[Matt Hayes] The SEC willingly flushed its conference championship game that last year had better ratings than all eight first round CFP games of the brief, 12-team era.

[u/CrashB111]

https://x.com/MattHayesCFB/status/2111056779366785054

[u/Beard-Thirty]

Apparently it doesn’t mean more.

[u/FaithHopeLove821 → u/Beard-Thirty]

It means more teams... who won't win a title.

[u/Balloutonu → u/FaithHopeLove821]

Actually I think the same amount of teams won’t win it

[u/VekuKaiba → u/Balloutonu]

If we go back to the good old days of co-champions, even less teams won't win it!

[u/juicius → u/VekuKaiba]

We're all champions.

[u/Onibusho → u/juicius]

Of life?

[u/AppropriateCompany9 → u/Balloutonu]

Can we get a Harvard flair confirming this?

[u/BoatStuffDC → u/AppropriateCompany9]

Every Georgia Tech flair in this thread is physically vibrating with the urge to point out that this is actually a question of applied mathematics.

Please note that I didn’t say “buzzing” because I still have a modicum of self-respect.

[u/CodyRCantrell → u/BoatStuffDC]

Yet you still thought of the possibility of "buzzing" being there. We see who you really are.

[u/bamachine → u/CodyRCantrell]

He did use the word modicum, a word that would never pass a math nerd's lips, as it is an amount that cannot be quantified.

Source-a part math, part lit nerd from JaxSt, yes some of us can read and maf.

[u/LongDickCallahan → u/bamachine]

Well HELLO Mr fancy pants!

[u/Jackandahalfass → u/CodyRCantrell]

He’s a wreck is what he is.

[u/BoatStuffDC → u/Jackandahalfass]

Dawg, I like driving in my truck.

[u/Calithrand → u/Balloutonu]

But it does mean that another 12 teams can lose money while not winning it!

[u/HighOnGoofballs → u/FaithHopeLove821]

We never wanted to go to Atlanta anyway

[u/W_HoHatHenHereHy → u/Beard-Thirty]

It does mean more money!

[u/i_run_from_problems]

We're not just doing this for money

We're doing it for a shitload of money!

[u/monkeybiziu → u/i_run_from_problems]

Spaceballs: The Playoff!

[u/GreatBarrierQueefDD → u/i_run_from_problems]

Im surrounded by assholes!

[u/EIiteJT → u/GreatBarrierQueefDD]

What happens when you go to LSU

[u/NoCardio_ → u/EIiteJT]

He says with Texas flair.

[u/Pinewood74 → u/i_run_from_problems]

No, we're not. Net $155M is fucking peanuts when you really think about it. Not even $3M on average per P4 school.

And that's only accounting for the CCGs.

Still need to deduct the bowl game losses. And I wouldn't be the least bit shocked if late season matchups lose some juice.

And I also think that ESPN is vastly overestimating the interest level in these first round matchups. I don't think Georgia Tech vs BYU is really pulling much national audience when everyone is expecting the winner to get clobbered on the road by Georgia.

[u/ttufizzo → u/Pinewood74]

I think ESPN is vastly underestimating the power of the Schwartz.

[u/binzoma → u/ttufizzo]

they're too busy combing the desert looking for more money

[u/garfinkel3 → u/binzoma]

Can we jam ESPN?

[u/crewserbattle → u/binzoma]

SEC 2: The Search For More Money!

[u/Calithrand → u/Pinewood74]

Weirdly, I have found that the quarter/semifinals in the CFP era to be significantly more entertaining than the championship game. Like, to the extent that I've fallen asleep watching the championship game in at least two different years.

[u/garfinkel3 → u/Calithrand]

By the time the championship game rolls around, I’ve almost forgotten football is still on

[u/Educational-Apple603 → u/garfinkel3]

Plus it's a late Monday night game that takes forever due to the commercials

[u/garfinkel3 → u/Educational-Apple603]

Amen brother. And it’s usually two teams I hate.

[u/Pan_TheCake_Man → u/garfinkel3]

After January 1st, football is done. They usually have wierd gaps between games, and it’s on horrible times because they are terrified of competing with the NFL

[u/MistaC5050 → u/Pan_TheCake_Man]

This is me. My interest in college football drops off significantly after January 1st. By the time the championship game rolls around, it doesn't even feel like the same season anymore.

[u/fattdoggo123 → u/Calithrand]

I fell asleep at the championship game because of all the ads. It felt like they were interrupting my ad viewing with a football game.

[u/CodyRCantrell → u/Pinewood74]

Absolutely. As a neutral, I have no reason to watch the Iron Bowl anymore.

