Index of Playoff Arguments

Here's the list of all the pro-playoff and anti-playoff arguments in the Playoff Debate section, hyperlinked to the spot where each one appears in the original post. As I noted in the introduction, the issues and arguments are not linear, but my explanation of them is. So if there's something that seems to build upon an earlier point or is confusing because it glosses over something, I probably explained it when looking at an earlier argument - just scroll up or go back and read from the beginning. (The arguments are presented in written order here.)

Pro-Playoff Arugments	Anti-Playoff Arugments
Championships are clear-cut and objective	Championships are for the best, even if that’s subjective
If you want to get technical, rankings can’t produce an objective, clear-cut champion	If you want to get technical, sports with playoffs don’t have a subjective champion
The team that wins the playoff is obviously ‘best’ – they were the best of the good teams to make it to the playoff	The team that gets all or a vast majority of the votes is obviously the clear-cut champion
A playoff would produce a ‘best’ champion more often than the rankings do a clear-cut champion – so it’s a better option	Being close every time is better than being completely wrong sometimes
A playoff would settle things on the field	Any team can beat any other team on any given day
Champions win when it counts	So the regular season is devalued, since only the playoff games ‘count’, right?
The regular season still has value – you’ve gotta win those games to get to the playoff	A playoff devalues the regular season
The college football season is nothing like a playoff	The whole college football season is already a playoff
It’s not fair that most of the teams don't have any chance at the championship before the season even starts	The unfairness is because of the bias of the voters, not the system - you can't have it both ways
Not only would a playoff give everyone a shot at the championship, but we'd still have the rankings to make the playoff fair - it's the best of both worlds	You’re still going to have to draw a subjective line somewhere, and somebody’s still gonna get hosed
College football is the only sport that doesn’t use a playoff	Just because other sports have a playoff doesn’t mean college football needs to
A playoff works for the NFL, college basketball, and other college football divisions	There are major differences between those other sports and D1-A football
Just because it’s tradition doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do something	Instituting a playoff would rip the traditional heart out of college football
All that ‘academics!’ crap is just an excuse	A playoff would negatively impact student-athlete academics
A playoff would make a ton more money than the BCS does	What do you care? & That’s theoretical – there’s no proof & College football already makes a ton of money
The bowls are just a way for the rich to get richer	It’s not worth giving up the things that we’d lose