College Football Playoffs May Expand

[BVille44]

Interesting article by Pete Thamel.


Why financial fallout from coronavirus will likely lead to College Football Playoff expansion

 

[Redrum]

College season may not be played until next spring .. leave things the way they are to muck un known right now

 

[hoopsupstate]

Interesting article by Pete Thamel.


Why financial fallout from coronavirus will likely lead to College Football Playoff expansion

It doesn’t matter what college AD’s want because college presidents don’t want to expand the playoff format.

 

[Orijinal]

Boo. A number 16 will never win a championship. Neither will a 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, or 8. And probably not a 7 or 6 either.

It's like the college basketball tourney. It's a ton of fun. But a 64 will never win, and so on and so on. People say they want upsets, then get disgruntled when too many low seeds advance and spoil the true purpose of the tournament.

But whatever. It's what's gonna happen cuz that's what the people want.

 

[Eric15]

In my opinion, the college football regular season is the most beautiful thing in sports. I really don't want good but not great 8-4 teams winning national titles and degrading the importance of regular season showdowns.

I would be OK with something like 8, but 16 is just too watered down for my taste.

 

[Hoo's That]

I wonder how much those ADs said expansion of the playoffs was OK just to look like they were open to it. Expansion of the playoffs would increase the number of G5 teams playing in them means more $$$$ for the G5, which is something the P5 ADs have been trying to avoid all along. the only way the playoffs can be expanded to 6 or 8 (16 is crazy talk) is for TV to come up with enough money so that no P5 conference gets less under the expansion that they are getting now.

 

[CousCuse]

Notre Dame would get a playoff spot just about every year in an expand scheme. So, definitely never joining the ACC in football.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Please no. Teams 5-8 suck compared to the top 4 and in all cases lost to them and blew their chances.

None of those games would have been good.

This is so much better than the BCS.

It seems like every year there are either 3 or 5 deserving teams. Occasionally 6. After that teams 7-10 have no business being mentioned and you don’t want to watch them play 1-2. In some cases it’ll be a third game between the teams after someone lost a CCG to a team that beat them earlier.

It’s never 4 so whiners whine. The Clemson team that beat Bama gets left out in the old BCS for losing to us. The debate between teams 4,5,6 is fun when the top 3 are safely in.
If you don’t want to be left out don’t lose.


Will be no reason to watch in September-October.

College players will need to play 17 games a year ? When is it too much again?

 

[Doc5120]

I like the idea of expansion, but I favor 8 teams. Maybe the power 5 winners, a G5 and 2 at large's. If you do conference champions, that may devalue things just a bit. Example being anyone on the other side of the ACC beating an undefeated or 1 loss Clemson team in the conference title game.

I'm sure there are plenty of ways this can be done, but I prefer to see 8 teams total. If you go to 8, do you shorten the regular season by a game? Teams getting to the title game would be in for a 16 game season, which is NFL territory. I guess there a lot of questions on best approach, but will certainly be an interesting development to follow.

 

[Doc5120]

Please no. Teams 5-8 suck compared to the top 4 and in all cases lost to them and blew their chances.

None of those games would have been good.

This is so much better than the BCS.

It seems like every year there are either 3 or 5 deserving teams. Occasionally 6. After that teams 7-10 have no business being mentioned and you don’t want to watch them play 1-2. In some cases it’ll be a third game between the teams after someone lost a CCG to a team that beat them earlier.

It’s never 4 so whiners whine. The Clemson team that beat Bama gets left out in the old BCS for losing to us. The debate between teams 4,5,6 is fun when the top 3 are safely in.
If you don’t want to be left out don’t lose.


Will be no reason to watch in September-October.

College players will need to play 17 games a year ? When is it too much again?

So as an example from last year: Georgia and Alabama "sucked" and would have been blown out? I'm sorry, but that is just flat out wrong.

 

[UpstateSM]

If the playoffs were 8 teams two years ago we're knocking on the door going into the ND game at Yankee Stadium. I'm good with 8 teams, maybe even 12 or 10, but not 16.

 

[orange79]

I like the idea of expansion, but I favor 8 teams. Maybe the power 5 winners, a G5 and 2 at large's. If you do conference champions, that may devalue things just a bit. Example being anyone on the other side of the ACC beating an undefeated or 1 loss Clemson team in the conference title game.

I'm sure there are plenty of ways this can be done, but I prefer to see 8 teams total. If you go to 8, do you shorten the regular season by a game? Teams getting to the title game would be in for a 16 game season, which is NFL territory. I guess there a lot of questions on best approach, but will certainly be an interesting development to follow.

8 is the perfect number, IMO. All 5 P5 conference champs, the "G5 champ", and 2 wild cards.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Regardless of whatever reality there is to expansion, this is a good article to drop and get discussion around in the absence of live sports.

