Souhan: College football becomes must-see

This season, college football hasn't proved merely that Mississippi can produce something wilder than Brett Favre's beard.

This season, college football has become America's most fascinating sport.

Of all the lies endemic to the game — "They're student-athletes," "The NCAA should exist" — the silliest was the traditionalist notion that the sport would be diminished by a playoff, that the regular season was sacrosanct because of its unique ability to provide virtual playoffs every autumn weekend.

In this, the first season to end in a four-team playoff, the game has never been better.

Here are seven reasons why:

1. Mississippi: The state has always produced talent but rarely contended in the modern SEC. This year, Ole Miss and Mississippi State rank in the top three in the country, adding both surprise and grand tradition to the top of the polls.

Both teams could be undefeated come the Egg Bowl, giving all of us time to discover why it is called the Egg Bowl, and whether an Egg Bowl is something that holds a Hotty Toddy.

2. SEC dominance: Baseball is at its best when the Yankees are competitive. College football is at its best when the SEC is strong enough to thrive, and strong enough for the rest of the country to hate. The league boasts four of the five top-ranked teams, plus No. 9 Georgia, with four head-to-head matchups among those teams remaining on the schedule, making the stretch run a virtual playoff to get into the national playoffs.

3. Unpredictability: There will always be dominant programs when those programs operate intelligently, but no powerhouses are self-sustaining anymore.

Not long ago Michigan, Florida, Texas, Penn State and USC might have been considered five of the eight best jobs in football. Today only one of those schools ranks in the Top 25 — USC, which is living beneath its means at No. 20.

If a struggling program hires the right coach, it can win. If a powerful program hires the wrong coach, it will fall. The University of Minnesota is an example of the …

4. Power of coaching: When former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi was looking to replace head coach Tim Brewster, Maturi flew to San Diego to interview Brady Hoke, who was coaching San Diego State.

Hoke, like a handful of other candidates, turned down Maturi, who in desperation stopped looking for the most popular names on the market and chose what he called at the time "just a good football coach."

That was Jerry Kill.

Had Maturi successfully recruited Hoke, Minnesota would have remained mediocre and Michigan may have stumbled upon a coach worthy of its legacy.

5. The NCAA tournament effect: This might work better in football than in basketball.

The NCAA basketball tournament is a remarkable success that has diminished the regular season. Football's advantage over all other major American sports is that it offers so few games that they all feel important regardless of the stakes.

This year, the playoff offers another level of intrigue. Now instead of a handful of teams having a legitimate chance to win it all, with everyone else competing to play in the Al's Stale Donut Bowl, teams are competing for division championships, conference championships (including conference title games) and national championship playoff berths.

If you were a college football traditionalist, this is the best of both worlds. There will be debates about who should make the playoff, followed by a satisfying resolution.

6. ESPN: The network that popularized college basketball has done wonders for college football. "College GameDay" is a great show that travels to a different campus every Saturday, leading into a day of college football programming that spans a dozen networks and about 14 hours. If you don't like Game A, you can click over to Game B … or Z.

7. Katy Perry: She attended a game at Ole Miss, partied in an Oxford bar and told Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight to call her. She made college football, the sport where dusty letter jackets are considered high fashion, look almost … cool?

Jim Souhan can be heard weekdays at noon and Sundays from 10 to noon on 1500 ESPN. @SouhanStrib • jsouhan@startribune.com