If Alabama loses, they are still in with a 24 team CFP and there is no SECCG berth on the line so why bother?

[u/ClaudeLemieux → u/CodyRCantrell]

Alabama has made a 2 team playoff without even winning their division before and a 4 team playoff without even winning their state so yeah I can’t even imagine what it would take for them to miss a 24 team playoff lol

[u/Accomplished-Pin6564 → u/ClaudeLemieux]

They even got voted in over an undefeated power conference champion.

[u/CodyRCantrell → u/Accomplished-Pin6564]

To leapfrog Georgia because of the results of the SECCG when <checks notes> the committee has said repeatedly every year they don't punish conference championship game participants and used that as their reasoning to keep Alabama in the CFP last season.

[u/I_Shall_Be_Known → u/CodyRCantrell]

Just pointing out this mindset is exactly part of the problem. You only care to watch the iron bowl if playoff stakes are on the line. Doesn’t matter if it’s a great rivalry or if both teams are good. So, they’re giving you more playoff games to watch instead.

[u/gatman19 → u/I_Shall_Be_Known]

Every regular season CFB game is competing with a dozen other games. I’ll watch what I’m most interested in. Implications add intrigue to games featuring teams I don’t give a shit about. My team doesn’t play Bama nor Auburn anymore so I don’t give much of a shit about them. The outcome of their rivalry game having actual implications makes me more likely to choose to spend my time watching that instead of something else

[u/CodyRCantrell → u/gatman19]

Exactly! It wouldn't surprise me if a ton of viewers are the same way and this also existed prior to the CFP because the BCS incentivized every game when one single upset could prevent a team from being selected for the national championship game.

The 4 team CFP let more regular season games have interest because one loss teams weren't almost guaranteed to be excluded from contention.

The 12 team CFP does this for two loss team.

A 24 team CFP disincentivizes the bulk of the regular season because you'll have teams with four losses getting in regularly and likely the occasional five loss team.

[u/CodyRCantrell → u/I_Shall_Be_Known]

I care to watch the Iron Bowl when any stakes are on the line which is why I explicitly mentioned the SECCG as well. If there are no implications or things to be lost there is no meaning to the games to make me prioritize them over other television.

This also existed before the CFP in the BCS era. Every game mattered because any loss could prevent you from being in the national championship game.

[u/yesacabbagez → u/Pinewood74]

Because it is about the money, but its money you don't see. It might be a wash cash wise on TV/bowl games, but making the playoff is going to be a drive for boosters. Schools can point to the playoff as a tangible thing they accomplished. Making a bowl is cool, but boosters always want more, especially at high levels. Conference championship games can only have 1 winner. Look at the Big ten since they went to a CCG vs their nonsense champion ties. 1990 had 4 Big Ten conference champs. Winning a conference is cool, but not winning is bad.

Playoff expansion gets a couple more big ten/sec schools into the playoff. I means those schools will be able to drive booster donations easier. Anything they lose on bowl/CCG money they will get back by being able to point to making the playoff as proof they just need more money from boosters.

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/Pinewood74]

I love how people bash 1st round games like GT vs BYU then in the same breath defend that same matchup when it’s the poptart bowl, which is just a glorified ad. 

It’s the same game, but it’s played on campus and the winner gets a playoff spot instead of their coach getting covered in sponsored goop. I see this as an absolute win. 

[u/joshlymansbagel → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

You nailed it. I agree with you completely. I said a couple of days ago that I didn’t really care for bowls and got flak for it. I think what this all is further revealing is the conservative nature of college football fans. By conservative I mean aversion to change, liking the status quo.

[u/Revolutionary_Elk791 → u/i_run_from_problems]

Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the playoff is made. CFP the T-shirt, CFP the Coloring Book, CFP the Lunch box, CFP the Breakfast Cereal, CFP the flamethrower.

[u/Calithrand → u/Revolutionary_Elk791]

NGL, I would drop at least $200 on a CFP flamethrower...

[u/asasasasasassin → u/Calithrand]

I heard Tesla was making consumer grade flamethrowers! Apparently they should be available for purchase by the end of 2019, pretty cool!

[u/BlasterONassis → u/Revolutionary_Elk791]

God willing, we'll all meet again in The 36 Team Playoff: The Search for More Money.

[u/Sir0inks-A-Lot → u/i_run_from_problems]

Let’s just say the offer moved him… TO A BIGGER HOUSE

Crap, I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet

[u/fart_dot_com → u/i_run_from_problems]

That's awesome, hopefully I get some.

