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

[Palatine]

Posted this on the basketball board by mistake. It belongs here. But the basketball board actually had a nice discussion with it. Anyways.....

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.

 

[Watchdog]

The ratings tell the story. Down, down, down, and there is no excitement around the nation because so many teams have no chance and younger people don't care one bit about it.

ESPN and the NCAA have a problem and it's not going to get better anytime soon.
As ratings fall, the money decreases, and soon somebody is left holding the bag.

 

[huskeynut]

So I guess Alabama is bad for football!

But seriously, the powers that be don't seem to want to change. And that includes ESPN.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Bare minimum the playoffs should be is 12. 10 Conference champs and 2 at large. Ideally 16 is the best number. 10 conference champs and 6 at large. Like I said on the Bball board, if FCS, DII and DIII can have a 24 or 32 team playoff, there is 0 excuses why DI can't have a 16 team playoff. The only reason we don't is the have's don't want to give the have no'ts a chance because that keeps them at financial and recruiting advantage.

 

[uconntailgater]

I think 8 is a good number for the playoffs. You don’t want to diminish the regular season. The first round of an 8 team playoff would be on campus. I think we may start to see a change in some of the teams that make it to the playoffs. Clemson an Ohio State will be losing first round quarterbacks to the NFL. Also, the top teams have increased their scheduling difficulty so teams should start knocking each other out during the regular season.

An 8 team playoff Will give the G5 a reasonable shot at making the playoffs. It will also encourage the marquee football programs to schedule more difficult teams as they can afford a loss or two and still make the playoffs. Having the first round games on campus and potentially bad weather will add to the pageantry and excitement.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[uconntailgater]

If there was an 8 team playoff this year:
Cincinnati at Alabama
Florida At Clemson
Oklahoma at Ohio State
Texas A&M at Notre Dame.

How cool would this be for first round games on campus.

 

[bc puckett]

Bare minimum the playoffs should be is 12. 10 Conference champs and 2 at large. Ideally 16 is the best number. 10 conference champs and 6 at large. Like I said on the Bball board, if FCS, DII and DIII can have a 24 or 32 team playoff, there is 0 excuses why DI can't have a 16 team playoff. The only reason we don't is the have's don't want to give the have no'ts a chance because that keeps them at financial and recruiting advantage.

Sure let’s make it better by watering it down. We could make it just like the FCS where North Dakota State has won more than Alabama and Clemson combined or D3 where Wisconsin-Whitewater or Mount Union win every year and play each other in the final almost every year. Sounds like a plan

 

[bc puckett]

If there was an 8 team playoff this year:
Cincinnati at Alabama
Florida At Clemson
Oklahoma at Ohio State
Texas A&M at Notre Dame.

How cool would this be for first round games on campus.

And you would have had four more non-competitive games

 

[coachcap]

This afternoon on the ESPNU Sirius-XM station, Ryan Leaf espoused the playoff expanded to 16 teams. He also thought that conferences should delete one non-conference game per team. to make room for the expanded playoff. The eight , 4 ,2, 1 format should be through the bowl system & the lesser bowls should be done away with. As he was saying all of this, all I could think of was that it would be next to impossible fir an independent team such as UConn to get a seat at the table.

 

[bc puckett]

This afternoon on the ESPNU Sirius-XM station, Ryan Leaf espoused the playoff expanded to 16 teams. He also thought that conferences should delete one non-conference game per team. to make room for the expanded playoff. The eight , 4 ,2, 1 format should be through the bowl system & the lesser bowls should be done away with. As he was saying all of this, all I could think of was that it would be next to impossible fir an independent team such as UConn to get a seat at the table.

So teams like Alabama or Clemson would give up a cupcake home game and teams like UConn would lose out on payday games. Great idea. Nice to see Ryan Leaf is still a moron

 

[DoctorWho85]

Sure let’s make it better by watering it down. We could make it just like the FCS where North Dakota State has won more than Alabama and Clemson combined or D3 where Wisconsin-Whitewater or Mount Union win every year and play each other in the final almost every year. Sounds like a plan

They said the same thing about NCAA Tournament and they were wrong. You're basically saying that only certain schools should be allowed in because there's almost no chance a G5 breaks the top 10 let alone the top 8. How many times has a school from any conference outside the P5 finished in the top 8? I bet you can count it on one. Expanded playoffs does not water it down, it brings the opportunity for a cinderella story and an underdog. That's why the BBall tournaments are so successful. And it'll work just the same in football. Hell even the NFL expanded their playoffs this year. And it in no way watered it down.

 

[Palatine]

Sure let’s make it better by watering it down. We could make it just like the FCS where North Dakota State has won more than Alabama and Clemson combined or D3 where Wisconsin-Whitewater or Mount Union win every year and play each other in the final almost every year. Sounds like a plan

Good point, the NCAA basketball touney is too watered down. Let's cut it four teams.

 

[bc puckett]

Good point, the NCAA basketball touney is too watered down. Let's cut it four teams.

