they miss the stakes that regular season games used to have.
“Teams with three losses had reasonable arguments that they could still get into this thing,” said Upper School math teacher Jason Zuffranieri, an Arizona State alumnus. “Now rivalry games still mean something at an emotional level, but they don’t really mean anything in a practical level that they used to.”
Despite having some qualms with the new format, fans tend to agree that it is still better than the former four-team format.
“From a fan perspective, it’s a lot more entertaining to watch a lot of more competitive games,” said Piper.
Memorable Moments
With more games came more memorable moments.
Senior Brynn Zawadzki, whose parents graduated from Penn State, attended the game against Southern Methodist University.
“It was so cool because Beaver Stadium is huge and I think we had like 107,000 people there,” said Zawadzki. “SMU’s stadium is like a third of the size and they’re never sold out, so it was crazy to see how that impacted the players.”
Others who did not attend games still say the playoff was one to remember.
Many fans cited the quarterfinal showdown between Arizona State and the University of Texas as their favorite game. The matchup went into double overtime, with the Longhorns defeating the Sun Devils 39-31.
“That was one of the greatest games I’ve ever watched,” said Zuffranieri. “I was so proud, even in losing. I don’t normally say that.”
Community
For many students and faculty members, the CFP was an opportunity to create and strengthen connections, whether it was engaging in playful banter, watching games with friends or bonding over tough losses.
Given that Greenhill is in Texas, many students cheered on the Longhorns.
“Texas got to play three games, so I got to watch with my family and all my friends,” said Piper. “[The new playoff format] just builds a community towards Texas football and even every other team in the playoffs too.”
Following teams other than the Longhorns didn’t stop students and faculty from engaging in the fun though.
“It was nice to have a little rivalry [with my friends who are Texas fans] because we were in different paths to the national title, but that created a bonding opportunity because then UT and Penn State both lost in the semifinals,” said Zawadzki.
Students were not the only ones partaking in friendly teasing.
“[Upper School Science Department Chair] Dr. [Treavor] Kendall and I talk trash to each other a lot,” said Upper School science teacher Emily Myhre, a Georgia alumna. “The fun part around the playoffs is it is a longer period of time where you kind of have that good-natured community, whether you’re on the same team or not.”
Myhre also says that talking about college football helps her build connections with students.
“I definitely talk a lot with my students about football,” said Myhre. “Now that Texas has joined the SEC, I kind of am trying to not be as much of a trash talker about Texas, although it’s hard sometimes. I enjoy engaging with students in some good banter.”
