The 24-team Playoff isn’t the death of college football. But something will be lost forever

[u/defensecowboy]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7694446/2026/10/16/college-football-playoff-something-lost/?unlocked_article_code=1.JVE.z0B2.UmY3VBKxSmJC&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

[u/cjcmd]

At 60 years old, my whole life college football has been a continuous loss of significant things forever.

[u/headshotscott → u/cjcmd]

All of this started when we tied media rights to conference affiliation. That was the spark that burned the entire thing down. OU is still Big 8 with Nebraska if there had been a different choice. OU was right to sue over media rights. It was leaving them to conferences rather than designing a better, national approach that was the huge sin. Every bad thing that followed was due to that decision.

[u/dlogan3344 → u/headshotscott]

At the same time we were skirting the pay rules to keep winning and wanted more...I love my team but crap

[u/headshotscott → u/dlogan3344]

Everyone cheated back then tbf

[u/theexile14 → u/headshotscott]

Well, the good teams did.

[u/SanchoPandas → u/headshotscott]

Pac-12 wouldn’t have dissolved and been reformed without the media rights debate.

[u/headshotscott → u/SanchoPandas]

Very likely almost no significant realignment would have happened. You can see Arkansas wanting out of the SWC. Probably still happens. You could even see A&M wanting to leave Texas. But what else would happen? Would the Big East have survived? Maybe, probably.

[u/113CandleMagic → u/cjcmd]

I remember people bitched and moaned that the introduction of conference championship games were going to kill college football. Now they're bitching and moaning that getting rid of them will kill college football. People really will just complain about any sort of change, no matter what it is.

[u/Lefthook16]

The first thing I thought of when I realized that Conference Championship Games were gone was no more Dr. Pepper Halftime Scholarship Competitions.

[u/Better-Temporary-146 → u/Lefthook16]

RIP chest pass to giant Dr Pepper can!

[u/Thorlolita → u/Better-Temporary-146]

The lady who first did it deserves a 30 for 30

[u/Lefthook16 → u/Better-Temporary-146]

People should legit start a (peaceful) mob and protest at the Big 10 office over losing this and other things

[u/WeirdIndividualGuy → u/Lefthook16]

Going from a 12-team playoff to 24 teams adds 12 games to the playoffs, which is more games added than lost via P4 conf championships. Dr Pepper has an opportunity here

[u/Thorlolita]

I’ll miss the devastation of seeing a team lose 1 game and debating if their season is over.

I’ll miss the bowl season. But I hope it’s still around for G6 and P5 teams. At least for the smaller bows.

But part of me hopes that some schools have a lot more hope. No need to fire your coach because you went 7-5. Players won’t feel the need to jump to a power house immediately so they can win a national championship.

Maybe the mega conferences will not be needed.

I also hope this means we get to see big time regular season games. I’d love to see this Notre Dame - Texas matchup we have planned.

[u/rottenchestah → u/Thorlolita]

I’ll miss the devastation of seeing a team lose 1 game and debating if their season is over

This is what made college football truly special IMO. The idea that a single loss could derail your national championship aspirations made every single regular season game involving the top teams must see tv. That's gone forever now.

But a 24 team playoff isn't what is going to kill the importance of the regular season. The 12 team playoff has already accomplished that. We literally saw it in the first season of the playoff when Ohio St lost to Michigan but still won the national championship. That was just really lame. I now have very little reason to care about or watch such matchups that don't involve my team.

I suppose the counter argument would be that while the games between the top teams now matter significantly less, games between teams ranked in the lower half of the top 25 matter much more. But I just don't really get excited about who gets to be one of the teams eliminated in the first couple rounds of the playoffs. It's not that big of a deal unless it is my own school. I'm not going to be bothered to clear my schedule to watch a game that might determine who gets the 24 seed, whereas I absolutely would have for a big time matchup that determined if you made the 4 team playoff or not.

Maybe other people view it differently and they will be more inclined to watch games that I view as not-that-important, to each their own. But I definitely am losing interest in watching games that don't involve my school. What CFB is becoming isn't that exciting to me. It's just an inferior version of the NFL.

[u/Admiral_Sarcasm → u/rottenchestah]

Watching Stanford and Oregon annually crush the other's dreams in late-night conference matchups where each time was ranked and had natty aspirations was always incredible. Now, Stanford is in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Oregon is in the conference full of midwest teams, and it's unlikely they'll ever play again. This shit sucks man.

