Mega ratings for ESPN's college football playoffs make cable TV history

[Palatine]

This pretty much ensures going to eight, probably eventually to sixteen. My prediction of eight teams within two years is still in play.

The two highest-rated broadcasts in cable TV history now belong to ESPN thanks to the new college football playoffs. On Thursday, 28.2 million viewers watched Oregon blow out Florida State 59 to 20 in the Rose Bowl. Later in the night, 28.3 million tuned in as Ohio State upset top-seed Alabama 42 to 35 in the Sugar Bowl.

These numbers make the semifinal games the two most watched broadcasts in cable history.

An eight or sixteen team playoff would be great for UConn as undefeated or one loss teams from non-p5 conferences would get bids -- and money.

 

[husky210]

16? Let's not get carried away

 

[Palatine]

16? Let's not get carried away

All the other divisions in college football already have sixteen team playoffs. It's a natural. And if there are big bucks to be made.....

 

[Antiobserver]

They won't even think about expanding until the current contract is up. It's all about name teams and huge followings. Why would ESPN want to risk some Group of 5 team spoil the show?

 

[coachcap]

Traditionally, the Rose Bowl has been the must watch game on New Years day going all the way back to the Curt Gowdy days on
NBC. That the Granddaddy of all bowl games held a semifinal was just gravy. Then add in the attractive matchup of last year's champion as a decided underdog to Oregon & you have a network executive's dream.
The Sugar Bowl was the real story: Football fans were sick & tired of SEC propaganda & bias. They were salivating to see Alabama get knocked off of its pedestal & realized OSU was a team that could stand toe to toe with the Crimson. The only doubts were about the qb position for OSU, which turned out to be no problem at all. The draw even featured the two best college coaches in the business opposing one another. The game was compelling to its conclusion. In my case, my partner is on vacation until Monday & I'm pulling double shifts. I predetermined to watch this game in its entirety. I'm sure that I wasn't alone in that sentiment.

 

[bc puckett]

All the other divisions in college football already have sixteen team playoffs. It's a natural. And if there are big bucks to be made.....

Actually FCS and D2 have 24 teams (top 8 get byes) and D3 has 32 teams.

 

[Sky ball]

Actually FCS and D2 have 24 teams (top 8 get byes) and D3 has 32 teams.

I guess they don't care about the academics? Totally BS premise on major footballs part. It's about keeping the money.

 

[metsfan2323]

If they go to 8 the P5 championship games become the quasi "round of 16" if they give the winners automatic bids which is exactly what they would do.

The round of 8 games will need to be played on someone's home field because you can't expect a fan base to travel to 3 locations. 4 of the 5 championship game winners will get a home field advantage in the round of 8.

I do think this will happen sooner rather than later because there is too much money to be made and it's a lot of fun.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I think 12 would be ideal.all conference Champs get in and two wildcards to the two highest ranked non conference Champs.

 

[mets1090]

The way I personally would build it would be all 10 conference champs, 6 at large. This maintains the importance of the regular season as winning your conference is an autobid. Past that, giving home games to the top 8 seeds (and then the top 4 for the second round) would ensure that every win (plus SOS) mattered.

In most years, the teams that just barely get left out will be ranked somewhere in the vicinity of 7-13. Let them play in whatever former BCS bowls aren't part of the playoff rotation that year so they get a compelling location.

There's just so much money to be made here. It's stunning it took so long to get the ball rolling on a playoff system when every move is about money.

 

[Dooley]

The way I personally would build it would be all 10 conference champs, 6 at large. This maintains the importance of the regular season as winning your conference is an autobid. Past that, giving home games to the top 8 seeds (and then the top 4 for the second round) would ensure that every win (plus SOS) mattered.

In most years, the teams that just barely get left out will be ranked somewhere in the vicinity of 7-13. Let them play in whatever former BCS bowls aren't part of the playoff rotation that year so they get a compelling location.

There's just so much money to be made here. It's stunning it took so long to get the ball rolling on a playoff system when every move is about money.

The whole idea of autonomy and creating "Power" conferences is so that these conferences and heavyweight AD schools like Michigan, Ohio St, Texas, etc don't have to share a single red cent with any "non Power" conference/school. Any playoff proposal that would give G5 conference champions the same reward/revenue stream as "Power" conference champions is a complete non-starter. I can see ONE G5 school in a 8-team scenario but only if 1) that school is undefeated; 2) that school played against some P5 competition; and 3) that school is a "recognizable", top brand (think BYU, Boise, Cincinnati, etc). As long as playoff entrants are determined by an "impartial committee" (read: a VERY partial committee with TV Execs in their ears), there is virtually zero chance we'll ever see a school like Memphis in a 8-team playoff.

Sorry, but we're no longer playing on level playing fields. The "have nots" have too far of a hill to climb to ever get a chance to play for a National Championship. The best course of action for G5 schools is to put every single resource possible into improving their P5 profile and hope like hell to get an invite somewhere.

 

[kyleslamb]

The whole idea of autonomy and creating "Power" conferences is so that these conferences and heavyweight AD schools like Michigan, Ohio St, Texas, etc don't have to share a single red cent with any "non Power" conference/school.

That's not really true, at least in the literal phrasing. Not only did they share revenue with non-power FBS leagues, but they voluntarily shared revenue with FCS leagues as well, without anyone twisting their arm to do so. I don't think they mind sharing *some* of the revenue. The issue is that they want most of it and they want control over the format. Autonomy was really more about making rule changes without having to get further approval from those smaller schools than keeping all the money.