 

[CuseOnly]

Bottom line is that if there is more money in it for the schools, ESPN and the advertisers then it will happen.

That is a fact, just follow the money.

 

[Hoo's That]

Bottom line is that if there is more money in it for the schools, ESPN and the advertisers then it will happen.

That is a fact, just follow the money.

That's the big question, though - How much more money is there for the schools if the playoffs are expanded? The P5's goal in all of this has been to make it as difficult as possible for a G5 team to get in while still making it look like one could get in, letting the P5 conferences keep as much money as they could. There's going to have to be a significant bump in money from ESPN/Fox and enough to make the P5 willing to throw that bigger bone to the G5 may not be there. I have less than no idea what the P5 ADs think that "magic number" is.

 

[Qbobby]

8 is the perfect number, IMO. All 5 P5 conference champs, the "G5 champ", and 2 wild cards.

[/end thread]

 

[hoopsupstate]

I like keeping it at four teams. If they insist on expanding, 8 seems to be a reach.

 

[BomberOrange]

8 is the perfect number, IMO. All 5 P5 conference champs, the "G5 champ", and 2 wild cards.

I think I agree with you here and it doesn't automatically include the irish. I personally would like to see 16 but I don't think that'll ever happen with conf. championships and 12 game schedules.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Anything past 6 teams makes little sense but lots of cents.

 

[syrBossHogg]

8 teams would end a lot of the complaining but there's not enough parity to make it really interesting IMO. Bama/Clemson/OSU are on another level from even the Georgias/Notre Dames/Oklahomas of CFB

 

[Chip]

Anything past 6 teams makes little sense but lots of cents.

Personally, I like it the way it is, and I like how important it still keeps the regular season. It's like no other sport in that regard.

If they went to 8, I think it could still be good. 6 is tough because of the fight over the bye. I really hope they don't go beyond 8.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

So as an example from last year: Georgia and Alabama "sucked" and would have been blown out? I'm sorry, but that is just flat out wrong.

No but you made my point Georgia and Bama in a playoff which they clearly would be in even if it just went to 8 means we are watching teams play for a third time. Yuck.

Sure both give LSU a better game than OU but both controlled their own destiny to get in after Thanksgiving.


Georgia LSU was a terrible CCG. You wanna watch them play again a week later??? Or in the semis?


The current system is as good as you can get. Perfect is the enemy of good. It’s WAY better than the BCS system it replaced which should be appreciated. Whatever replaces it will absolutely be worse.

And dang it I like December bowl football I don’t need 4 games between the same old blue bloods on Dec 17 I am fine watching UCF-UCLA. I watch and enjoy all of them in the current model.

 

[Doc5120]

No but you made my point Georgia and Bama in a playoff which they clearly would be in even if it just went to 8 means we are watching teams play for a third time. Yuck.

Sure both give LSU a better game than OU but both controlled their own destiny to get in after Thanksgiving.


Georgia LSU was a terrible CCG. You wanna watch them play again a week later??? Or in the semis?


The current system is as good as you can get. Perfect is the enemy of good. It’s WAY better than the BCS system it replaced which should be appreciated. Whatever replaces it will absolutely be worse.

And dang it I like December bowl football I don’t need 4 games between the same old blue bloods on Dec 17 I am fine watching UCF-UCLA. I watch and enjoy all of them in the current model.

No, I did not. "Your point" was teams 5-8 "suck," which is not true. I'm not saying 8 teams is the right number. It just happens to be what I prefer.

Georgia was 5, they would have played (and I'd wager, beaten) OU. Oregon finished 6th, and I believe OU/Clemson would have made for an exciting game. Baylor was 7. I think OSU beats them, but in an entertaining game. Wisconsin 8th and likely LSU blows them out, which would be no different than the whooping they put on OU in the semifinal.

 

[elimunelson]

if they expand to 16 wouldn't it make sense to reconfigure the Big East again if it's gonna get an auto bid? I feel like that number creates the desire to have bigger conferences split up again. As i've said in other threads, the desire for ADs to be more regional is gonna be a story in post corona for the olympic sports. May as well do it for the revenue sports. If i'm Syracuse i'd RATHER be back in the big east for hoops and see if the ACC would allow for a Big East sub conf (a divsion called "the Big East" maybe?) of the old eastern football teams. May need to strong arm ND and hold our nose on UConn.

 

[KaiserUEO]

8 is the perfect number, IMO. All 5 P5 conference champs, the "G5 champ", and 2 wild cards.

thats a strong position, but the big12 needs to, oh i dont know...get to 12? (theres your landing spot for cincy & memphis from the other thread)

6 is my #.

the P5 champs and 1 wild card.

if its another P5?... fine, if its a G5?...so be it.