CFP Expansion
- Thread starter Auggie
- Start date
Not if you make teams from the same conference play each other in the early rounds to eliminate each other. That would leave two sec teams in the final 4 and no chance of an all SEC final.
My biggest problem with calling Georgia national champs is they were not the best team in their conference. I know this would never happen, but I would like to see the conference title mean something by allowing only conference champs to continue into the playoffs.
By allowing Georgia in this year we open the debate as to who really is better, the SEC champions or the second place team from the SEC who went on to win a national title?
Interesting on the bowl ratings. I always watched bowl games as it was a gauge of how one conference performed vs another.
I had zero interest this year in bowl games. I would watch expanded playoffs for sure, but the bowl system is dying and further expansion of the playoffs will only hasten its demise.
The biggest problem for expanded playoffs though from my standpoint is two games back to back takes 7 hours to view. Other than New Years eve where do you insert enough TV time to get 4 consecutive games in and not lose eyes to the games? Showing 14 hours of college football quarter finals right around Christmas is probably a difficult thing to accomplish.
Auggie
Well-known member
This is where you have two different networks showing the games and you flip back and forth. It works for the hoops tourney so it could work for the football version. Or you go with one Friday night game then start at 12:00 on Saturday and work your way across the country east to west with staggered kick offs.
AEW Champion
Well-known member
There would never be more than four playoff games per week. Put one game on a Friday night, and the other three at noon, 4 pm and 8 pm Saturday. Very simple.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
There is precedent:
2016: The first-ever non-champ to make it
Ohio State became the first team to make the field despite not winning its conference, even grabbing the #3 seed. Until this moment, it was assumed by many that a conference title was essentially a requirement.The 11-1 Buckeyes had lost dramatically at Penn State, which went on to win the conference title game. But the Nittany Lions had two losses, and the committee — which had kept OSU above PSU in the weeks leading up to Selection Sunday — maintained the Buckeyes deserved a spot. The Nittany Lions slotted fifth, two spots behind the team they beat.
The Buckeyes would get shut out by Clemson in the semifinal.
I have zero problem with slotting a team above a team that beat them. This year for example, I felt Notre Dame may be more deserving than Cincinnati due to strength of schedule differences.
I would prefer an automatic bid process such as conference champ punches ticket rather than a more subjective committee making decisions based perhaps on green rather than merit.
AEW Champion
Well-known member
Totally agree with the first paragraph, totally disagree with the second paragraph. We don’t need a crappy team like Pitt or Wake Forest being gifted a playoff berth over better teams.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Yappi
Go Buckeyes
Seems to work in the NFL. IMO, I only want to know that the best team made the playoffs. We know for a fact that it happens in the NFL, NBA, college basketball, and almost every sport. College football in the one sport that always has questions.
We really don't need the 3rd best team from the SEC or the 2nd best team from the Big Ten making the playoffs. Make the entire season count. Get rid of stupid conference championships. Take the champions from the power 5 conferences and seed them 1 through 5. Take 6 teams from other conference champions and at-large teams. Those 6 play the first round and winners will get seeds 6, 7, and 8 for round two. If a conference has two teams in the final 8, they play each other automatically. No more "League Games" in the Championship game. I don't want two NFC teams playing in the Super Bowl, two National League teams playing in the World Series, or two Western Conference teams playing in the NBA Finals. That is the very definition of boring.
Higher seed always hosts until the championship game. Tournament starts what is now the conference championship weekend. Playoff Championship will be on January 1st every year.
irish_buffalo
Well-known member
Since 2014 the four team set-up has worked. The best team has won.
adselder09
Well-known member
I'm not sure how one team is more deserving over another when they got beat by said team, who then went undefeated. In the example provided, Penn St had 2 losses to Ohio State's 1.
Going off the Week 14 AP Poll, under that model we likely would've gotten:
#1 Georgia (SEC)
#2 Michigan (Big Ten)
#3 Oklahoma State (Big 12)
#4 Oregon (Pac 12)
#5 Pittsburgh (ACC)
At large
#6 Cincinnati hosting #11 Baylor (winner plays @ Oklahoma State)
#7 Alabama hosting #10 Ole Miss (winner plays @ Georgia)
#8 Notre Dame hosting #9 Ohio State (winner plays @ Michigan)
Then, Pittsburgh plays @ Oregon for the last quarterfinal match-up.
adselder09
Well-known member
Had never thought of at-large teams playing for spots in an 8-team bracket. The more I think about it the more I like it. I will say that I disagree that the P5 Champ should be automatically slotted as a top 5 seed. It should be the top 5 ranked Conference Champions, regardless of Conference.
