As I sit back and take in a weekend that was honestly unnerving for a half of football, I think to myself... This feels like double jeopardy. After 12 weeks of football we know who is good and who is not. Why does Ohio State have to play Wisconsin again or Oklahoma play Baylor again.
Instead of taking the tournament to 8 (which is the most common requested format) I say take it to 16 and make room for it by getting rid of the pointless conference championship games. I see no harm going back to shared conference champions, which regularly occured for most of college football history.

The field should be composed as such:
1. P5 gets 2 bids apiece (division champions or highest two ranking teams).
2. G5 gets top 2 teams regardless of league
3. 4 at-large teams (preferably like the old BCS computer/human combination model that mitigates a bias toward a certain league

If we already know who is good and who is not, then why do we need a 16-team field?

(12-08-2019 02:15 PM)goofus Wrote:  If we already know who is good and who is not, then why do we need a 16-team field?

Or why bother playing 12 games. Just play 6.

I wouldn’t mind a system where my team actually had a path to the playoff, but no conference making a lot of money on their championship game would sign off on doing away with it.

Conferences should be small enough to determine a champion through a round robin. 13th regular season game displaces CCG’s. Week 0 becomes new Week 1. More warm weather games in northern half of country. Extra week for fans to plan and buy tix for bowl.

(12-08-2019 02:18 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  I wouldn’t mind a system where my team actually had a path to the playoff, but no conference making a lot of money on their championship game would sign off on doing away with it.

Right, if we're arguing about changes that would make less money for the P5 conferences, or even changes that just don't make more money, then we might as well start off with "Wouldn't it be nice if..."

Step one would have to be ensuring that the P5 conferences make a lot more money without the CCGs than they do with the CCGs. Any plan that doesn't do that is a non-starter.

(12-08-2019 02:20 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Conferences should be small enough to determine a champion through a round robin.

This view is incompatible with the current TV driven economic model.

(12-08-2019 02:16 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 02:15 PM)goofus Wrote:  If we already know who is good and who is not, then why do we need a 16-team field?

Or why bother playing 12 games. Just play 6.

Why bother playing at all?

(12-08-2019 03:24 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 02:16 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 02:15 PM)goofus Wrote:  If we already know who is good and who is not, then why do we need a 16-team field?

Or why bother playing 12 games. Just play 6.

Why bother playing at all?

CFP
#1 seed is 3-5 and has never won.
#2 seed is 7-2 and has won 3 times.
#3 seed is 1-5 and has never won.
#4 seed is 4-3 and has won twice.

I don't think a 16-team playoff is at all realistic in the forseeable future. Seriously. We go from 12 "BCS" bowl games for the "elite" teams -- where the top 4 play each other for a National Championship -- and jump to 16 "elite" team matchups? Would like that, but no way. IMO, it seems like common sense that it'd have to Migrate Toward 16 teams over years.

Here's my outlook putting how They Realistically Might set it up:

6 Team Playoff - All P5 Conf Champs + 1 at-large; Top G5 Champ or Independent gets the at-large automatically, if ranked above a P5 Champ; Top 2 Ranked Get Bye
PRO: Ensures all P5 Champs which is their main motivator.
CON: Adds that extra week/round, but just covering that Pro. You're still going to have a G5 Champ ranked pretty high and not get in, while a secondary SEC team or Notre Dame gets in there for the at-large. It pretty much makes you want to get to the 8-Team or more. Only seems to solve the all-P5 issue and nothing else, for adding an extra round.

8 Team Playoff - All P5 Conf Champs + 3 at-large; Top G5 Champ if ranked above a P5 Champ or ranked in Top 10
PRO: Gives the G5 a chance, albeit a little too close to hell. Gives more room for at-larges who are arguably better than a P5 Champ or two.
CON: You've ELIMINATED the New Year/"BCS" bowl situation for this. With LESS teams -- 8, not 12. And now the Top G5 doesn't have an auto-bid either to something "stellar".

12 Team Playoff (The Best Way, IMO):
- You take the current "New Years" elite bowls and make it into a playoff -- but re-structuring it a bit.
- Top 6 Conf Champs get an Auto-Bid (virtually always All P5 Champs + Top G5 Champ)
- Max 3 teams of same conference, unless 4th is ranked #4
- At-larges picked in order of rank
- A potentially 3rd team from a conference will be superceded in order by a 2nd (or technically 1st) team from another conference, if ranked 1-2 spots directly below them. Unless said team(s) are of the same conference as they, or they're of the Top 3 rank.

My idea:

- Go to 11 games and move the season up a week. Every team gets two byes (both help with the "but they play too many games!" argument)
- Rivalry weekend the Saturday before Thanksgiving, CCGs the Saturday after
- 16 team playoff (5 P5 Champs, 1 G5, next ten highest ranked)
- First two rounds before Christmas at highest seeds home field (this year would be 12/14 and 12/21)
- Play Semis and Finals like they're currently set up.
- Remaining bowl games can stay if they want for TV purposes.

The Heisman Trophy and Army Navy simply move up to the current CCG weekend (12/7) but otherwise everything else would be unaffected

I prefer that the B1G adds most of the PAC and Notre Dame, Texas and Oklahoma and the SEC grabs most of the ACC and a few other Big 12 schools. Then, the two mega conferences host tournaments among division winners and wild card teams that lead to conference championship games in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The national championship involves the Rose and Sugar Bowl winners.