[u/Sea_Conference5661 → u/Admiral_Sarcasm]

Remember that Oregon player crying as Stanford used power football to grind their flash and dash BS to the turf? Maybe 2014? That. Was. Magical. In a 12 team scenario the emotion is certainly muted. In a 24 team playoff? Literally no emotional investment.

Heck, I just enjoyed watching Florida put away Texas and put their playoff hopes in question. In a 24 team playoff it Literally would have been meaningless to me.

Getting to root against Oregon, Texas, Notre Dame (and should they become a contender again, USC) is a huge part of the fun of the regular season.

[u/dr_funk_13 → u/Admiral_Sarcasm]

Watching Stanford and Oregon annually crush the other's dreams in late-night conference matchups where each time was ranked and had natty aspirations was always incredible.

Was it though

[u/Admiral_Sarcasm → u/dr_funk_13]

Yep!

[u/hardindapaint12 → u/rottenchestah]

I would have planned my day around IU-OSU today if there was the BCS or 4 team playoffs. I'm not doing that for say Missouri-Ole Miss

[u/crashck → u/hardindapaint12]

Exactly. This game has basically no stakes. If OSU loses, they probably cannot lose another game and still get in the playoffs.

[u/pjs32000]

The only way a 24 team playoff makes sense is of autobids are given to every single conference champ. Yes, including the G5 conferences. I will die on this hill.

[u/HuntmasterReinholt → u/pjs32000]

^ This right here.

Otherwise the championship is a meaningful and legitimate as the WWE World Heavyweight Title.

Scripted entertainment is what it is. Not athletic competition.

[u/ToeLimbaugh → u/pjs32000]

True national champs and a true playoff your way.

Best we can do is another lame invitational - SECPN

[u/headshotscott]

College football was already dead. Dead when it destroyed the Big 8, then the Big 12. Dead when it shattered the Pac. This is the rest of you starting to feel the pain. Basically, CFB died already and this is a necromancer raising its corpse.

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/headshotscott]

CFB died already when the Big Ten had 11 teams and we stopped voting on our champions, staining our 100 year tradition!

[u/Source0fAllThings → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

Wrong. CFB died when UChicago left the B1G to focus on academics in 1946.

[u/DubsLA → u/headshotscott]

It’s wild that people think this is a good idea, under the umbrella of all other sports operate this way. College football was the closest analogue to global soccer (which has its own problems), but when people with money attempted to minimize the importance of tradition, the fans and players essentially pushed back so hard they abandoned (temporarily?) their plans.

I don’t want college football to be like other sports. I’d rather Michigan play Illinois every year than USC or Rutgers. I miss feeling like going to Kinnick ranked #3 was a potential death sentence for your season and I miss a 7-4 Michigan team trying to ruin an undefeated Ohio State season with nothing else to play for but spite and hatred.

Maybe I’m in the minority.

[u/emoney_gotnomoney → u/DubsLA]

I feel the exact same way.

I don’t care that an expanded playoffs works for CBB March Madness and for other sports. Ketchup tastes great on a burger; that doesn’t mean I think it should go on my tacos too.

Like you said, I don’t want CFB to be just like the other sports. In fact, the reason CFB is by far my favorite sport is precisely because of how different it has been from the other sports, particularly as it pertains to the regular season.

[u/SouthCoach]

What makes CFB interesting compared to other sports that are more “optimized” is that CFB doesn’t make sense. Think about how much time we waste here arguing who is better based on the most ridiculous subjective premises. Scenarios that 100% could be improved with more structure, expanded playoffs, etc.

For a lot of us here that’s what pulls us in relative to sports that have already solved these things like the NFL.

As this sport becomes more “solved” it’s also a substitution of the audience who finds it interesting. Admittedly for a more casual fan a playoff game is much easier to understand why it matters than the Iron Bowl which is in the context of 8 other critical games that day that also could not matter at all.

I get it. It sucks but I won’t pretend to not understand.

[u/RollTide1017]

I can’t wait to watch an Iron Bowl when both teams sit their 1s and start the 2s because both are ranked high enough to absorb another loss and still make the playoffs.

Yippee!

/s

[u/MightyIrish]

It’s the death of the regular season.

[u/titusnick270 → u/MightyIrish]

Yes and no probably. For teams like Osu, Georgia, Notre dame bama etc. yeah. We’ll make it every year.