[u/CrashB111]

Greg Sankey has forgotten the face of his fathers. (Roy Kramer & Mike Slive)

[u/CottonWasKing → u/CrashB111]

I know how this is going to be taken considering my flair, but objectively, Sankey has been atrocious as commissioner. Got bent over on the ESPN deal, pushed a 9 game conference schedule without any additional revenue from ESPN, now trying to push an interconference transfer ban and completely bent the knee on a 24 team playoff. Under his watch we’ve seen the SEC lose its place as the top conference in college football.

That’s not even approaching the problems LSU has with him which is immaterial when you just look at his work as a whole.

[u/CrashB111 → u/CottonWasKing]

It's just factual. He's been the worst SEC Commissioner in 30 years.

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/CottonWasKing]

It could be worse. You could have Phillips.

He’s actively trying to destroy a conference. It’s the only time he actually does something.

[u/Coteup → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

The MAC commissioner and all other G6 commissioners enthusiastically voted to permanently give away their voting power to the P4 (ie. their only leverage in the NCAA for the rest of time).

[u/Difficult-Froyo1192 → u/Coteup]

Yeah, I’ve still never understood that one. It seemed like a clearly bad idea from the get go.

[u/whyisalltherumgone_ → u/Difficult-Froyo1192]

It could be worse. You could have Larry Scott.

He actively did destroy a conference.

[u/Mythrandir24 → u/CottonWasKing]

I always thought his first failure was that time y'all and UF got into that pissing match over the game that got postponed because of the hurricane. Not even blaming either party because the ADs are supposed to fight to get the extra advantage. But by the same token, Sankey completely shit the bed not taking charge of the situation, you know, his whole fucking job as commissioner. From then on, I've looked at his decisions with that same lens of weakness.

[u/ImmNottCurious → u/CottonWasKing]

he also agreed to a 9 game schedule without forcing the B1G to mandate a OOC P4 game for their teams, it's crazy how Petiti runs circles around Sankey.

[u/Revolver_Oshawott_ → u/CottonWasKing]

Don't forget the whole not holding refs accountable.

I'm not even talking about the shitshow missed PI. I'm talking about the fact that Pat Adams and Doug Shows are still employed

[u/Johnny_Kilroy_84 → u/CottonWasKing]

Getting our fucking asses kicked on the business side and these fucking dipshits in Birmingham are putting all their effort into removing one of their biggest brands from their portfolio.

Sankey looks more and more like a B1G plant by the day. Fuck him.

[u/Beer-survivalist → u/CottonWasKing]

He thinks and acts like he's Mike Slive, but he is very much not. The SEC and Big Ten are larger and more powerful in college football than ever, but their commissioners are schmucks.

[u/jrh038 → u/CottonWasKing]

This is straight homerism. I think him not letting the LSU stuff go and personally keeping this lawsuit going is the beginning of the end.

Because the SEC got bent over backward on the last media deal, he can not be in a strong position with the presidents.

I'll give a prediction right now. I think LSU plans on playing g-league players if Ole Miss does, and daring Sankey to keep going with this crusade against only LSU. I think LSU is going ask for his head/seperate person(s) for enforcement.

LSU is clearly done with the dude and vote for his removal right now.

[u/dankenascend → u/CrashB111]

You speak true, sai.

[u/GravyMaster → u/dankenascend]

So ya do

[u/dawgfan19881 → u/CrashB111]

Dark Tower reference in my cfb sub??????

[u/The_Portlandian → u/dawgfan19881]

It's fucking everywhere. I'm deep into Song of Susannah right now and I can't escape it.

[u/dawgfan19881 → u/The_Portlandian]

All things serve the beam

[u/The_Portlandian → u/dawgfan19881]

Long days and pleasant nights

[u/GravyMaster → u/The_Portlandian]

Thankee sai

[u/dankenascend → u/The_Portlandian]

Have you been to the tower before?

[u/SarahLia → u/dawgfan19881]

...does anyone else hear the drum beat to Velcro Fly?

[u/Adams5thaccount]

The SEC Championship game was born out of a desire to make a shitload of money and position the SEC better to win the national title.

The SEC Championship game died out of a desire to make a shitload of money and position the SEC better to win the national title.

[u/nickyt398 → u/Adams5thaccount]

It's almost like you pay attention!

[u/Gbchris12]

Who doesn't love corporate greed?

[u/_SmashLampjaw_ → u/Gbchris12]

Everything in the world is intentionally more shitty than it used to be.

What the hell is going on?

