I would put it this way, if this somehow became a matter for the courts, for our justice system, and that sort of standard, I suppose, between that which is reasonable and possesses a sort of legal or argumentative sanity and viability if you will, and that which is absurd, it would not withstand that process.
That this playoff format, which is a very standard playoff format, is somehow also, as if by magic or royal or otherwise arbitrary decree, the Rose Bowl, and the Orange Bowl, and all the rest of the NY6 bowls. Not in the first round of course, or in the final. But only in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, where it actually dovetails quite nicely, when the cities and stadiums where those bowl games are otherwise played, or rather were played, will be used as not merely suitable enough physical venues for those 2nd and 3rd round games, but they will retain all of their official status and pageantry shall we say, and they will live on in this new manifestation, and not unimportantly, so it isn't just some wink wink thing, it's all there in black and white, very tangible, with trophies and statistical inclusion in the foregoing, and indeed ongoing record books. And so now teams, in addition to winning the national title, or at least getting into the final game, will perforce pile up two NY6 bowl victories as well, like ND did. Even though the only similarity this new iteration shares with the actual NY6 bowls, is that they're both football games, otherwise they are downright antithetical to each other. The sole purpose of the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the playoff, as with the opening round or any round, is to fill their necessary and integral role in advancing two teams all the way to the final. Which of course the Orange Bowl never did. Quite obviously. It was a stand alone bowl game. It was what the playoff replaced. Very deliberately, so as to rid the championship process of their very existence, as antiquated and grossly insufficient and inappropriate and not fit for purpose.
And thus such an arrangement would definitely fall into the realm of a 'legal fiction', let's say, as far as any conceptual validity or whatnot. Because it's simply the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 12 team playoff. And the inclusion of the NY6 bowl angle is merely wild embellishment, if you like. A bizarre, brazenly nonsensical, nostalgic self-indulgence to continue to treat these games, that were expressly created to replace the bowls, as a robust or innovative continuation of the bowls, and they haven't really missed a beat. And the upshot to fan bragging rights with respect to getting into the final, into the championship game but not winning it, the position ND finds itself in, which of course would necessarily require victories in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, is that in addition to reaching the final, they also just achieved not one, but indeed two NY6 bowl victories, which can be celebrated and gloated over in their own right, as if those victories carried the same import and prestige and significance like they were still the old bowl games of yore. So we didn't win the championship, which sucks, but we did win the Orange Bowl AND the Sugar Bowl - both! - so that's pretty cool.
You'd think the, just the effin' insult, the insult to one's dignity and intelligence, of claiming two bowl victories in the same postseason, would instinctively give one pause. Hell no. They probably market tested it before unleashing this madness onto the public. On account of how ridiculous the whole thing would be, and it might not go over that well, it's just too stupid. Not the case, turns out fans will happily swallow that. Unblinkingly. And then defend the legitimacy with whatever feeble arguments can be mustered, which in this case are just an immediate 'appeal to authority'. Hey man, that's what the NCAA decided, or whoever, the BCS or the committee, or whatever august organization applies. The shit is legit. 2+2=5, bitch!