But for teams 18-36 or so it makes it more interesting for them towards end of year. (I’m not for expansion I actually hate it)

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/titusnick270]

i'd say for even teams 12-18, this makes it more interesting as well.

[u/titusnick270 → u/superworriedspursfan]

Yah I probably should have said 12-30ish.

[u/lkn240 → u/superworriedspursfan]

Getting a bye will be a big deal.... assuming the top 8 get a bye those will be coveted spots.

Top 16 will also be a big deal since I assume 9-16 will get that first round game at home.

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/lkn240]

i think home field advantage might be bigger than the bye. i know teams like OSU/Georgia/Oregon/others who have lost in the first round who did not appreciate the bye. its why i actually thought 16 teams made the most sense. but agreed, there are still advantages here for sure.

[u/titusnick270 → u/superworriedspursfan]

If we did all home games until the natty I would be very happy. Seeding would be incredibly powerful and a huge advantage. In that case, the regular season will absolutely matter because you want home games. Just like the nfl.

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/titusnick270]

exactly this.

i honestly think 16 team CFP made the most sense because of this. money doesn't do what the heart wants though.

[u/Otherwise_Awesome → u/superworriedspursfan]

Having a bye but rewarded with a neutral site game and playing a team who hasn't been off for a month will negate the current 1-7 record for bye teams with a 24 team set up with home games for at least two rounds

[u/doyouevenIift → u/lkn240]

The bye has been complete poison for everyone except Indiana in the 12 team format

[u/M0326 → u/doyouevenIift]

It’s only been 2 seasons. Too small of a sample. People thought the new MLB bye was poison for the first two years, since then only the 24’ and 25’ Phillies have lost the DS with a bye.

[u/jizz_toaster → u/lkn240]

Byes don’t matter unless they fix the schedule. One week off, teams will want that. A month off? Teams are 1-7 with the bye right now. I don’t think they want that

[u/RVAforthewin → u/lkn240]

I’m sick of byes. No more playoff byes for my team, please.

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/RVAforthewin]

ignore the bye part, it depends on who you play coming off the bye.

if it's bama again ggs. if it's tennessee, im sure you don't mind.

[u/Moose4KU → u/titusnick270]

Ohio State has finished ranked in the top 12 in 20 of the past 21 seasons.

If the regular season being meaningful is determined by if someone is at risk of missing the playoffs, then we've already been there with a 12-team

[u/RVAforthewin → u/Moose4KU]

For us, you’re correct. Powerhouses like OSU and Georgia gained a loooot of wiggle room when the playoff went to 12 teams. It’s rare that our teams will miss the 12-team and the 24-team all but guarantees us post season spots.

[u/hardindapaint12 → u/RVAforthewin]

In the Richt era we were far from a top 12 lock. I know we have it good with Kirby but it's not been the case for the entirety of our program until the last 10 years

[u/mayence → u/titusnick270]

Rivalries will stop mattering. For the next several years they will, but eventually you will have an entire generation of fans who have grown up never seeing a “rival” ruin their season.

[u/titusnick270 → u/mayence]

Yah we’ll never get another 2023 osu-Michigan winner take all game. I obviously hated the result but the build up to that game was awesome.

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/mayence]

this isn't true. more rivals will get a chance to upset/ruin potential seasons. for example under 24 team CFP format, you could argue rivalry matches like minnesota vs wisconsin, washington vs oregon (they should be eliminated already but it is what it is), egg bowl, LSU vs Arky, Arizona vs Arizona State, nebraska vs iowa, OU vs Missouri, Illinois vs Northwestern, WF vs Duke, Houston vs Baylor, tennessee vs vandy, USC vs UCLA, kentucky vs louisville have more playoff implications than ever.

with that said, i feel like no matter what CFB does to try to ruin the games, rivalries will never go away and teams will continue to hate no matter what society tells them to do.

fuck kU!!!!!

[u/mayence → u/superworriedspursfan]

But missing out on the opportunity to be #24 and get smacked by a way better team doesn’t really hit that hard and doesn’t engender very much hate compared to being #1 and losing to your unranked rival, and missing your shot at the championship.

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/mayence]

for some teams all they can be is #24.

(whether due to sec bias or whatever else). it will still be upsetting to miss out due to losing to a rival.

i agree that ku vs mizzou in 2007 can never be matched for me though.

