The Playoff must expand to eight teams or the same four will always be playing

[Palatine]

The four team college football championship playoff has gone on for seven years, since 2014. Ten teams have taken the 24 available slots in the playoffs. Alabama 6X, Clemson 6X, Ohio State 5X, Oklahoma 4X, and Notre Dame 2X, Georgia 1X, Oregon 1X, LSU 1X, Florida State 1X, Michigan State1X. The seven titles are split between 4 teams. Alabama 3X, Clemson 2X Ohio State 1X and LSU 1X.

So basically it's a bit like Monty Pyton with tiny group of characters taking on all the roles. If a high school kid wants to get in the tournament, he has to chose between Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and, maybe, Notre Dame. The top four will garner the best high school players every year. It's Groundhog Day. In short, if kept at four teams, we will see Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma every year with few interlopers.

One word. BORING. The greatness of the NCAA basketball tournament is it surprises almost every year. Even when the favorite wins it's a surprise. Best of all, Cinderella is invited to the dance. There is no chance for this kind of excitement in the current college football playoff. The top four lives far and away from the rest of college football. The cake is baked before the season starts.

Going to eight teams will not solve all the problems. But it will help spread out the best recruits and introduce a bit more parity at the top of the football world. The sooner, the better.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

It's a fair comment. I really dislike Clemson, Alabama and Clemson...which has made the current stretch painful. LSU was a nice change last year.

More teams means it's more likely a Cincinnati or a coastal Carolina sneaks in. They would have most of the country rooting for them.

 

[c29328]

The best players now see a finite number of options to play on the largest stage. Its concentrating the player base and you can see it from the recruiting "grades". It's a smart business decision if you are a 5 star to hit Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, and maybe an SEC team or two. At the same time this lowers the appetite for a larger playoff since teams outside this big 3-4 get smoked year in year out and that gets used as a bludgeon to keep the field small. Reduce scholarship levels, 8 team playoff where all conference champs are in, and don't take a break at the end of the season where the top talent teams can integrate new talent lesser schools don't even have access to. Better competitive balance for the fans, worse financial position for the SEC and Big 10. Which do you think will win lol?

 

[Scoe]

A 25 team playoff is the way to go. Teams 16-25 have a play in. 17th team gets a bye, 16th team double bye, 1-15 triple bye right into the field of 16, top seeded teams plays whoever comes out of the play in rounds, lowest vs highest seeded teams, reseed as you go on.

 

[djct1999]

No one cares.

ESPN says last night's national championship game drew 18.7 million viewers. That is .... yeesh.

Per @paulsen_smw, the previous low for a BCS or CFP title game was 21.4M for USC 55, Oklahoma 19 in 2004.

 

[Scoe]

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

A round of Alabama beating Cincy by 70 points is so much more exciting

 

[CTBasketball]

No one cares.

ESPN says last night's national championship game drew 18.7 million viewers. That is .... yeesh.

Per @paulsen_smw, the previous low for a BCS or CFP title game was 21.4M for USC 55, Oklahoma 19 in 2004.

Exactly. ESPN and NCAA thought they were cashing in huge with the CFP. I wouldn’t doubt it we see some major changes when the CFP deal runs out.

 

[shizzle787]

College football was better when there were six power conferences and just the Championship game. It usually meant you had to go undefeated and it spread the talent around more.

 

[CTBasketball]

College football was better when there were six power conferences and just the Championship game. It usually meant you had to go undefeated and it spread the talent around more.

I wouldn’t be opposed to limiting the amount of scholarships.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I don't get the point of the Clay Travis video in this thread, unless you were concerned that anyone had forgotten what a _______ looks and sounds like.

I also don't get how Coastal Carolina sneaking in to the championship would increase viewership. Alabama could have named the score against them. How would that be exciting?

 

[bendm]

Going to eight teams will not solve all the problems. But it will help spread out the best recruits and introduce a bit more parity at the top of the football world. The sooner, the better.

there has never been parity in college football. players dont go to Bama and Clemson to get into the CFP they go to WIN the CFP. adding more teams wouldnt change that it would just mean more 50 point differentials. i fear you will not live to see an aac team make the cfp.

 

[Scoe]

Bama is the only good team in college football, everyone else sucks. Ill just root for Bama to win it all every year why not, its not like well ever see Uconn ever win a national championship, so root against other teams, have all other fan bases be pissed off, especially with the realignment working against us, forcing us into the AAC and taking away the original big east, have those people be pissed off. Not that I'm rooting for Bama per say.