 

[Stainmaster]

That's not really true, at least in the literal phrasing. Not only did they share revenue with non-power FBS leagues, but they voluntarily shared revenue with FCS leagues as well, without anyone twisting their arm to do so. I don't think they mind sharing *some* of the revenue. The issue is that they want most of it and they want control over the format. Autonomy was really more about making rule changes without having to get further approval from those smaller schools than keeping all the money.

The problem is, "shared" is past tense. Those days will be over very soon.

 

[UCHuskies08]

All the other divisions in college football already have sixteen team playoffs. It's a natural. And if there are big bucks to be made.....

Would they cut regular season games or we going full NFL season length here?

 

[huskymedic]

Oy Vey...

Playoff grind a concern for Meyer
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/113804/playoff-grind-a-concern-for-meyer

 

[noeynox]

Someone needs to remind Urban, if it wasn't for the playoff grind, he'd be watching Alabama play Oregon or Florida State for the national title.

 

[kyleslamb]

Someone needs to remind Urban, if it wasn't for the playoff grind, he'd be watching Alabama play Oregon or Florida State for the national title.

Why does he need reminded? It's not like he's advocating a change, he's rightfully just pointing out that before everyone starts screaming for 8 teams or 16 teams in a playoff format, there are other concerns that would need addressed.

I love this format, but I also agree with his concerns 100 percent. I do NOT want to see this go the way of the NFL. That league's season is is too long and too much a war of attrition. They have a sweet spot right where they are at now here in college football, I think.

 

[whaler11]

I love when the guys who get paid bundles because of the system - then complain about said system.

Let's take it down to 9 games Urban and focus on academics. You good with your 75% paycut?

Eat a bag of dicks.

 

[noeynox]

Why does he need reminded? It's not like he's advocating a change, he's rightfully just pointing out that before everyone starts screaming for 8 teams or 16 teams in a playoff format, there are other concerns that would need addressed.

I love this format, but I also agree with his concerns 100 percent. I do NOT want to see this go the way of the NFL. That league's season is is too long and too much a war of attrition. They have a sweet spot right where they are at now here in college football, I think.

As the Wisconsin game was happening, I advocated for them being included, so I have no problem with them., but as of right now I believe TCU has the number 1 sagarin rating. If it was OSU on the outside looking in, is Urban singing the same tune? If it was really that much of a problem cut the regular season by one game, but don't won't happen because TV dollars rule all and that one game is a lot of content for tv purposes.

 

[huskymedic]

Why does he need reminded? It's not like he's advocating a change, he's rightfully just pointing out that before everyone starts screaming for 8 teams or 16 teams in a playoff format, there are other concerns that would need addressed.

Ya mean like this one...

Landgrant33 Jan 03, 3:45pm via Tweetbot for Mac
Urban Meyer says the 85 scholarship limit was made for 12 games and now there’s 15. It needs to be readdressed.

There's always an agenda.

 

[whaler11]

Ya mean like this one...

Landgrant33 Jan 03, 3:45pm via Tweetbot for Mac
Urban Meyer says the 85 scholarship limit was made for 12 games and now there’s 15. It needs to be readdressed.

There's always an agenda.

Next idea will be the B1GDL. The MAC schools are aligned to Big 10 teams and they can use them for freshman to get playing time and call up any good players the MAC finds by accident.

Dri Archer would have looked good at Ohio State.

 

[Dooley]

Next idea will be the B1GDL. The MAC schools are aligned to Big 10 teams and they can use them for freshman to get playing time and call up any good players the MAC finds by accident.

Dri Archer would have looked good at Ohio State.

I know you're joking, but I've actually had a somewhat similar thought (somewhat serious, somewhat WTF) along these lines.

With some talk about raising the scholarship count from 85 to whatever because of added games, I'm wondering when the autonomous P5 conferences propose a laxed transfer rule that would allow kids to transfer from a G5 to P5 school without having to sit a year. You know, because that would be in the best interest of the student-athlete to give them a shot at playing at the highest level and not as some crummy G5 school. They could even regionalize it...

American --> ACC without sitting a year
MAC --> B1G without sitting a year
C-USA --> B12 without sitting a year
Sun-Belt --> SEC " "
MWC --> PAC """

Or whatever.

Anything to screw with the G5 to ensure we will continue to always sahq.

 

[mets1090]

The whole idea of autonomy and creating "Power" conferences is so that these conferences and heavyweight AD schools like Michigan, Ohio St, Texas, etc don't have to share a single red cent with any "non Power" conference/school. .......

Oh I understand that and agree that the most likely scenario is 8 teams with no guaranteed G5 bid at all. I was just laying out how I would like to see it. The underdog aspect is a fun wrinkle to watching the same 20 teams battle for 8 spots every year, IMO.

 

[kyleslamb]

As the Wisconsin game was happening, I advocated for them being included, so I have no problem with them., but as of right now I believe TCU has the number 1 sagarin rating. If it was OSU on the outside looking in, is Urban singing the same tune? If it was really that much of a problem cut the regular season by one game, but don't won't happen because TV dollars rule all and that one game is a lot of content for tv purposes.

If you go back several years, you'll find Urban has always been leery of a playoff for the exact reasons he's talking about now. He's been remarkably consistent about it. So yes, if they were on the outside looking in, I think you'd find him saying the same exact things.

It's not that he's anti-playoff, but he's concerned with the season becoming too long in general.

 

[Palatine]

Oh I understand that and agree that the most likely scenario is 8 teams with no guaranteed G5 bid at all. I was just laying out how I would like to see it. The underdog aspect is a fun wrinkle to watching the same 20 teams battle for 8 spots every year, IMO.

My guess, if goes to eight, each champion of the p5 gets an auto bid (like the NCAA basketball tourney) and three at large bids.