[u/Montigue → u/superworriedspursfan]

they should be eliminated already

If we win out there's little chance we are eliminated from even the 12 team format. Washington probably can't save their season in general, but if they win out they're definitely top 24

[u/Hngrybflo → u/titusnick270]

We can also get more out of conference top teams playing each other. They won't have to worry as much of getting a lose

Edit: imagine weeks 2 and 3 we get games like Note damn vs Alabama, Ohio state vs Miami, Georgia vs Oregon or Oklahoma vs Florida state.

[u/Mountain-Papaya-492 → u/Hngrybflo]

People said the same thing with the expansion to 12. SOR is going to still be the dominating factor because with 24 teams making it only having 2 losses assures the vast majority of teams will still be in so why would a team want to put itself at a disadvantage by scheduling good opponents like that? Ironically I think SOS mattered more when the field was smaller. Does Cincy get in without the ND win? Does Uga get in without the Clemson win? Having those marquee games helped in my opinion.

Now as long as you have 2 or maybe even 3 or less losses for P4 teams you're practically a lock for post season playoffs. I imagine we will get the same scenario as last year where a team that would be in if they didn't schedule a tough game will still happen. All the incentives of the fans and CFP committee still push teams to having the least challenging schedule they can manage. Expanding won't fix that.

Again you saw it with Texas last year. You may see it with OSU this year. There's no point in giving your team a less likely win under this system.

[u/Hngrybflo → u/Mountain-Papaya-492]

I like the 24 system playoff. Voting even though often times right is flawed but the teams and fans who feel like they were cheated now have a chance to just try and win their conference and they get a sure in. From a fans stand point I feel like we will get to see bigger non conference games down the road maybe 2 per team as opposed to the one. it sucks for the small schools payday buy oh well. We also will some Cinderella scenarios once in a blue moon.

People will always complain but this system makes the best sense to me and hopefully will get some really good playoff games and see some upsets.

[u/kyrev21 → u/MightyIrish]

If the regular season was dead teams would be placed in the playoff regardless of how many wins and losses they have

[u/Diesel07012012 → u/kyrev21]

This already happens. That's the problem with the absence of automatic qualifiers. And now they're going to abolish the easiest automatic qualifier of them all - conference championships.

[u/_moosleech → u/MightyIrish]

... or it just moves the emphasis from Alabama and Ohio State (who make it almost every year, regardless of playoff size, and occasionally at the expensive of a smaller brand that is just as deserving), to a much larger pool of teams who are normally ignored by October.

The idea that the regular season is ruined because now a whole bunch of teams will still be playing meaningful games, instead of like six teams mattering and everyone else trying to convince themselves that going to the Pep Boys Bowl still actually means dick-all is silly, IMO.

The idea that many fanbases are still dedicated to watching their 5-3 team playing meaningless conferences games late in the season, but somehow would not be interested when they're potentially fighting for a late run and playoff shot is asinine, to me.

[u/rob_bot13 → u/_moosleech]

Also teams will absolutely be pushing to get byes. Also also, no one is sitting out Alabama Auburn to rest for the playoffs

[u/Otherwise_Awesome → u/rob_bot13]

An OSU fan told me that players would be sitting out Michigan Ohio State.

That's the most comical shit I have see in this sub ever.

[u/rob_bot13 → u/Otherwise_Awesome]

When tOSU to Michigan in the national championship year, that game was clearly "meaningless" as they went on to win a national championship right? No one cared, and they rested all their starters?

/S if needed

[u/Otherwise_Awesome → u/rob_bot13]

The Game is never meaningless! 〽️

[u/xienze → u/Otherwise_Awesome]

Is it? Don't pro teams who have a playoff spot locked up take it easy the last game or so?

[u/IshyMoose → u/_moosleech]

I do think this is better then 12 for the middle lower tier Power 4. In the era of the super conference my schools were probably going to go once every 20 years. Now every season we start with the playoff as a possibility.

Prior it was all about upsets being out Super Bowl.

Prior to that it was about recruiting and coaching to get a group of seniors that out play teams with more talent that went away with NIL.

[u/Straight_Bed2763 → u/_moosleech]

It just depends on how willingly naive & obtuse one is choosing to be, to participate in the charade that 7-3 Houston vs 7-3 Iowa State has serious national championship implications.

In exchange for 95% of upsets not mattering, no elite marquee matchups mattering, rivalry weekend being used to sit starters & conference championships being eliminated.

[u/BlurryGojira → u/Straight_Bed2763]

How many times has a team made it into the playoffs that has people saying they don’t “deserve” to be there and then massively overperform?