Please keep thinking there is any comparison between football and basketball. It’s like comparing a Ferrari and a Yugo.

 

[hank970]

The problem with an expanded playoff is the number of additional games each qualifier would have to play, with attendant potential for player injury. For an eight-team playoff, the two teams in the championship would have to play an additional three games. If sixteen participated, the two teams in the championships would have to play four additional games in the season. That's a lot of exposure, and the many players on those teams with professional aspirations might not be willing to assume the risk of a possible career-ending injury.

Frankly, I'd rather we do away with the championship series, revert to a few premier bowl games, and leave the matter of who's best to endless debate.

 

[Viet Vet]

Three structural factors that contribute to the NFL being more competitively balanced than college football:

A) Drafting in reverse order of prior year's performance.

B) Revenue Sharing. Each franchise shares equally in national TV, merchandising and licensing revenue, regardless of market size. 40% of gross ticket sales are also shared equally. 60% of ticket sales go to the home team. 100% of concessions and parking are split between the home team and stadium ownership.

C) Rosters are limited to 53. NCAA D1 football permits 85 scholarships, promoting hoarding.

If I could impose one change on D1 football, it would be to reduce scholarships to 60, with a yearly cap of 20 (to allow some flexibility year-to-year). Also, while not a goal of mine, this would further facilitate schools' compliance with Title IX. If already fully compliant, perhaps a school could use the 25 freed-up scholarships to reinstate its men's baseball, wrestling, tennis, lacrosse, etc team that was previously eliminated to be compliant. Or........ add more women's sports.

Just food for thought.

 

[DoctorWho85]

The problem with an expanded playoff is the number of additional games each qualifier would have to play, with attendant potential for player injury. For an eight-team playoff, the two teams in the championship would have to play an additional three games. If sixteen participated, the two teams in the championships would have to play four additional games in the season. That's a lot of exposure, and the many players on those teams with professional aspirations might not be willing to assume the risk of a possible career-ending injury.

Frankly, I'd rather we do away with the championship series, revert to a few premier bowl games, and leave the matter of who's best to endless debate.

Except FCS, DII and DIII play 16 or 17 game seasons with their playoffs. And none of them complain about academics or being hurt through the playoffs. Only thing preventing a larger playoff at DI is the SEC and B1G doesn't want to it.

 

[BlueDogs]

Three structural factors that contribute to the NFL being more competitively balanced than college football:

A) Drafting in reverse order of prior year's performance.

B) Revenue Sharing. Each franchise shares equally in national TV, merchandising and licensing revenue, regardless of market size. 40% of gross ticket sales are also shared equally. 60% of ticket sales go to the home team. 100% of concessions and parking are split between the home team and stadium ownership.

C) Rosters are limited to 53. NCAA D1 football permits 85 scholarships, promoting hoarding.

If I could impose one change on D1 football, it would be to reduce scholarships to 60, with a yearly cap of 20 (to allow some flexibility year-to-year). Also, while not a goal of mine, this would further facilitate schools' compliance with Title IX. If already fully compliant, perhaps a school could use the 25 freed-up scholarships to reinstate its men's baseball, wrestling, tennis, lacrosse, etc team that was previously eliminated to be compliant. Or........ add more women's sports.

Just food for thought.

Reducing scholarships is a good idea. The NCAA reasserting control over the NCAA football championship trademark and name brand is key. The NCAA should assert exclusive control over naming the NCAA football champion and drive the P5 back into the fold.

 

[bc puckett]

Except FCS, DII and DIII play 16 or 17 game seasons with their playoffs. And none of them complain about academics or being hurt through the playoffs. Only thing preventing a larger playoff at DI is the SEC and B1G doesn't want to it.

And there is zero parity or “Cinderella’s” at those levels either

 

[Kolumbo]

And you would have had four more non-competitive games

The point of the OP is to try to spread the wealth. Sure, this year you'd have 4 more non-competitive games but if you change the landscape the gap between those programs would shrink.

 

[bc puckett]

The point of the OP is to try to spread the wealth. Sure, this year you'd have 4 more non-competitive games but if you change the landscape the gap between those programs would shrink.

OK I’ll bite Define “changing the landscape “ and please give me something other then the lame “just add more teams” crap because that doesn’t work at any of the levels of football that have expanded playoffs or the other favorite whine of folks here “well it works in basketball “

 

[Palatine]

Please keep thinking there is any comparison between football and basketball. It’s like comparing a Ferrari and a Yugo.

Another gem, there is no comparison between sports.

 

[Palatine]

And there is zero parity or “Cinderella’s” at those levels either

And their is no such thing as BYU.

 

[bc puckett]

Another gem, there is no comparison between sports.

Which is what I said. Not big on reading comprehension I see

 

[bc puckett]

And their is no such thing as BYU.

BYU. Please tell me you are not referring to a team that won a “poll” NC almost 40 year ago as some argument for expanding the current playoffs. If that’s the best you’ve got them your more lost than I thought Maybe you should just watch basketball