[u/AoCNSFW → u/_SmashLampjaw_]

The driving factor for nearly every large scale business now is continual growth. Businesses can’t just make money and be content, they have to make more money than the previous year. Honestly, it’s natural to always want more (money, space, stuff) - it’s why so many can’t help buying that new boat or car even if it financial knee caps them - but this scale of wanting more is absurd.

 The billionaire class will never be satisfied until every ounce of value has been squeezed from every product. They won’t rest until there is literally no monetary value left. And then they’ll continue fucking over your next favorite thing.

[u/Wafflehouseofpain → u/AoCNSFW]

Companies will literally gamble with extinction if it means an extra zero on their earnings.

[u/SilveryDeath → u/Gbchris12]

Same shit in every sport, college or pro, the last few years. Got to just keep expanding the season or playoffs or teams or playing overseas to make as much as possible.

Basically just a reflection of how the whole country seems to be. Everything has to keep growing to be bigger and also make more money, who cares about anything else or the effects it has.

[u/BIG_DICK_WHITT → u/Gbchris12]

Michigan: “hey look guys something bad happened and it wasn’t us”

[u/Gbchris12 → u/BIG_DICK_WHITT]

When you gotta watch Bryce Underwood on Saturday you take wins where you can

[u/Artvandelay29]

I can’t wait to see a three-way tie for conference championships and people to wonder what went wrong and what the fourth tiebreakers are

[u/mironsy → u/Artvandelay29]

Fourth tiebreaker: Alphabetical order

[u/mn77393 → u/mironsy]

Aaalabama wins every year 🤦

[u/Proverbial_Progress → u/mn77393]

Poor Vandy

[u/Pan_TheCake_Man → u/Proverbial_Progress]

Could be worse

[u/Calithrand → u/mn77393]

This... tracks.

[u/KneeDeepInRagu → u/mironsy]

Nice

[u/Individual-Toe-6306 → u/mironsy]

Lets fucking go

* we save probably 10 minutes over the course of our life not having to scroll down to select our state on a drop down menu

* we aren’t Tennessee

* and now this

The positives just keep adding up

[u/FearlessAttempt → u/Individual-Toe-6306]

It's all coming up Milhouse Bama.

[u/DrVonD → u/Artvandelay29]

I mean co-conference championships existed for farrrrrr longer in this sport compared to championship games. What is old is new again

[u/Crying_in_99Ranch → u/DrVonD]

Not in 16 team super conferences. It's gonna be the norm every single year

[u/CodyRCantrell → u/Crying_in_99Ranch]

Major conferences had co-champions roughly 40% of the time in basically every conference so it already happened almost half the years.

[u/livefreeordont → u/CodyRCantrell]

Also most conference championships are younger than me. This isn’t Kansas v Mizzou being scrapped

[u/whyisalltherumgone_ → u/Crying_in_99Ranch]

Actually, yeah there were massive conferences lol. The Southern Conference had 23 teams. 13 of those teams split off to form the SEC. The ACC would later also be formed by splitting off from that "super conference."

[u/ttufizzo → u/Artvandelay29]

BXII already had a four way tie at 7-2 in 2024, ACC was one game away from a 6 way tie. I am wondering if the conferences will make sure their tiebreaker rules do not give preference to highest ranked.

[u/HabaneroEnjoyer → u/Artvandelay29]

“We need more points” scenario is goated though

[u/vssavant2 → u/Artvandelay29]

Sec tertiary tie breaker?.....Prolly check for highest NIL deal for the QB.

[u/beornn2]

At this point it’s time to do away with conferences and go to divisions if they’re fully committing to a massive playoff system. Doesn’t make sense to keep them around, they’re relics now and serve no purpose.

[u/HeywardH → u/beornn2]

That could actually be fun if they do it right. 

[u/turtledancers → u/beornn2]

SEC good ole boys are some of the strongest pearl clutchers in the country and they are very politically connected (which is a complete joke that that matters in the first place). Also relationships with networks for TV deals right?

I agree this should happen but it’d essentially be like telling them to remove monuments from their towns. It’s going to get ugly.

[u/beornn2 → u/turtledancers]

It’s gotta go. No way some 9-3 SEC team should get in over a two or one loss team because “SEC”. Break everything up by region, schedule your traditional rivalry games outside of divisional schedule if they’re not aligned in the same division. The conference circle jerk needs to end.

[u/turtledancers → u/beornn2]

They gave Jayden Daniels the heisman over Micheal Penix and snubbed FSU for Alabama. That’s all recent history too. People barely batted an eye and ESPN told everyone to get over both of those events.