[u/AdminYak846 → u/Straight_Bed2763]

conference championships being eliminated.

Outside of the Big 12, name a conference championship in the P4 that mattered in recent years? The Big 10 when they had East/West divisions was mostly the East always winning because Penn St, Ohio St, and Michigan were in that group. Meanwhile the west had nobody who could compete at their level.

SEC was basically Alabama and Georgia who once the playoffs expanded to 12 teams were going to always make it into the playoffs, so it didn't matter.

[u/NorthwestPurple → u/AdminYak846]

In 2023, the SEC and Pac-12 championship games were direct play-in games for the CFP.

[u/Otherwise_Awesome → u/_moosleech]

The only ones crying are the ones who lost emphasis.

[u/_moosleech → u/Otherwise_Awesome]

Amazingly, not even.

Had a Tennessee flair yesterday claim they would not watch them in the expanded playoff and would rather miss it because they "don't want to reward mediocrity".

And an Auburn flair tell me that the BCS era, even in 2004 when they missed out despite being undefeated, it wasn't a problem and was much better than a four-loss team in a playoff.

Folks are unhinged about this.

[u/mktcrasher → u/_moosleech]

Haha, Tennessee is the epitome of mediocrity, oh the irony. They just get points for being in the SEC and get over inflated ranking.

[u/Otherwise_Awesome → u/_moosleech]

I love more football. I love giving extra shots for the fringe teams.

[u/cubbie_blue → u/_moosleech]

As an Auburn fan, we should be thrilled about expansion. First we actually might squeek in there one of these years. Second we won't have to constantly hear how a 3 loss Bama team is better than everyone in CFB. They'll just rank them comfortably inside the pool and we can all move on with our lives.

[u/anonymous_herald → u/_moosleech]

Just because someone has a different opinion on this and preferred the sport a different way doesn't mean they're unhinged. They just have a different opinion. Thats okay.

[u/RVAforthewin → u/_moosleech]

That pool of teams who now have access to the playoffs well into the season are pretty much the middling SEC and B1G teams. This does nothing to increase ACC, Big 12, and G6 participation. If the new format guaranteed 3-4 spots each to the ACC and Big 12, plus at least two for G6, then that would at least make it interesting. You know what’s uninteresting? 18 B1G and SEC teams. I don’t want to watch the 9th place SEC team play a game in the playoffs. It’s ridiculous.

ETA: I said, “…who now have access…” but I’m referring to the expanded playoff format just to be clear. I realize that might have been confusing since I did a poor job of writing it.

[u/_moosleech → u/RVAforthewin]

This does nothing to increase ACC, Big 12, and G6 participation.

I don't dispute that the SEC/B1G will have the biggest pull (because money)... but I don't fully agree with this.

Looking at 2025, and using the CFP rankings, here's each conference under a 12-team and 24-team playoff.

SEC: 5 / 7

B1G: 3 / 6

XII: 1 / 5

ACC: 1 / 3

Sun Belt: 1 / 1

Independents: 0 / 1

AAC: 1 / 1

So not "18 B1G and SEC teams"... it would've been 13. The Big XII and ACC would've been the biggest benefactors.

And in 2024:

SEC: 3 / 7

B1G: 4 / 5

XII: 1 / 4

ACC: 2 / 4

Independents: 1 / 1

MWC: 1 / 2

AAC: 0 / 1

This time, only 12 teams. And three G6 teams.

Obviously we don't know; and if you believe they will just fudge the rankings, then maybe.

But the data we have suggests your claim is wrong.

[u/RukiMotomiya → u/_moosleech]

I definitely think the ACC and Big 12 will see a boost, though I worry about the G6 schools because of how often they hover around 24th. Those I think could be fudged to be left out, like 24th James Maddison or SMU in the past few years.

But I doubt, say, 10-3 Clemson at 16th in 2024 gets fudged down. I doubt 10-2 Utah at 15th in 2025 or 10-2 17th Arizona last year get fudged out, same with 10-3 Virginia at 19th. I think the mid tier ACC/Big 12 teams will see an injection of opportunity, which is a good thing.

[u/fadingthought → u/MightyIrish]

I’ve never understood that claim. Far more regular season games matter in a larger playoff.

