For the uninitiated, ESPN Radio has a show called Mike & Mike in the Morning, which features ex-NFL’er Mike Golic and ESPN personality Mike Greenberg (a.k.a. “Greeny”) discussing all kinds of sports topics. In a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine, they debated the merits of a playoff in college football and Greeny had this to say.

“I know it’s an unpopluar view, but a playoff would make college football a January sport the way college basketball has become a March sport – and that’s not a good thing. Plus, having a playoff would diminish the one thing that makes college football unique: that every game is essentially a playoff game. I don’t know if the BCS is perfect, but creating a tournament makes the regular season as meaningless as the college basketball, NBA and NHL regular seasons have become.”

Two things: (1) He makes the same point twice and passes it off as two different points and (2) he’s being overly dramatic.

I’ve heard Kirk Herbstreit make the same argument and, simply stated, it’s just not that black and white. Sure, if the NCAA implements a 64-team football tournament, the regular season wouldn’t matter. But could the same be said for a four-team tournament? If the playoff is small and exclusive, there’s still going to be as much pressure to win during the regular season, only we’ll have acceptable closure (not to mention twice the excitement) at the end of each season.

Under the current system, if a team loses an early game, the players, coaches and fans know that it’s a long road back to contention with only a slim chance of getting a shot to play in the title game. In a four-team playoff, those chances are doubled, which would only serve to generate more interest in the regular season. Imagine the intensity surrounding those last few weeks of the regular season when eight or more teams are vying for those four playoff spots. Currently, a number of one-loss teams know they’re not playing in the title game and the best case is a spot in a BCS bowl. Big deal.

Those that argue against a college football playoff need to understand that there are varying degrees of a playoff. Sure, a big playoff – I’m talking eight or more teams – would probably reduce the meaning of the regular season. But a small playoff would take the sport to the next level.