Your suggestions for changing the playoff system

Television ratings for the College Football Playoff semifinals were down about 17 percent in the first season of the expanded 12-team format.

Taking place later in January than under the previous four-team CFP, last weekend's games averaged 19.2 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

That marked the lowest average since a New Year's Eve doubleheader in the 2021 season drew an audience of 16.9 million, according to Sports Business Journal.



 
Television ratings for the College Football Playoff semifinals were down about 17 percent in the first season of the expanded 12-team format.

Taking place later in January than under the previous four-team CFP, last weekend's games averaged 19.2 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

That marked the lowest average since a New Year's Eve doubleheader in the 2021 season drew an audience of 16.9 million, according to Sports Business Journal.



Comparing ratings for the semi games last year that were on New Year’s day vs this year they were played on a random Thursday and Friday night isn’t apples to apples FYI
 
Television ratings for the College Football Playoff semifinals were down about 17 percent in the first season of the expanded 12-team format.

Taking place later in January than under the previous four-team CFP, last weekend's games averaged 19.2 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

That marked the lowest average since a New Year's Eve doubleheader in the 2021 season drew an audience of 16.9 million, according to Sports Business Journal.



Not surprising. This was the first year you could not get playoff games on regular broadcast TV over the air. Most of our family did not watch the games for that reason. We won't know what a typical public broadcast would have generated viewer wise.
 
Not surprising. This was the first year you could not get playoff games on regular broadcast TV over the air. Most of our family did not watch the games for that reason. We won't know what a typical public broadcast would have generated viewer wise.
While that maybe true, there were what 11 total playoff games as opposed to 3 since the playoff was expanded. Now interesting to see how it goes next year as this years overall viewship with alot of the blue bloods in tow. You had in week 1, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, Clemson, Tennessee and Notre Dame. Week 2 you add Oregon and Georgia to OHio State, Penn State, Texas and Notre Dame. You just kind of feel this was all set up nicely by the committee and the plan worked flawlessly. If you could pick two teams at the start to meet in the finals, Ohio State and Notre Dame would be at or near the top.

Do I see it changing alot? The format possibly, the teams? Not likely. You can about pencil in Ohio State annually to this playoff. The lack of a strong week to week schedule nearly guarantees they'll have only one, or possibly two losses, and we've already established you get in with 2 losses. So I think Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, are all nearly guaranteed to be in. Clemson has a good shot as long a Dabo is there There really isn't a dominate Big 12 program so there will likely be a revolving door out there. A random Big ten team whos schedule falls just right will probably make it, the pick the 2-3-4 best SEC teams annually and that's it. What I've argued for years is that the SEC's strength from top to bottom makes it the best conference, and there is no real question about it. They just cannibalized themselves this season. The Big ten is either top with OSU, Penn State, now Oregon and Indiana was an upstart, Michigan got better as the season went on, then it was a bunch of bottom feeders. The SEC is strong from top to bottom, every week is a playoff game in that league.
 
First off, I would eliminate conference champions ships. Second, I would start earlier. Third, I would add 4 more at larger bids and seed them according to AP Top 25. Top 8 get home games first round.
I agree! All four conference champions lost their first game under the current CFP format. Except for the money it generates, I really don't see a benefit in playing a league championship game. Instead, I think they should have 16 teams, so no one gets a bye, and start the tournament the week that was used for conference championships.
 
Comparing ratings for the semi games last year that were on New Year’s day vs this year they were played on a random Thursday and Friday night isn’t apples to apples FYI
I believe that was Tom 48's point. In the end, the arrogance of the NCAA hurt the viewership of the games. Even the championship game timing was the worst, MLK Day AND Inauguration Day. The NCAA continues to show that they are run by a bunch of clowns.
 
I believe that was Tom 48's point. In the end, the arrogance of the NCAA hurt the viewership of the games. Even the championship game timing was the worst, MLK Day AND Inauguration Day. The NCAA continues to show that they are run by a bunch of clowns.
... or make decisions based on what the NFL decides it wants to do.
 
