Hill: Enjoy the chaos and parity of CFP while we can

The business of college sports is a mess that must be addressed soon to avoid permanent damage to the beloved institution that is intercollegiate athletics, especially college football.

The product on the field, however?

That’s healthy and thriving.

SEC championship myth?

Is anyone still complaining about the expansion to 12 teams in the playoff field?

Well, anyone outside the SEC, which all of a sudden can’t win a championship when it requires getting through a bracket instead of being able to stack the deck in a smaller field.

Don’t think the league office in Birmingham, Alabama, isn’t already thinking of ways to make sure that doesn’t continue.

In the meantime, we were treated to an instant classic in one semifinal that deserved one more play due to an uncalled pass interference. The other semifinal was less dramatic but provided a stage for one of the best coaches in the sport who made building a dominant program look easier than securing a trademark for a 125-year old professional baseball team.

Sorry, the Athletics’ story is too silly. Had to mention it at least once.

The result is a championship football game that features two relative newcomers, one making a return to prominence in Miami and one with almost no gridiron tradition in Indiana.

Yes, a Miami team that drew all sorts of outrage for getting into the field. The fact the Hurricanes made it this far doesn’t mean they deserved to get in, but it allows the debate to pick up again as we wait for the game to kick off.

How is this not fun?

The existence of the playoff is only one reason for the parity.

It’s clear that NIL, revenue sharing and the proliferation of the transfer portal have opened the door for programs that want to compete to get aggressive and do so.

Legally.

Teams outside the old-school power structure can spend the money to attract top players and outwork the competition each year to rebuild a roster that can quickly make noise. Gone are the days of the mega-programs hoarding talent each cycle.

It has made things fun for now, while also giving college athletes the freedom and opportunity for compensation they have always deserved.

Order will return eventually

Yet we know it can’t continue.

We’re like a teenager who has been allowed to stay at home and live solo for a week while our parents are on vacation.

It’s a blast to order pizza every day and host parties every night, but it’s not sustainable.

Some money folks are already quietly wondering what kind of return on investment they are getting as the bidding wars start to get wild.

There also has to be rules, a reality that was reinforced by the Demond Williams situation last week.

The Washington quarterback tried to enter the transfer portal with the promise of potentially more money than the reportedly almost $5 million deal he had already signed to return to the Huskies.

Things got ugly fast with threats and accusations and potential lawsuits before Williams settled on a Seattle return.

The cleanup operation just before Mom and Dad get back is never as much fun as making the mess.

But it has to be done. The money and freedom are great and should continue, but the chaos will eventually lead to things going wrong for kids who get screwed over.

So rules and guidelines will eventually return. And rest assured, they will favor the traditional powers.

That’s a lock.

We will still have the playoffs, perhaps even expanded to 16 teams. That would be ideal. But they will find ways to make sure the path isn’t as clear for the outsiders while also trying to close the door on programs from quickly rising from off the radar to threaten the power structure.

Hopefully, there will still be nontraditional schools that find a way to spend aggressively and creatively within whatever structure eventually exists and we can continue to see high drama and upsets in the postseason.

For now, all we can do is enjoy the games.

There will be time later to get things in order before Mom and Dad return home.