The lens through which postseason success is viewed is changing

The Final Four in men’s college basketball has been around since the first eight-team tournament took place in 1939. Though teams aspire to win the national championship, programs ranging from Virginia Commonwealth University to Texas raise banners to honor teams that made it to the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

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Even the bluest of blue bloods like Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina raise banners for Final Four appearances. Of course, some programs seek only to raise national championship banners, and if you look around Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles you won’t find anything that celebrates something less than the UCLA Bruins finishing the season on top.

But the college basketball programs with the highest aspirations celebrate making it to a stage where few teams remain. And those without high aspirations consider runs to the national semifinals to be worthy of honoring.

Will college football do something similar?

TCU thought its appearance in the College Football Playoff in 2022 necessitated some sort of permanent honor at Amon G. Carter Stadium, a building that also has a space in it reserved for the Horned Frogs’ two national championships from the 1930s. There was plenty of derision for the Horned Frogs for celebrating their spot in the national finals, but most of that had to do with the fact that Sonny Dykes and company were walloped by Georgia and then went out and lost to Deion Sanders and Colorado right after unveiling their CFP participant banner.

That was for the four-team College Football Playoff. Of course, Texas didn’t put a banner in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium just for making the final four. Nor have several other teams.

But this isn’t about physical banners. This is about how programs may celebrate a campaign that doesn’t end in a national title but still lasts longer than the seasons for over 125 other teams.

In the end, teams with the highest aspirations will likely take the UCLA basketball approach and truly remember with glee the years that end in national titles. After all, if you looked at Ohio Stadium, you’d only find national titles commemorated on the north side of the Horseshoe.

But for other programs, this appearance means a lot to the program. Boise State would be foolish not to look back on a season where it is literally in the competition for the national championship and not remember it as one of the best seasons in program history. Arizona State, which has four conference championships total in its time as a member of a power conference, will look back fondly on 2024 as one of the best seasons in program history and assuredly the best through the first 25 seasons of this century.

Will Ohio State look back with warm memories on a season, hypothetically, where it went only as far as the last four teams? Not likely because of the pressure put on the program entering this season. Even Texas, which rightfully celebrated making the four-team playoff in 2023, won’t be willing to make large-scale future celebrations for a team that gets to that point either.

This is all novel and could change, of course. For so long, perfection was almost a demand of any team competing for the national title. 2007 LSU was the last two-loss team to even contend for a national championship and they were the first to do so since Tennessee made a claim to the 1967 national championship based on a 9-1 regular season.

Now? Two-loss Texas is in the round of eight. Arizona State lost two games in 2024 and earned a first-round bye as a result of their Big 12 Championship. The loss column does not hold the same weight it used to in the era of the expanded playoff.

Does that mean far advancing teams will celebrate those seasons like fans of TCU do for their 2022 campaign? Sure.

Is it an adjustment? Yes. Will schools like Texas still strive for national titles and be disappointed by opportunities that slip by like 1983, 2008, 2009, and 2023? Absolutely

Like all college athletics, it’s one change many will make or refuse to take part in as playoff expansion likely continues from the 12-team field. But teams are going to start celebrating a newfound opportunity to tell recruits, fans, and boosters that they advanced to a point most other teams were unable to reach. So, get ready for the T-shirts, banners, and more.

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It’s just another change in college football.