The College Football Playoff: A Public Administration Spectacle

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Benjamin Deitchman
January 16, 2026

Most fans may focus on the pageantry and physicality of college football, but no other sporting competition offers better insight into the intricacies and pitfalls of public administration than the playoffs for the national championship at the highest level of American college football. Determining the top team among the 136 that currently compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is a complex and contentious process that requires nuance beyond simply tabulating wins and losses. The competitors represent major public and not-for-profit institutions, and with huge television contracts broadcasting events from massive stadiums, the economic and social impacts of the games help shape the cultural landscape of the modern United States.

For more than a century and a half, football competitions between colleges and universities have enthralled millions of students, alumni and fans. However, for historic and financial reasons, establishing a process to assign a unanimous season-long victor has been elusive. College football at the FBS level lacks a centralized authority. Instead, member conferences and individual schools control scheduling and related profits within NCAA frameworks. This system has proven lucrative and has further fueled local rivalries among teams. The bowl system, which emerged in the early twentieth century, provides postseason opportunities for cross-regional bowl games and remains a staple of the sport. With regular seasons rarely exceeding a dozen games and the complex tie-in structure of the bowls, guaranteeing a fair best-versus-best championship has never been assured.

It is fair to question whether a true National Championship was ever actually important. Debates over the merits of teams’ title claims filled hours of radio and television broadcasts and sparked heated discussions in living rooms and bars. Throughout the twenty-first century, however, the entities that comprise the FBS have worked to formulate a playoff system to guarantee an annual National Champion without fully discarding the successful structure of the sport.

At the heart of selecting the final playoff teams is the College Football Playoff Committee. This group of experts meets weekly toward the end of the season to discuss possible participants within established criteria. Wins and losses matter, but the committee also considers nuance beyond the simplest statistics, such as the quality of opponents, to select the worthiest schools in what is now a 12-team bracket. The committee strives for transparency, but cognitive biases studied by social scientists can influence their judgments. For example, there is often a recency bias toward games played at the end of the season. While computerized college football rankings have decades of history, long before the modern era of advanced computing and artificial intelligence, the FBS continues to rely on human judgment to finalize its championship contenders.

As college football continues to professionalize—with increasing opportunities for player compensation, rising revenues and a further separation of NCAA athletics from the general scholastic experience—the playoff committee remains one of the most authentically “college” aspects of college football today. A group of experts sitting in a hotel conference room debating the merits of teams is reminiscent of an optimal faculty experience. While the incorporation of data and analytics can sometimes seem clumsy, applying established theories of football excellence to the final decision is a rigorous and valuable exercise. Fortunately, despite these academic deliberations, actual football games still determine the National Champion on the field.

There are many public policy issues tied to college football, especially since many of the most successful programs belong to public institutions. In fact, in most states, the highest-paid public employee is an FBS football coach. With millions of dollars flowing into these programs through licensing, broadcast contracts, tuition-related fees and donations, oversight is essential to protect the public trust. However, the power of coaches and leadership—and the devotion of fans and constituents—creates an environment where accountability is difficult, especially when a team is winning.

Sports and politics remain intertwined. With a busy sports calendar in 2026, starting with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Miami on January 19 and continuing with the Winter Olympics in Italy, the World Cup across North America and other competitions worldwide, this will be a busy year for public policy and public administration students, scholars and professionals. These events provide opportunities to observe their fields amid social and geopolitical contests. Enjoy the athletic spectacles, but remember these are more than just games.

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Author: Benjamin Deitchman is a public policy practitioner in Atlanta, Georgia. His 2025 book The Public Policy Perspective: A Personal Analysis of Public Work includes a chapter about sports. He competes as a recreational softball player and runner and coaches youth sports.

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