At 11:45 a.m. today, college football will have its Final Four as the College Football Playoff selection committee will release its top four teams that will advance to the first-ever postseason bracket.
With just four teams, the odds of selecting a perfect bracket aren't quite as long as basketball. But the whining and complaining by those getting left out will seem oddly like mid-March. The NCAA Tournament in basketball has expanded from 32 to 48 to 64 to 68 through the years, you can't make everybody happy unless you let everybody in.
Let's not do that. Ever.
We haven't even had football's Final Four yet and people are already clamoring for an Elite Eight.
What? More is not always better.
Here's four reasons why four is just fine:
• Coaches, media and fans are going to complain whether somebody is No. 5 in college football or No. 69 in college basketball. So what? A little controversy is not a bad thing.
Yes, it's going to be a potentially sad day to be a fan of Ohio State or TCU or Baylor. You know what? Your team did something during the season that cost it a chance to be in the Final Four and the committee noticed. Better luck next year.
• With four, you can get the entire playoff done in just a couple of weeks.
In basketball, three extended weekends and the tournament is done. In football, the plan is to use two existing bowl games on Jan. 1 and then add a national title game on Jan. 12. Twelve days and it's done.
You would have to do one of two things if you advance it to eight.
One, start what would be the quarterfinals on Jan. 1, which would push the end of the season to the end of January. Two, start the quarterfinals in mid-December to get the postseason completed by mid-January.
You do that, you're messing with the sacred tradition of bowl games and making them even less relevant than they are now.
• Fans can't and won't go to three games.
Did you watch the Pac-12 title game Friday night? Fans didn't have to select their own seats, they could have picked their own section when Oregon met Arizona in Santa Clara, Calif.
I guess you could have the top four seeds host the quarterfinal games. It would help attendance, especially if those schools are still in session for the students could go to the games. But think of the complaining if your team was selected No. 5 and just missed out on a home game. No thanks.
• There aren't that many really good teams to begin with.
If the committee selected eight teams this year, at least two of the selections would have two losses. One loss can be forgiven, but two? That's one too many to warrant a chance at winning a national championship.
If you're a Missouri fan, you're probably ready for a little break from college football after Saturday's loss to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game. A bowl game awaits for the Tigers, and Missouri figures to be headed to either the Outback, Music City, Belk, Liberty, Taxslayer or Texas bowl. That will be announced tonight.