While that maybe true, there were what 11 total playoff games as opposed to 3 since the playoff was expanded. Now interesting to see how it goes next year as this years overall viewship with alot of the blue bloods in tow. You had in week 1, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, Clemson, Tennessee and Notre Dame. Week 2 you add Oregon and Georgia to OHio State, Penn State, Texas and Notre Dame. You just kind of feel this was all set up nicely by the committee and the plan worked flawlessly. If you could pick two teams at the start to meet in the finals, Ohio State and Notre Dame would be at or near the top.

Do I see it changing alot? The format possibly, the teams? Not likely. You can about pencil in Ohio State annually to this playoff. The lack of a strong week to week schedule nearly guarantees they'll have only one, or possibly two losses, and we've already established you get in with 2 losses. So I think Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, are all nearly guaranteed to be in. Clemson has a good shot as long a Dabo is there There really isn't a dominate Big 12 program so there will likely be a revolving door out there. A random Big ten team whos schedule falls just right will probably make it, the pick the 2-3-4 best SEC teams annually and that's it. What I've argued for years is that the SEC's strength from top to bottom makes it the best conference, and there is no real question about it. They just cannibalized themselves this season. The Big ten is either top with OSU, Penn State, now Oregon and Indiana was an upstart, Michigan got better as the season went on, then it was a bunch of bottom feeders. The SEC is strong from top to bottom, every week is a playoff game in that league.
I sure hope you are using your sarcastic voice. Did you not see Sothern Cal (4-5 in B1G) beat LSU (5-3 in SEC) in week 1?
 
I believe that was Tom 48's point. In the end, the arrogance of the NCAA hurt the viewership of the games. Even the championship game timing was the worst, MLK Day AND Inauguration Day. The NCAA continues to show that they are run by a bunch of clowns.
Do you think MLK day and the inauguration had anything to do with the football game? Nominal at best.
 
Do you think MLK day and the inauguration had anything to do with the football game? Nominal at best.
Come on 14Red Football does not rule everyone's life. Those two events have a lot of interests from large groups of people. They may not be football events themselves but there are some people who will be involved with them instead of watching a football game. If those events were not occurring then football fans active or interested in both of them would turn to the National Championship game instead.
 
Come on 14Red Football does not rule everyone's life. Those two events have a lot of interests from large groups of people. They may not be football events themselves but there are some people who will be involved with them instead of watching a football game. If those events were not occurring then football fans active or interested in both of them would turn to the National Championship game instead.
I realize that, but the inauguration was pretty much wrapped up by the afternoon, and I'm not sure where you live, but I don't think there was much of any events surrounding MLK day, and if they were, it was in the morning. While Ohio State and Notre Dame have big fan bases, I'd point to NOT being a fan of either team being more of the reason for lower ratings than the inauguration or MLK day. Outside of the states of Ohio and Indiana, how much interest was there south of Kentucky, east of Pennsylvania and west of say Illinois? ND does have a national brand, but it's still ND.
 
This question is for Ohio State fans, so crossing over sports, if you are an Ohio State football fan, and a baseball fan, even casually, what's your thoughts on the competitive balance of baseball? Meaning teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs seems to gather alot of the talent? My point is you can't hate the Yankees / Dodgers and like the Buckeyes. Ohio State football is the Yankees/ Dodgers of college football. They have the most resources and are able to gather more talent than most other programs.
 
This question is for Ohio State fans, so crossing over sports, if you are an Ohio State football fan, and a baseball fan, even casually, what's your thoughts on the competitive balance of baseball? Meaning teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs seems to gather alot of the talent? My point is you can't hate the Yankees / Dodgers and like the Buckeyes. Ohio State football is the Yankees/ Dodgers of college football. They have the most resources and are able to gather more talent than most other programs.
While I agree with you, I think Ohio State is more like the Dallas Cowboys or Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Yankees and Dodgers have big market advantages that most other baseball teams will never be able to compete with. Columbus is not a huge Metropolitan area with unlimited resources. Much like the NFL, prolonged success has created a huge fan base even for smaller markets.
 