 

[Scoe]

Just to make note Bama hasn't won a national championship in 2 years (prior to this year), and Uconn women haven't won it in 4 years.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't get the point of the Clay Travis video in this thread, unless you were concerned that anyone had forgotten what a _______ looks and sounds like.

I also don't get how Coastal Carolina sneaking in to the championship would increase viewership. Alabama could have named the score against them. How would that be exciting?

if there were 8 spots in the playoff, the recruiting dynamics would be very different. 30-40 teams could credibly argue to a recruit that they have a shot at making the playoff. Right now, 4 teams basically have a lock on access.

 

[bendm]

if there were 8 spots in the playoff, the recruiting dynamics would be very different. 30-40 teams could credibly argue to a recruit that they have a shot at making the playoff. Right now, 4 teams basically have a lock on access.

the same number of teams are competitive now as have been throughout the history of college football. it's cyclical. they arent the same teams e.g. Michigan, Penn State, Miami, USC, Texas, but there are just as few elite teams now as there were at any given time before.

 

[Scoe]

For what its worth I just ran an 8 team simulation and Bama beat Oklahoma in the national championship 62-24. I had lowest vs highest seeded teams and just reseeded each round like the NHL does.

 

[uconngb]

It's a fair comment. I really dislike Clemson, Alabama and Clemson...which has made the current stretch painful. LSU was a nice change last year.

More teams means it's more likely a Cincinnati or a coastal Carolina sneaks in. They would have most of the country rooting for them.

So what you’re saying is, you dislike Clemson

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

if there were 8 spots in the playoff, the recruiting dynamics would be very different. 30-40 teams could credibly argue to a recruit that they have a shot at making the playoff. Right now, 4 teams basically have a lock on access.

Why would 8 spots open it up to "30-40" teams but 4 spots means only 4 teams will be considered?

 

[tzznandrew]

Honestly, college football doesn't play enough non-conference games to really get a true sense of who the best teams are. In years with undefeated teams, you have a reasonable guess, but there's no reason CFB needs to be the only sport where every team coming into the season cannot reasonably say they can win a title.

All the talk of how Alabama would beat these teams by 50 is fine. They said the same thing and then Boise beat Oklahoma. Settle it on the field. It's easy enough, and there will of course be upsets.

 

[Jimdish255]

8 teams was the right option from the start. It's gone from proprietary to just plain boring. 4 home games first round then neutral sites. But we know why the club wanted to keep the list short. Exclusivity.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

The four team college football championship playoff has gone on for seven years, since 2014. Ten teams have taken the 24 available slots in the playoffs. Alabama 6X, Clemson 6X, Ohio State 5X, Oklahoma 4X, and Notre Dame 2X, Georgia 1X, Oregon 1X, LSU 1X, Florida State 1X, Michigan State1X. The seven titles are split between 4 teams. Alabama 3X, Clemson 2X Ohio State 1X and LSU 1X.

So basically it's a bit like Monty Pyton with tiny group of characters taking on all the roles. If a high school kid wants to get in the tournament, he has to chose between Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and, maybe, Notre Dame. The top four will garner the best high school players every year. It's Groundhog Day. In short, if kept at four teams, we will see Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma every year with few interlopers.

One word. BORING. The greatness of the NCAA basketball tournament is it surprises almost every year. Even when the favorite wins it's a surprise. Best of all, Cinderella is invited to the dance. There is no chance for this kind of excitement in the current college football playoff. The top four lives far and away from the rest of college football. The cake is baked before the season starts.

Going to eight teams will not solve all the problems. But it will help spread out the best recruits and introduce a bit more parity at the top of the football world. The sooner, the better.

From the beginning I thought it should have been six teams. Top two seeds get a first round bye.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Why would 8 spots open it up to "30-40" teams but 4 spots means only 4 teams will be considered?

You are right. It is perfect as it is.

I wonder who will make the playoffs next year? Oh, that's right, we already know: Alabama, Clemson, and 2 of Oklahoma/Ohio State/wildcard. Exciting.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Exactly. ESPN and NCAA thought they were cashing in huge with the CFP. I wouldn’t doubt it we see some major changes when the CFP deal runs out.

Did you see the deal espn just gave to the SEC? Blew the deal cbs has with the sec out of the water

 

[olehead]

The four team college football championship playoff has gone on for seven years, since 2014. Ten teams have taken the 24 available slots in the playoffs. Alabama 6X, Clemson 6X, Ohio State 5X, Oklahoma 4X, and Notre Dame 2X, Georgia 1X, Oregon 1X, LSU 1X, Florida State 1X, Michigan State1X. The seven titles are split between 4 teams. Alabama 3X, Clemson 2X Ohio State 1X and LSU 1X.