[u/chrispymcreme → u/fadingthought]

Yeah this take is objectively false. Now the regular season matters for like 50 teams instead of 5

[u/superworriedspursfan → u/chrispymcreme]

which imo is actually more fun. i just would have preferred to stay at 16.

[u/SucculentCrablegMeal → u/fadingthought]

More games matter, but they all matter a lot less. The stakes are a lot lower.

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/MightyIrish]

People have literally said this every time the playoff expanded and it’s never been true 

[u/tbraptors → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

Or it has been true. Alabama-Georgia last week would’ve been a potential elimination game. Now it just impacts seeding. That definitely weakens the impact of a win or a loss

[u/rob_bot13 → u/tbraptors]

I certainly still felt fucking miserable. This sub has also talked about the PI ad nauseum since then so I'm not convinced it's affected how much we care.

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/tbraptors]

Why do people keep pretending seeding doesn’t matter? 

In a 24-team bracket, it’s the difference between a home game against #16 vs 2 away games against #9 and #8 or #14 and #3 to make the quarterfinals 

[u/SucculentCrablegMeal → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

Why do people keep pretending seeding and elimination are remotely the same stakes?

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/SucculentCrablegMeal]

I think 2024 Ohio State broke people’s brains a little bit by making it look too easy to make a run on such a brutal pathway 

I think that’ll end up being very rare, you’re almost never gonna see a 20 seed make the final 4  

[u/tbraptors → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

Even more reason why a 24 team playoff makes no sense. CFB playoffs already have more blowouts than any other sport's playoff, the vast majority of teams 13-24 will not be competitive

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/tbraptors]

Those first round games will be competitive though 

And call me crazy, but I’d rather those games decide the 8-16 spots than a committee 

[u/BlurryGojira → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills with the amount of overreactions I’ve been seeing in this sub. You can’t tell me with a straight face that the Raytheon First Responder Bowl with all starters opting out had “pageantry”.

The regular season will matter more to more teams, and less to the few dominant teams. I think that’s a fair trade off.

[u/RukiMotomiya → u/BlurryGojira]

he regular season will matter more to more teams, and less to the few dominant teams. I think that’s a fair trade off.

Yeah this feels like the long and the short of it.

[u/thehightype → u/MightyIrish]

People said the same thing when they moved to 4 and then to 12 teams. Outside a few blue blood teams, what happened is the opposite. It used to be that by November there were like 6-8 teams in contention for the National title and the rest were already eliminated. Now that number has grown to like 25, so the regular season is more exciting and suspenseful in November for a huge number of fans. With 24 teams there will be like 50+ fanbases who still have a shot to compete for a national title in the last few weeks of the season.

Conference championships and most bowl games are dead though.

[u/Mecha-Jesus → u/MightyIrish]

No it’s not.

[u/outdatedelementz]

I’m just holding off on my outrage till we get the 48 team playoff.

[u/tryingtoavoidwork → u/outdatedelementz]

48 team playoff in 2032.
Bama goes 6-6, eliminated from consideration.
Committee holds an emergency meeting.
96 team playoff in 2033.

[u/Square-Weight4148 → u/outdatedelementz]

64 with two play in games...

[u/rageking5 → u/outdatedelementz]

I would rather 48 than 24 and just eliminate bowls. Making the playoff would essentially be like making a bowl. That essentially what the 24 does but going 9-3 or 8-4 basically means it's a crap season with a bad bowl. At 48 those teams get in and it's a good reward I think. 

[u/Ready_Scar564 → u/outdatedelementz]

128 is on the table.

[u/wahoo20]

I’m not certain what I think. The things I currently wonder are if we will see less “upset rushing the field” moments. Beating a number ___ team brought with it a level of schadenfreude that you just sunk their season. But, does that mean hope is aplenty and there’s more opportunity for heartbreak of a bad shift in your teams season? Does it create more Michigan v App State moments?

Cignetti called it when he blatantly said the quiet part aloud that the regular season doesn’t matter anymore so why schedule a tough one.

Although I have always liked the SECCG, I could tell we were pivoting away from it. The way the talking heads and those in charge stopped making it matter. While I’d love my team to play in it and win, it because a costs benefits analysis on whether or not you wanted your team to be ready in the playoffs.

One benefit is if your team doesn’t make the top 24, everyone will feel significantly justified in telling you to quit your bellyaching on missing out. The playoff committee clearly can’t do a good job with any of this so opening it to 24 takes “some” pressure off them actually having to watch games or know what the fuck is going on.

