Prepare for wild debate on Final Four

So you studied and thought and compared and analyzed.

And before the month of October was a week old, it was time to tear up your Final Four brackets ... your football Final Four brackets.

Those in red and black are weeks removed from calling and message-boarding with a huge “woe is us again” howling, and those south of us with tomahawk chants were thinking about a trip to Dallas a little bit. Not so fast, Bulldogs and Seminoles.

We’re a few weeks away from release of the first extraordinarily overhyped College Football Playoff panel hysteria-inciting poll.

And it will be the first indication for many what some of us have said from the start: This new system won’t answer or clarify anywhere near as much as expected, and it only will add to the existing level of staggering paranoia wafting about our amber waves of grain.

Way too many in the media -- started, of course, with ESPN -- are throwing out weekly Final Fours and then debating them for half an hour, which is rarely informative or helpful.

In the old system, we could see how things were forming a few weeks after the first BCS computer polls were released, and those without blinders understood that system got it right by nearly all objective measures.

Since this level of college football has little in common with the logistics of FCS football, basketball, baseball or any pro sport, the playoff system is just ripe for even more verbal bloodshed. The magnifying glass on human opinion on the topic will be the size of Colorado.

Rather than acquiesce to analysis of the panelists, people -- with a fight song playing in background -- will nit and pick why somebody doesn’t like their team. The “it keeps people talking” theory is silly because there can’t be much more money or chatter involved with college football. And we need more good and fun chatter, not bickering accompanied by threats.

Nevertheless, get ready, because it’s going to be an absolute mess. Let’s take a look at the latest AP poll. Of the top 25, more are legitimately in the hunt for the Final Four than aren’t. Nobody has knocked off any socks yet.

There are probably a half-dozen currently ranked -- and “currently” is the key word -- teams we can release from Final Four consideration for the usual reasons: overrated, too soft an early schedule, too tough a late schedule, weak conference, etc.

Then there are a few more that you’re not quite sure about because of injuries, being surprises or contenders that inevitably trip.

There are also unranked teams that can make a run, because there’s plenty of time and unpredictability left. Please note that Auburn of 2004, which led to misguided arguments, opened the season around 17th and opened October in the top five.

More than a dozen teams have more positives than negatives to make the Final Four but still have enough negatives to slide on back.

The BCS system helped settle debates a little bit. Now, the growing caucus of conspiracy nuts will read into every panelists’ poll and loudly ignore any logic.

The “Well, they hate the SEC” grumble will be balanced by the “Well, they love the SEC” chant, and let’s just ignore the silly “We’ll get whatever ESPN wants” insanity.

Survey 50 college football folks -- media, fans, coaches, TV nitwits, etc. -- and you’ll get no consensus, not this week and not in almost two months. That’s good for fans who can handle it, not so good for the majority. Underdogs love parity, favorites don’t.

Usually, the craziness is remarkable fun. And sometimes, the remarkable fun is overwhelmed by craziness. So let’s enjoy the roller coaster ride until the fog hits us. And the fog won’t lift as easily as many think.

Contact Michael A. Lough at 744-4626 or mlough@macon.com

This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Prepare for wild debate on Final Four ."