B1G
EAST: Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Rutgers
MIDWEST: Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Pitt
NORTH: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas
SOUTH: Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah
WEST: USC, UCLA, Stanford, California, Washington, Oregon

8-team conference tournament. Round 1 at home sites; Semifinals at Indianapolis and Las Vegas; Championship = Rose Bowl.

SEC
EAST: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
SOUTH: Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas
NORTH: Texas A&M, Missouri, Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
ATLANTIC: Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, Boston College
COASTAL: Georgia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech

8-team conference tournament. Round 1 at home sites; Semifinals at Atlanta and Arlington; Championship = Sugar Bowl.

Left out: West Virginia, Baylor, Wake Forest, Oregon State, Washington State

So, this last weekend, we would have seen 8 fantastic games, every one of them meaningful:
(8)Notre Dame at (1)Ohio State
(7)Michigan at (2)Utah
(6)Oregon at (3)Oklahoma
(5)Penn State at (4)Wisconsin

and

(8)Oklahoma State at (1)LSU
(7)Virginia at (2)Clemson
(6)Alabama at (3)Georgia
(5)Auburn at (4)Florida

This weekend, we could look forward to:
Indianapolis: (1)Ohio State v. (4)Wisconsin
Las Vegas: (3)Oklahoma v. (7)Michigan
Arlington: (1)LSU v. (4)Florida
Atlanta: (2)Clemson v. (3)Georgia

Then, the New Year's bowl games could include:
Rose Bowl = (1)Ohio State v. (3)Oklahoma for the B1G championship
Sugar Bowl = (1)LSU v. (2)Clemson, for the SEC championship
Orange Bowl = Florida v. Penn State
Cotton Bowl = Alabama v. Michigan
Peach Bowl = Georgia v. Wisconsin
Fiesta Bowl = Utah v. Auburn

Same CFP, but more exciting route to get there and actually settle the championship on the field.

I have always said Conference Championship Games were nothing but a money grab for the conferences. But people argue that if you went to divisions you had to have a CG. But there was never a need to go to divisions which were only created to have this farce of a CG. And mind you, a CG that if you win (P5 of course) doesn't even guarantee you a spot in the playoffs.

College Football is great to watch. But this thing about having the "4 best teams" is ruining a lot things that were great about college football. The P5 have gone through great lengths to separate the have and the have nots. But that wasn't enough, the P5 then had to cut their own conference brethren throats.

And the funny thing it's a easy fix. But it's too many talking heads and greedy administrators making it complicated to fix the playoffs and the sport in general. Casual fans will never embrace college football like they do the NFL.

(12-09-2019 12:47 PM)YNot Wrote:  I prefer that the B1G adds most of the PAC and Notre Dame, Texas and Oklahoma and the SEC grabs most of the ACC and a few other Big 12 schools. Then, the two mega conferences host tournaments among division winners and wild card teams that lead to conference championship games in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The national championship involves the Rose and Sugar Bowl winners.

I disagree on your specifics, but agree on the overall concept. And here's what makes it plausible: You could rename each conference after who owns the media rights: FOX vs Disney

Since your consolidation falls along parent company ownership rights ... it's actually plausible. GoR's matter considerably less in this scenario since all the big money stays in house.

The specifics I disagree with:
- I don't see anybody getting left out unless there's a decided financial advantage to everybody. Wake carries too many rivalry games to be left behind. It also doubles as an incubator where projects can be hidden from public accounting. A more plausible scenario would be Disney demands the SEC boot Vanderbilt for Memphis. I think everybody but Vanderbilt would be OK with that. It's difficult to see a way for Cincinnati unless the Disney side ends up odd numbered for some reason. If anything I see the FOX side needing to bulk up to have even numbers on each side. And there are high upside programs to choose from out there: Wyoming, UNLV, Boise State, Colorado State, Utah State, Hawaii

- If you're bringing this much money to the table and reorganizing to this extent ... bowl games will die except for the NY6 and maybe a few other big name big attendance affairs. And I think instead of lower tier money losing bowls made for TV have the equivalent of the NIT and CBA for other teams above .500. They would filled and seeded by CFP ranking. Games are played at the home stadium of the higher seed with the option to move the game to the nearest available NFL venue instead. The lower playoffs will be sponsored made-for-TV affairs but still have good atmosphere good attendance and NOT lose money. And there's real incentive to play hard ... each time you win you get more practice and more exposure and a higher ranking next season at the jump. This may put an end to the "potential draft pick sitting out the bowl game" dilemma. Calling it the FBS will still make sense since the best teams will still go to prestigious bowls. Bad news for the Shreveports and Detroits of the world. Terrific news for the G5 and the lower half of the P5 and a tiny handful of bowls that make too much money and draw too much interest to do away with which will now benefit from less competition.

(12-08-2019 03:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 03:24 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 02:16 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(12-08-2019 02:15 PM)goofus Wrote:  If we already know who is good and who is not, then why do we need a 16-team field?

Or why bother playing 12 games. Just play 6.

Why bother playing at all?

CFP
#1 seed is 3-5 and has never won.
#2 seed is 7-2 and has won 3 times.
#3 seed is 1-5 and has never won.
#4 seed is 4-3 and has won twice.

... What?

The only way that more than two rounds of a playoff could work is if you drop the amount of games played in the regular season. Good luck selling conferences on less games and P5 teams on less home game revenue.