[u/BoomRoasted412]

The media is going to basically pick half of the teams in the offseason. Limited opportunities for teams to earn their way in.

[u/Skywalker247365]

I've watched football and sports at all levels for over 40 years. I have never seen a sports league devolve as quickly, swiftly, and totally as I have college football. 10 years ago I'd literally work my entire Saturday's around what games were on, now, I couldn't even give a shit who my teams are playing.

I get that the United States collectively has bigger issues than sports, but if there was ever a time for Congress to intervene on something, this would be it. There needs to be laws capping player transfers and salary, coach salary, and they need to bring back the regional conferences. Undo the Big10 expansion of USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. Undo the Big12 changes of Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Missouri.

The longer college football stays on this path, the more apathy will set in for fanbases, and once they're gone, they're going to be gone forever. 90% of programs won't be able to survive.

[u/FormerCollegeDJ]

IMO, the real death of college football occurred when teams started joining conferences where they didn’t geographically fit. The first domino to fall was Penn State joining the Big Ten and that happened in 1993.

[u/CWinter85]

It would be nice to go back to smaller conferences. If a conference champion gets an auto-bid why would Texas and Oklahoma want to be in a super conference and get saddled with 3 losses every year? Go back to the SWC

[u/Outrageous-Event6633 → u/CWinter85]

There is a way to do this that satisfies basically everyone. Break up thee super conferences that make zero sense geographically. Make a playoff that is nothing but conference champions. That removes the bs that is the selection committee and makes regular season games mean something again.

[u/CWinter85 → u/Outrageous-Event6633]

With 24 teams. You could have 12 conference champions and 12 at-larges and we'd be fine. Sure, #18 OkSt might get fucked because 9-3 UTSA gets an auto, but neither of them were beating #5 Indiana.

[u/Dcajunpimp]

All of these, “let’s just grow the playoffs” solutions miss the entire point. It’s still some bullshit poll decided off the field deciding who’s #2 or #3, #4 or #5, #12 or #13, #16 or #17, #24 or #25…. Based off whoever is votings “opinion”

Just have a playoff between Conference Champions.

It’s really that simple.

Hey guys, the Conferences had playoff games, their playoff teams were decided on the field, their champions were decided on the field.

Want a shot at the National Championship, win enough regular season games to get to your conference championship, win the conference championship, and bam, you get to play in the National Conference playoffs. Not a conference champion you don’t get in. This would essentially force teams like Notre Dame into a conference.

Seed teems based on their wins and losses outside their conference, and their conferences wins and losses outside the conference. Pit teams based on how little they and their conferences met on the field in the regular season. If two conference champions already played in the regular season, then separate them as far as possible in the playoffs, let them have to beat every other team to finally meet again.

If you really want more than 4 playoff teams, open the playoffs to G5 teams. Pick the top 4 G5 conference champions based off regular season stats. Champion W/L vs P4 champions, Champion W/L vs P4, Conference W/L vs P4, Champion W/L OOC.

(And off topic, but opening the playoffs to G5 teams would expand the competition over time as good players would start seeing those teams as an actual option to making it to the playoffs.)

[u/VannesGreave]

Gonna be so exciting to watch 7-5 Auburn play 8-4 Michigan State in the first round of this playoff with their coaches and half their players opted out, it truly means more

[u/under_ice]

What's lost forever is the special New Years Day bowl games.

[u/it-is-just-a-game]

It is going to save me a lot of time and I don't need to spend every Saturday watching games.

[u/milkman163 → u/it-is-just-a-game]

It'll be like cbb is now. Watch your teams games and then tune everything else out until March Madness.

[u/G33kSlayer → u/milkman163]

I have definitely felt this more and more. Utah is the only thing I’ll move my schedule for but it used to be all the big games.

[u/cutchemist42 → u/it-is-just-a-game]

Yep, I csn skip a lot of Saturdays now.

[u/_moosleech → u/it-is-just-a-game]

TBF, the vast majority of our regular seasons were already meaningless by late October since like 2003.

[u/Even-Combination4407]

So are non-playoff bowls gonna become like the NIT where half of the power conference teams that miss the playoffs opt out now

[u/imaconnect4guy → u/Even-Combination4407]

Any team that opts put of the Pop-Tarts Bowl should be forced to shut down their football program.