So for this season you would have had:
1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Cincinnati
4. Baylor
5. Utah
Then your play-ins would have been:
6. Georgia vs. 11. Michigan State
7. Notre Dame vs. 10. Oklahoma State
8. Ohio State vs. 9. Ole Miss
If you want to reward Pitt for winning the ACC and finishing in the top 12, then knock out either Ole Miss or Michigan St as the 3rd Team from those conferences.
adselder09
Well-known member
The other problem with not playing conference championship games is how do you give the nod to one team over another if they both go undefeated?
If say, Alabama and Georgia don't play, both go undefeated and there's no CC Game, then who gets one of the top 5 seeds and who plays in the play-in games? Without a true round robin schedule or conference title game, you'd have to rely on SOS and eye test.
If say, Alabama and Georgia don't play, both go undefeated and there's no CC Game, then who gets one of the top 5 seeds and who plays in the play-in games? Without a true round robin schedule or conference title game, you'd have to rely on SOS and eye test.
Huge difference in motivation for Cincinnati compared to Notre Dame. That was Cincinnati's only major opponent.
There are plenty of examples where one team defeats another but clearly is not really better than them, except on that day. I still thought Georgia was the better team even after they lost to Alabama, since they got a second chance they proved that to be correct.
adselder09
Well-known member
Huge difference? You mean to tell me that ND wasn't motivated for a game at home against a top 10 team? That was Notre Dame's highest and ONLY ranked opponent on the season prior to the Fiesta Bowl. And it would be different if they snuck by with a win, they were in control the entire game.
I agree with your second point, the best team doesn't always win. But you guys and your excuses for UC is just comical at this point.
Auggie
Well-known member
A nice Friday news dump item with some big news regarding expansion>
www.espn.com
Basically the ACC wants a year break to allow the NCAA to sort out a new structure before jumping in to a new playoff system.
ACC boss: Analyze sport before expanding CFP
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips says the conference is against CFP expansion right now because of the uncertain landscape of college football as a whole.
www.espn.com
Basically the ACC wants a year break to allow the NCAA to sort out a new structure before jumping in to a new playoff system.
irish_buffalo
Well-known member
The four team format has worked since 2014. If it is not broken, do not fix.
eastisbest
Well-known member
I agree with your premises about better teams not always winning but not the motivation factor. ND is going to be motivated at home, regardless who they play. This year, a healthy Cinci beats ND every week of the year including the bye. They were the better of the two teams.
No expansion for at least four years.
www.si.com
College Football Playoff committee cannot reach unanimous decision on expansion - Sports Illustrated
The committee will continue to discuss an expansion for the 2026–27 season.
www.si.com
So why play the games … just give the “trophy” to the team deemed the best
Thavoice
Well-known member
Massillon agrees.
14Red
Well-known member
Let's just put the expansion talk away until at least 2025. It's not happening. The schools, the networks and the NCAA make the maximum amount of money under this current system. The regular season is the most significant in college football than any other major viewed sport, college or pro. In college basketball, you have 67 teams make the playoffs!!! Indiana is 16-10 and as of today they are one of the last 4 in?? Do you really want a 8-4 football team, tied for 3rd in their league making the playoffs in football? No!
Think of if this way if you want to, think of all D1 college football teams starting a tournament in September. For about 95% of the schools, you lose, you're out. For a scant few schools, you may be able to lose a game, but you'd better win your conference championship game. That's GREAT! That makes for a real national champion!
Think of if this way if you want to, think of all D1 college football teams starting a tournament in September. For about 95% of the schools, you lose, you're out. For a scant few schools, you may be able to lose a game, but you'd better win your conference championship game. That's GREAT! That makes for a real national champion!
adselder09
Well-known member
For starters, most teams with an 8-4 record aren't 3rd in their league. And I don't see anyone advocating for teams that are 8-4 making the Playoff. Typical straw man argument. I also cannot believe you just compared the college football invitational to March Madness. Apart from being different sports, one embraces inclusion and Cinderella stories, while the other only invites 2 of the same 4 teams every single year.