While I agree with you, I think Ohio State is more like the Dallas Cowboys or Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Yankees and Dodgers have big market advantages that most other baseball teams will never be able to compete with. Columbus is not a huge Metropolitan area with unlimited resources. Much like the NFL, prolonged success has created a huge fan base even for smaller markets.
Ohio State is one of the largest colleges if not the largest and it's been that way for a long time. College alumni = boosters. Ohio State's market is the state of Ohio, not Columbus. Now I will say their stronghold goes all the way back to all the winning that was done in the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's ect. Ohio State has always been the big bully on the block in the big ten football neighborhood. It was the big 2, little 8 for decades before the big ten expanded and that's not changed them a bit.
I've been in Ohio since the mid 80's. Ohio State, other than a scant year or two, is at the top of the conference. That's feeds the entire state as every little kid in Ohio becomes a Buckeye fan and grow up with winning.
I'm not saying Ohio State should be ashamed of this, they grew it organically. I just want people to recognize the similarities the Dodgers and Yankees enjoy in baseball, as Ohio State does in football. Where this really becomes a conflict for Reds and Guardians fans, is you can't enjoy the domination of talent in one sport, and hate it for another.
 
This question is for Ohio State fans, so crossing over sports, if you are an Ohio State football fan, and a baseball fan, even casually, what's your thoughts on the competitive balance of baseball? Meaning teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs seems to gather alot of the talent? My point is you can't hate the Yankees / Dodgers and like the Buckeyes. Ohio State football is the Yankees/ Dodgers of college football. They have the most resources and are able to gather more talent than most other programs.
Yes Baseball has a serious problem here. In the pro world with their set up small markets do struggle. I think small market argument is BS in trhe NFL with their overall structure.
As for college football Ohio State and all the big programs will become the Yankees/Dodgers of the sport because of the Alumni money supporting them. I'm not sure you saw my previous post but Ohio State was actually third behind Oregon and Texas in NIL spending on the football team. The door has been opened and I'm not sure how you control especially with how corrupt and distorted the NCAA has become.
 
This question is for Ohio State fans, so crossing over sports, if you are an Ohio State football fan, and a baseball fan, even casually, what's your thoughts on the competitive balance of baseball? Meaning teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs seems to gather alot of the talent? My point is you can't hate the Yankees / Dodgers and like the Buckeyes. Ohio State football is the Yankees/ Dodgers of college football. They have the most resources and are able to gather more talent than most other programs.
Nonsense.

It has been well documented that other colleges spent more on their roster than OSU. Oregon and Texas, for example. There may be others. Plus, important point, OSU was mostly paying its own seniors to return for 1 more year. The roster was full of seniors that spent 4+ years at OSU. OSU brought in fewer players via the portal than Notre Dame. OSU just chose better guys (Howard, Judkins, Downs) than other schools.
 
I think there are several reasons for the ratings drop.
1)The date. College football fans are used to having the season over January 1st or soon after. Not 19 days later. Wait til 2027 when the game is January 25th!
2)The first round had three duds.
3)ESPN. Huh, you say? In round one the talking heads, where a lot of people get their sports info from, kept talking about Boise State and Arizona State aren't worth watching. After that the world wide leader in sports kept saying the semis aren't worth watching because the top four seeds all lost. ESPN does this in a lot of sports. If the Yankees or some other I-95 team or the Lakers aren't involved, the games don't matter.
4)This years' game involved two Midwest teams At least last year the Northwest was interested and a lot of Pac 12 territory was interested.
5)TNT. How many people seriously think TNT when they are wanting to watch sports
 
This question is for Ohio State fans, so crossing over sports, if you are an Ohio State football fan, and a baseball fan, even casually, what's your thoughts on the competitive balance of baseball? Meaning teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs seems to gather alot of the talent? My point is you can't hate the Yankees / Dodgers and like the Buckeyes. Ohio State football is the Yankees/ Dodgers of college football. They have the most resources and are able to gather more talent than most other programs.
Columbus is the largest city in Ohio by a large margin. Yet they have no major professional sports programs. The Buckeyes are the only game in town and they profit from that. Columbus population is almost triple that of Cleveland and Cincinnati.
 