I’ll celebrate the day the SEC and ESPN (SECs main partner and propagandist) loses power.

[u/beornn2 → u/turtledancers]

Fully agree, though 14 year old me still holds a massive grudge for 1993 when FSU got voted champ over Notre Dame (in spite of the head to head win that the Irish had over FSU that year).

That’s why I’m kinda ok with playoffs as long as they do away with all the other things that give an unfair bias or edge, like conferences. Settle everything on the field.

[u/TXOgre09 → u/beornn2]

By region the way things were before?

[u/grabtharsmallet → u/beornn2]

Abolish the Senate and do away with the last vestiges of the Old Republic.

[u/TXOgre09 → u/beornn2]

Longhorns killing another conference? I’m here for it.

[u/Ok_Judgment_224 → u/TXOgre09]

They've killed 3 why not go for 4?

[u/deez-legumes → u/beornn2]

It’s ultimately going to have to happen for the sport to survive.

And if the system is designed similar to the NFL, it will become a better product for fans, players, coaches, schools and the networks.

The never ending changes and uncertainty aren’t helping anyone but Disney.

[u/Moodie25 → u/deez-legumes]

What do you mean for the sport to survive? Are they not making more money than ever? 

[u/DiedofSharts]

It Just Means More (ad time for sale)

[u/WallImpossible → u/DiedofSharts]

Ya know I was JUST thinking my 3½ hour ad break was getting interrupted by too much of this college football stuff. Just think how many more Dr. Pepper ads could be aired if we just did away with the game all together!

[u/Packhammer24]

Why even have conferences anymore in football? The “ championship “ is now meaningless

[u/OnMyNerves23 → u/Packhammer24]

That’s what pissed me off maybe the most other than the regular season becoming meaningless. The CCG was the only measurable thing I considered an achievement if you didn’t win it all. Win your conference, hang a banner and do your best to win the National Championship. If you didn’t win the title at least you could be proud you won the conference. I’m sure they will still have unofficial conference champions but without a game, it’s meaningless to me.

Now it’s championship or bust even more so than before. Playoff bids will be considered the standard for the top 10% of schools that spend the top 10% of money.

[u/Calithrand → u/OnMyNerves23]

Shit, for some of us, winning the conference is the biggest thing in football we can reasonably hope to acheive, now that ESPN has murdered the NY6 bowls.

And no, "making the playoffs" is not the same thing. Nobody hangs a banner to declare that they lost in the playoffs.

[u/joetogood → u/Calithrand]

Hang the banner guys we made the playoffs but lost by 42 to Ohio state in the first round

[u/gmr548 → u/Calithrand]

May I introduce you to our lord and savior Texas A&M?

[u/OnMyNerves23 → u/Calithrand]

Exactly my point. Especially with 24 teams in the playoffs. No one in the B1G or SEC should be happy that they made the playoffs.

[u/goodnames679 → u/Calithrand]

Making the playoffs itself is definitely not a banner hanger. I can imagine that maybe people will celebrate how far they made it in the playoffs though, similarly to how CBB fans measure success by the tournament run.

That said, “made it to the group of 16 in the playoffs” is a whole lot less fun than “won the PAC 12”

[u/ElSucioGrande → u/OnMyNerves23]

I’d have taken an SEC title over our first round playoff exit a few years ago. The SEC Championship means 10x more than making a fucking 24 team field.

Disgraceful

[u/gmr548 → u/OnMyNerves23]

It’s now the full equivalent of an NFL division title.

[u/an_actual_lawyer → u/OnMyNerves23]

I’m sure they will still have unofficial conference champions but without a game, it’s meaningless to me

It would be ok if the conferences were small enough for each to play in the regular season.

[u/rageb8err → u/Packhammer24]

Conferences existed for a hundred years without CCGs, they’ll be okay.

[u/Don_Cornelius- → u/rageb8err]

Spoken like somebody who’s never played in a CCG in its entire existence

[u/rageb8err → u/Don_Cornelius-]

Not necessary, we win super bowls vs LSU.

[u/serial_mouth_grapist → u/rageb8err]

But they weren't so huge that you didn't play half of the conference...

[u/VariousLawyerings → u/serial_mouth_grapist]

SEC logistics used to be so horrible that this kinda happened anyway. In the 50s and 60s there was a 14 year gap in the UT-UF series and the drought was only ended by a damn bowl game.

[u/onrocketfalls → u/VariousLawyerings]

Miss you. Bitch.