That's also part of the problem. The scant few get the benefit of the doubt when they lose a game, even if it's to a bad team. Clemson has made the Playoff with a bad loss on it's resume. As has Alabama, Ohio St and Oklahoma. There's never going to be a level playing field for everyone, there are too many teams and too many conferences for that to happen, but there's too much of an imbalance in college football. The same 10 programs run the sport, the other 110 are just along for the ride.
This gem might be your worst take on here, ever. We can revisit once they actually do expand and see how much more money all parties will end up making. This thing will expand, whether it's 6 or 8 or even 12 is still up for debate, but this thing is going to get bigger once the current deal runs its course. If Pandora's box with the NIL stuff hadn't been opened, I think expansion would have happened already for at least the 2023 season.
14Red
Well-known member
Ok, just for kicks and giggles I'll respond. So what do you want? First of all, by nature basketball can be played 2-3 times weekly, football cannot. You cannot just keep adding games to these teams. The college football champ now plays what 15 games under a 4 team format. Are you saying the two in the finals will play 17-18 games ?? And here is the major, MAJOR point of my argument. College teams are not going to agree to a 10 game schedule so you can have a 8 or 16 team playoff. It benefits only the teams that make the playoffs. Nearly all power 5 D1 programs MAKE MONEY on HOME games. They are not going to give away a couple of home dates just to allow a few more teams in the playoffs.
Let's look at some programs for example. Iowa, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oklahoma State....these are programs with good fan bases, but they aren't making the playoffs consistently or maybe ever. You're asking these kinds of programs to cut back 2-3 games so this playoff expansion can work....that's just not happening.
Let's look at some programs for example. Iowa, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oklahoma State....these are programs with good fan bases, but they aren't making the playoffs consistently or maybe ever. You're asking these kinds of programs to cut back 2-3 games so this playoff expansion can work....that's just not happening.
adselder09
Well-known member
Says who? They just pushed the NFL season from 16 to 17 games. This year's Finalists played 15 games, including a Conference Championship game. Adding one more round (8 teams) makes it 16 games, assuming they all play in Conference Championships. Going to 12 could mean 16-17, depending on who makes it to a Conference Championship Game and if anyone seeded lower than 5th makes it to the CFP Championship Game. This past season as 12 teams would have seen the following teams NOT play in a Conference Championship:
#5 Notre Dame - max 16 games
#6 Ohio State - max 16 games
#8 Ole Miss - max 16 games
#10 Michigan State - max 16 games
So with 12 teams, there would have only been 4 teams with the potential to play 17 games, the rest would have been 16. And that's IF the teams make it all the way to the Championship Game.
adselder09
Well-known member
There would be zero reason to drop the regular season down to 10 games. Additionally, if the move to 8 or 12 goes through, you could see games on home sites for the higher seeded teams, meaning more $$ for the host. On top of that, most of these conferences have revenue sharing, so when one team makes the CFP and gets all that bonus money, it gets pumped back into the rest of the conference as well.
For me, I prefer 8 to 12 but I'd be happy with either. Top 5 Conference Champs regardless of P5/G5 are seeded 1-5. Rest are at-large bids, whether that's 8 or 12. G5 has to be represented. If 12, top 4 get byes. Home games for 1st Rd and Quarterfinal games. If you do not win your Conference Championship, you're automatically slotted 6th or lower. If you're a top 5 team who loses in the Conference Championship, odds are the Conference Champion will be the #1 seed - like Georgia and Alabama this year.
14Red
Well-known member
But Georgia and Bama were the two best teams, that showed out. You're going to penalize a team because of they play in a great conference?
My plan would be to cut D1 college football to either 32 or 48 programs, put them in regional divisions. An independent group puts the schedule together to get the schools for scheduling cupcake U 4 games a season. With 48 teams, I'd do 8/ 6 team divisions - the winner of each division goes into the playoff. Teams play 5 division games and 7 at large games among the other 42 teams. That's 12 games, the two teams that make the finals play 15 games. This would ensure a true national champion, playiing a much similar schedule than the current setup.
adselder09
Well-known member
Yes 100%. Conference Championships matter. If you are one of the two best teams, being seeded 6th still gives you a path to the Championship. The love-fest with the SEC is what is killing the sport. There's a reason the NFL is king and it's not because the same 5 teams dominate year after year.
adselder09
Well-known member
But you think the Finalists playing one extra game is extreme? Wow.