The Columbus Blue Jackets is not a major professional team?
No. Hockey is only popular to a select group. NFL, MBA and NBA are the major sports in the United States. NHL originated in Canada and has 7 Canadian teams. The average person in the United States doesn't know anything about Hockey. Just about every school system has Football, Baseball and Basketball. How many high schools have a hockey rink and a hockey team?
 
No. Hockey is only popular to a select group. NFL, MBA and NBA are the major sports in the United States. NHL originated in Canada and has 7 Canadian teams. The average person in the United States doesn't know anything about Hockey. Just about every school system has Football, Baseball and Basketball. How many high schools have a hockey rink and a hockey team?
I suppose residents of Columbus might have a different opinion from yours about having a major sports franchise. I don't live there, but I still consider the NHL a major sports league and, I would think, most of the Yappi posters would agree. But, this is the thread for changing the football playoffs.
 
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I suppose residents of Columbus might have a different opinion from yours about having a major sports franchise. I don't live there, but I still consider the NHL a major sports league and, I would think, most of the Yappi posters would agree. But, this is the thread for changing the football playoffs.
Maybe put up a poll. Compared to the other major sports, how many people follow pro hockey? Put me down for a hard no.
 
Maybe put up a poll. Compared to the other major sports, how many people follow pro hockey? Put me down for a hard no.
Well, this thread is about the college football playoffs. But, just because posters don't follow pro hockey does not negate the fact that it is a major sport. Not as popular as the others, perhaps, but still a major sport.
 
Well, this thread is about the college football playoffs. But, just because posters don't follow pro hockey does not negate the fact that it is a major sport. Not as popular as the others, perhaps, but still a major sport.
We can agree on that. I stated that hockey has a select group of followers.
 
Seeding and automatic byes are clearly the biggest problem. If conference championships need to matter then they should be automatic bids, not byes. Byes are based on the top 4 teams once the final rankings are released. Re-seed after the first round. First and second round should be home games. Natty in the Rose Bowl.
 
I suppose residents of Columbus might have a different opinion from yours about having a major sports franchise. I don't live there, but I still consider the NHL a major sports league and, I would think, most of the Yappi posters would agree. But, this is the thread for changing the football playoffs.
I agree with Bob, hockey is a niche sport and very regional to the northern states. Now, just to put some perspective, golf is a niche sport, auto racing is an nitche sport. Yes, there are people who follow those sports ravidly but not in near the numbers of the others, especially pro football. While I'd say college football is popular, it's very, very top heavy to about 20 programs in the country.

I think hockey works in Columbus, it's not a pro sports town and yet there are alot of people there.
 
Conference champions get in + top ranked non-conference champions to make 16.

Seeded like March Madness, winning your conference doesn't give you a necessarily better seed, just into the tournament.

For example, this year's conference champions were:
AAC - Army
ACC - Clemson
B10 - Oregon
B12 - Arizona State
CUSA - Jacksonville State
MAC - Ohio
MWC - Boise State
SEC - Georgia
SBC - Marshall

7 highest rated teams that didn't win their conference
-Texas
-Penn State
-Notre Dame
-Ohio State
-Tennessee
-Indiana
-SMU

Now take all 16 team and rank them by their overall ranking thought 16 and you have:
1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Texas
4. Penn State
5. Notre Dame
6. Ohio State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. Boise State
10. SMU
11. Arizona State
12. Clemson
13. Army
14. Marshall
15. Ohio
16. Jacksonville State

So your first round match ups would be:
1. Oregon vs. 16. Jacksonville State
2. Georgia vs. 15. Ohio
3. Texas vs. 14. Marshall
4. Penn State vs. 13. Army
5. Notre Dame vs. 12. Clemson
6. Ohio State vs. 11. Arizona State
7. Tennessee vs. 10. SMU
8. Indiana vs. 9. Boise State

Games would start the weekend following the Army/Navy game
 
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