[u/pyrogeddon → u/serial_mouth_grapist]

The Southern Conference was like 23 schools large in the 20s

[u/serial_mouth_grapist → u/pyrogeddon]

Right and it was such a nightmare the sec split off in the thirties and ACC after ww2

[u/woopwup]

Oh boy I can’t wait till Bama or Michigan picks up a fourth loss and the commentators are still talking about their playoff scenario

[u/GoldenDom3r → u/woopwup]

8-4 SEC teams getting in is definitely happening, probably multiple a year. There’s going to be actual discussions about 7-5 SEC teams getting in. 

[u/Saint-Andrew → u/GoldenDom3r]

In the final 2025 CFP rankings, there was only a single 8-4 team on the list: #23 Iowa.

In 2024, there were no 4 loss teams.

In 2023, there were 5 4 loss teams: #19 Oregon State, #20 Oklahoma State, #21 Tennessee, #22 Clemson, and #25 Kansas State.

I don’t want to do them all, but it think it’s probably safe to say a 5 loss team is probably not getting talked about.

[u/AppropriateCompany9 → u/Saint-Andrew]

This assumes effort will be constant. It won’t be. 8-4 teams from the SEC and B1G are coming to the CFP.

[u/Saint-Andrew → u/AppropriateCompany9]

I agree, but I didn’t see an example of a 7-5 team showing up.

[u/woopwup → u/Saint-Andrew]

Until 15-25 is filled with SEC/B1G teams to be resume builders. Ex. “Well Tennessee might have 4 loses but they beat #22 Mizzou and #24 Mississippi St”

[u/woopwup → u/GoldenDom3r]

I love to shit on SEC bias but this is perfect for ND.

>Get ranked in the week 0 top 15
>Play a half MAC half ACC schedule
>Lose at most 3 games and still get in

[u/DallyingPig → u/woopwup]

Half MAC? Have you ever looked at our schedules?

[u/asujch → u/woopwup]

in the 3rd quarter of our games

[u/Junkie4Divs]

Not one of you motherless fucks have thought about the shareholders and the tremendous value this creates!

[u/monkeybiziu → u/Junkie4Divs]

Speak for yourself. Every night before bed I pray "Dear Lord, if I die before I wake, let me have provided more shareholder value. Amen."

[u/Accomplished-Pin6564]

Sankey has a room temperature IQ.

In Celsius, not freedom units.

[u/potterpockets → u/Accomplished-Pin6564]

Hey if it is -40 it doesnt matter if C or F. 

[u/Raetekusu → u/potterpockets]

That's when we call our buddy Kelvin to break the tie.

[u/152is2after150 → u/Raetekusu]

It sucks that Kelvin doesn't have negative numbers

[u/Banichi-aiji → u/Raetekusu]

If Kelvin is our buddy what does that make Rankine?

[u/Raetekusu → u/Banichi-aiji]

Where in the Rankines? Are they the AP, Coaches Poll, or the CFP Rankines?

[u/Boomhauer_007]

Look up the top 24 right now, they have 9 teams that would make it if the season ended today

Giving up one game to get many more is a slam dunk financial trade, it’s extremely obvious why they did it

[u/Altruistic_Night2]

Why is everybody pretending like the sec was the main party pushing for this this benefits the sec the least

[u/Pinewood74 → u/Altruistic_Night2]

They're not. This guy is just looking at the SEC perspective. He's an SEC guy.

The Big Ten also willingly flushed it, but he's not writing for a big ten audience.

[u/GoldenDom3r → u/Altruistic_Night2]

How does this benefit the SEC the least? They lose the highest rated conf champ game but they will undoubtedly get the majority of the new playoff spots. 

[u/hotsauce126 → u/GoldenDom3r]

It benefits ND, the big ten, the big 12, and the acc more in that order

[u/Altruistic_Night2 → u/hotsauce126]

Yeah 16 is the peak benefit the sec can get after that the sec may be able to get one more team in the playoffs and that’s it

[u/headshotscott → u/hotsauce126]

You're 100% right. A lot of years, there aren't many SEC teams getting in this that weren't mostly getting into the 12-team format. Maybe one or two?

A lot of Big 12 fans seem not to understand that the minimum the league probably gets in these playoffs is 2, and most likely 3. We could get in 4 some seasons if things align. You used to have to justify a 1-loss Big 12 getting in against a 3-loss SEC. That won't happen now. Now it'll be the 3+ loss SEC teams trying to justify a slot and the 2-loss Big 12. It'll still be annoying to watch Feinbaum-bots argue some 4+ loss SEC school should be in, but I think it'll mostly be unsuccessful.

This goes for ACC as well. Most of that league is perceived about the same as Big 12.