So basically it's a bit like Monty Pyton with tiny group of characters taking on all the roles. If a high school kid wants to get in the tournament, he has to chose between Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and, maybe, Notre Dame. The top four will garner the best high school players every year. It's Groundhog Day. In short, if kept at four teams, we will see Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma every year with few interlopers.

One word. BORING. The greatness of the NCAA basketball tournament is it surprises almost every year. Even when the favorite wins it's a surprise. Best of all, Cinderella is invited to the dance. There is no chance for this kind of excitement in the current college football playoff. The top four lives far and away from the rest of college football. The cake is baked before the season starts.

Going to eight teams will not solve all the problems. But it will help spread out the best recruits and introduce a bit more parity at the top of the football world. The sooner, the better.

You said it @Palatine, one word boring. The disparity in talent was abundantly clear and really it's not close. Bama's pros against everybody else's 3 and 4 star joe's.

 

[CTBasketball]

Did you see the deal espn just gave to the SEC? Blew the deal cbs has with the sec out of the water

SEC games this year were 10x better than any playoff game, regular season P5 game, or bowl game.

 

[pepband99]

You are right. It is perfect as it is.

I wonder who will make the playoffs next year? Oh, that's right, we already know: Alabama, Clemson, and 2 of Oklahoma/Ohio State/wildcard. Exciting.

His question was legit. Are you incapable of having a discussion that isn't 100% inline with your point? Jeez.

You could just as easily envision an 8 team playoff that would have the same issue. The last few years could have been:

Alabama
Clemson
OU
OSU
Georgia
LSU/Florida/ND
Maybe the Pac12 champ
Maybe the G5 best team

It all depends on how the 8 teams are derived. The more AQ's there are, the more interesting it gets. If it's all committee, it's probably less interesting.

 

[freescooter]

In a perfect world we dump any “ national championship” tournament. But that isn’t happening so I’d favor a tournament like the 1AA one. 16 teams. Maybe go 18 with 2 play in games. Every league champ gets in so 10 auto bids then 6-8 at large to get Norte Dame, BYU and UConn. Plus 3-5 more P5 teams. Top ranked teams play at home for play in, first and second rounds then semis are at the orange, sugar, cotton and fiesta bowls and the final at the Rose Bowl.Ratings had been basically stable at around 25 million after year 1 but this year was a disaster and is just shedding fans and honestly it had zero juice. Barely mentioned on even ESPN radio.

I think that they are pretty much destroying the sport. Before this, teams that had solid seasons could draw fans and interest. We have moved to a point where only the National Championship matters, but even with that, everybody knows that before the first kick of the first game of the year, only about 6-8 teams have even the longest of long shots. Fully 50% have none. Contrast that with other sports and you know Central Connecticut basketball can play for the title. Probably won’t win, but they’ll get a chance. In soccer, same 5hing. In hockey, Sacred Heart likely won’t win, but if they win the AHA they will get a chance. In football you can go unbeaten, win your league and set scoring records and not even get considered.

 

[Guapo]

For all the talk about the “greatness” of the NCAA tournament; there really isn’t a difference in championships. The same small number of schools horde most of the championships.

re: TV ratings. The Semi Finals and the Championship game are still the four most watched non-NFL broadcasts this year. The next closest broadcast was game 6 of the World Series at 12.7 million. The championship game was down 18%, but the semis were “only” down 2%. Compare that to the NBA and NHL finals which were down close to 60%. This has more to do with Covid tv rating declines rather than the overall health of the sport.

I’d probably be ok with a 6 game playoff - and I agree there needs to be more diversity in the teams getting in, especially geographic diversity. However expanding it too big destroys the best regular season in sports.

I’d much rather watch Alabama play Ohio State, Clemson etc every year in a small playoff than sub .500 teams playing in the NFL playoffs. That’s just gross.

 

[QDOG5]

The scholarship limit was moved to 105 in 1973, dropped to 95 in1978, and dropped again to the current 85 in 1992. There is a push to drop the limit to 75. I don't know if it would level the playing field if it is passed. In theory it seems like it would work. I'm in favor of an 8 team playoff. I think there would be some first round upsets that might get people watching. It seems many sporting events have had their worst viewership ever during Covid. Seems counterintuitive. Maybe people are sick and tired of everything?