Big 10 is definitely getting a ton more teams in than they did.

[u/callumjm95]

No championship game and a playoff stuffed with mid SEC and B1G teams? Wow they're really spoiling us with this.

[u/Strakedev]

Remember how good we had it

[u/Ok_Sky6795]

The 24-team College Football Playoff bracket if it started today (from Oct. 11 AP poll):

FIRST-ROUND BYES

1 Georgia

2 Notre Dame

3 Miami

4 Ohio State

5 Indiana

6 Alabama

7 Texas

8 BYU

FIRST ROUND (higher seed hosts)

16 Mississippi State (59%) vs 17 Iowa (41%) → plays at 1 Georgia

9 Ole Miss (82%) vs 24 SMU (18%) → plays at 8 BYU

13 Missouri (71%) vs 20 Houston (29%) → plays at 4 Ohio State

12 UCLA (74%) vs 21 Wake Forest (26%) → plays at 5 Indiana

15 Kentucky (59%) vs 18 Oklahoma State (41%) → plays at 2 Notre Dame 10

Texas Tech (79%) vs 23 Boise State (21%) → plays at 7 Texas

14 Tennessee (64%) vs 19 USC (36%) → plays at 3 Miami

11 Utah (78%) vs 22 LSU (22%) → plays at 6 Alabama

First team out: 25 Northwestern

[u/Statalyzer]

Pretty soon we're going to end up with 2 undefeated teams in the same conference.

I guess we'll just name them co-champs?

[u/Orbital2 → u/Statalyzer]

I mean this isn’t unprecedented

Just off the top of my head, Ohio State and Iowa both went undefeated in conference play in 2002 and split the conference title.

Of course splits with teams that had losses happened all the time in the pre CCG days

[u/Top_Ladder6702 → u/Statalyzer]

That was the standard for 100 years before conference championships

[u/1850ChoochGator → u/Top_Ladder6702]

Now you’ll try to tell me conferences used to play everyone and be more regional 😂

[u/Straight_Bed2763]

Playing in that game has almost felt like a punishment ever since we went to 12 teams. Seriously, you had like 4 fanbases on rivalry weekend rooting for whatever outcome let them skip the 13th game deathmatch.

[u/KaidoKingoftheBeasts → u/Straight_Bed2763]

Winning the last 2 SEC titles has been great, but ngl I kinda soured on it when our beatdown of Bama last year had no impact on either of our rankings.

[u/StartupDino → u/KaidoKingoftheBeasts]

100%. Felt like joke.

[u/manbeardawg → u/StartupDino]

I mean I’m a big fan of humor when my guy is the comedian punching down, so I’ll take it as much as we can get it.

[u/blackravenclaw → u/Straight_Bed2763]

Especially since having a first round bye seems to hurt far more than help

[u/svenSVEN7]

Hear me out now.

Could the conferences reimagine divisions and “divisional champions”? Like what if they left the last week of the regular season open for a matchup based on regular season standings or something like that?
Idk someway to get creative with regular season games and conference standings to make them more interesting. Like NHL has the Presidents Trophy for best regular season record and a bunch of other trophy’s for non post season things. The conferences are way too big anyways for winning the conference so maybe make more pompt and circumstance within divisions?? Idk I’m just brainstorming man.

[u/Signal_Tip_7428 → u/svenSVEN7]

Yeah let’s fuck with rivalry week

[u/crazy_akes → u/svenSVEN7]

I hear you. Maybe make it like more formal with a key flaw before the 24 team playoff. How about calling it the AFC and NFC. They could have two conferences with the SEC and the winners get trophies. 

Now they we have a 24 team playoff, I’m not sure we need another layer of playoffs, but I’m not opposed. At this point the regular season is just round robin P4 feeding into a match madnesss style system.

[u/Pan_TheCake_Man → u/crazy_akes]

If we can get a bunch of 10 team regional divisions within the super conferences that play round robin, I think that would be neat.

Just try to recreate the small conferences within the mega conferences.

I still think it’s fucking stupid to continually push to be like the NFL with divisions and such, but whatever

[u/Alexcox95 → u/Pan_TheCake_Man]

I demand that Texas, Maryland, Penn state, and Syracuse be in the same division

[u/Pan_TheCake_Man → u/Alexcox95]

How about this, we look at the preseason rankings, and the top ten are division 1
11-20 division 2, etc etc on down the line.

[u/svenSVEN7 → u/Pan_TheCake_Man]

I think divisions are a viable way to get the traditional regionality back.

[u/bruhstevenson → u/svenSVEN7]

That’s what they do in the PAC12 this year, so we’ll see how that goes I’m very intrigued. But even still, I love rivalry week, and hope it doesn’t go by the wayside

[u/Green-goonie → u/svenSVEN7]

I’ve said this for years. Have a postseason “bowl” season. Split the conferences into 10 team divisions. Play 11 games. Two non conference games and 9 game round robin season. The top two teams from each division go to the playoffs and go from there.

The rest of the teams play 2 games vs each other. The third place team from division 1 plays the third place team from division 2 and so on.

Then reseed those teams and play again.

Everyone plays at least 13 games. You can award a division/conference champion in January. Is the SEC goes 0-20 in bowl games we mock them. If the MWC goes 20-0, they get rings.

It would be massive.

[u/hunghome]

Volume over price I guess. If I get 4 first round games worth 3M eyeballs each that Beats 1 game with 10M kinda thing?

[u/jakewhitacre]

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the cumulative value of have 4 or 5 more playoff games involving SEC more than makes up for that from a ratings perspective. 

[u/blindythepirate → u/jakewhitacre]

Ratings don't matter when you get a pile of cash upfront. It's ESPNs problem to make that money back

[u/Time-Wolf → u/jakewhitacre]

It’s a fairly hardy limb because they wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t lol

[u/Negativefalsehoods]

Meh. What impact did that game have on the playoffs anyway?

[u/cityburning69 → u/Negativefalsehoods]

Seeding

[u/Swanny_stocks]

So - pay a bunch of people to secure sponsorships, coordinate a game, rent the venue, get two teams to travel to play, get their players injured risking your conference’s chance at extra rev, sell tickets and concessions and make $100mil OR not play the game and make $100mil. 🤔 tough one.

IMO, it’s not the conferences trading this, it’s the television rights owners of those games and they’re swapping them for about 12 extra games?

[u/dawgfan19881 → u/Swanny_stocks]

They paid 205M for those 12 extra games. I’m not sure that the conferences didn’t get fleeced in this round of expansion.

[u/bman77_77]

None of the games mean anything anymore. What an ending to an 157 year run. Sad.

[u/YoungKeys]

Conferences are too large for conference championship games now. It’s time to get rid of them imo

[u/mind-blowin → u/YoungKeys]

It’s true, the teams that make it are usually the result of scheduling and convoluted tiebreakers and not really because of results. Big game James made it for Penn St a couple years ago solely because he didn’t have to play any of the top Big Ten teams.

[u/boy-detective → u/mind-blowin]

It was fun to gaslight Penn State fans into thinking that Franklin was a mid-to-submid coach. Who knew they would believe it?

[u/livefreeordont → u/boy-detective]

I thought all the Penn staters believed he was a good coach who couldn’t win the big games and then lost the locker room in his last season. Is that not what happened?

[u/CDawg___ → u/YoungKeys]

what the fuck would you know about it lmao

[u/Calithrand → u/CDawg___]

Dude, Notre Dame wins their conference championship every single year!

[u/P1mpathinor → u/Calithrand]

Not every year; in 2020 they lost to Clemson.

[u/UncleMalcolm → u/YoungKeys]

This is one of two major points that the “championship games are historic traditions!!!” people are missing.

The championship games used to filter your league down to two teams who met some objective criteria to get there…and the teams they beat out, they played head to head. The SEC had a 4-way tie for 2 spots last year, and one of the four didn’t play any of the others. Two of them only played one of the other three. The ACC, as has been well documented, ran into an even dumber situation.

The other knock on title games: I’m well under 40, and I’m older than the oldest conference championship game. I can actively remember when the ACC and B1G added them. They’re simply not as important with a 12 team field…with a 24 team field they’re obviously complete overkill.

[u/AlphaBravo95 → u/YoungKeys]

It seems like the end of the road is when the sec and b10 canabalize the acc and then make a super conference and divide back up into 5 divisions based on geographic regions and we are back where we started

[u/Happy_Background_879 → u/[deleted]]

He is 100% correct. Conference records can no longer choose the two worthy CCG teams

[u/Revolver_Oshawott_ → u/YoungKeys]

I would rather shrink the conferences but that makes too much sense

[u/sushirolldeleter → u/YoungKeys]

Oh of course you’d say that

[u/Happy_Background_879 → u/sushirolldeleter]

It's true though. Comparing conference records for a matchup makes way less sense now when the schedules wildly diverge.

[u/Atlgal42]

These suits can fuck off

[u/Condom_Breaker256]

The SEC doesn't care about football

They're all in on ball-and-stick game tho