[u/Even-Combination4407 → u/imaconnect4guy]

looks at Notre Dame

[u/BoomRoasted412 → u/Even-Combination4407]

Tbh the non playoff bowls are going to be eliminated within a few years. People aren’t traveling across the country to watch their .500 team play their 4th string walk ons.

[u/headshotscott → u/BoomRoasted412]

I wonder if a postseason sort of NIT tournament for the next 24 is what's coming? That would run like the NIT, parallel to the main tournament. It would maybe be more interesting than half rosters playing in the Corn Flakes bowl or whatever.

[u/RukiMotomiya → u/headshotscott]

You could also still have all of the Not NIT Tournament games be bowl games right now, which could give them a bit of extra importance.

[u/Agile_Land_9951 → u/BoomRoasted412]

I dunno. A lot of G6 fans travel for their team and don’t even care about the playoffs.

[u/imnotknox]

is this is how USC getting into the playoff every year so be it!

[u/HuntmasterReinholt → u/imnotknox]

You ain’t fooling anyone, Colin Cowherd! We know it’s you! 🤣

[u/HuntmasterReinholt]

We all know what the 24 team playoff (here after referred to as the SEC-B1G Invitational Tournament or SBIT) will be:

- 9 to 10 SEC teams

- 9 to 10 B1G teams

- 1 token ACC team (to avoid anti-trust)

- 1 token Big XII team (to avoid anti-trust)

- 1 token G6 team (to avoid anti-trust)

- 1 floating spot for flavor to make it appear anyone outside the SEC-B1G can get in.

And the way they will make this happen won’t be through the rules or charter or whatever. It will happen via the polls and the complicit media that reinforces the fraud.

[u/WeightRemarkable]

Dead, shambling husk of itself... what's the difference? We are the delicious brains they need to extend their unnatural lives, and they'll take us for the last prion before they're through.

[u/trogdr]

If y'all were interested in the sport rather than the money, we could ditch the polls, treat conferences like divisions, and the playoffs just consist of conference winners. It's so simple. If you can't win your conference, why should you get a chance at the championship?

[u/CWinter85]

Speak for yourselves, FBS Boomers. We've had a 24-team playoff my whole life. Your bowls were the broken thing.

[u/Dr_thri11]

Its not death. But holy shit does it make giving a fuck about the regular season harder.

[u/Outrageous-Event6633]

It should be less not more. Make regular season games matter again.

[u/kurttheflirt]

No one decision is or will be the death. It's death by a thousand cuts. And they don't seem to be stopping

[u/A_Drunk_Caribou]

I really feel like all we needed was the BCS rankings, with an actual structured playoff bracket. FCS style, look at how much fun that is every year.

If there's a way, ESPN will fuck it up, and do anything but the right move.

[u/c-papi]

I'm getting flashback to the mid 2000s NASCAR, and I don't like that 

[u/RevoOps]

Of course it's not the death of collage football since it's been dead for a while now. 

[u/Imnotsureanymore8]

It died years ago if we're being honest.

[u/Boring_Contribution]

I understand expanding it with more parity thanks to NIL/transfer portal. But 12 was really about the limit to feel like the regular season matters. Yeah it matters but CFB was unique in requiring near perfection to be named champion, and thats just not true any more. Thats definitely something lost. Especially when the bottom 3 were just cupcake warm up games for higher seeds.

And I also think if we are doing this many teams, and we are heading toward super conferences where everyone competitive is either Big 10 or SEC, then we should just ignore conference and just seed by...idk, an objective ranking system? Sounds crazy I know.

[u/buffa_noles]

The death of college football was the unregulated NIL arms race. there's nothing wrong with an actual playoff

[u/SirMellencamp]

Great article. These mouth breathers blaming ESPN have no clue what caused this. It was coaches and ADs wanting job security

[u/quanscoffee12]

Nil was the death of college football. Period.

[u/BearTimberlands → u/quanscoffee12]

TV deals were

[u/quanscoffee12 → u/BearTimberlands]

Tru

[u/Sweaty_Assignment_90]

ice cream for every meal.

[u/REbubbleiswrong]

I dont get this obsession. Every other fb division has had a massive playoff for decades

[u/polishonions]

I want to separate the CFB postseason from what it was in the heyday of bowls to what it currently is right now with this question: how is the 24-team playoff worse than what we currently have with the 12 team format? Current bowl formats are pretty close to dead, players with NFL aspirations or looking to get a pay raise in the portal opt out all the time, so a bowl win doesn’t carry near the same meaning as they used to. Entire teams opt out of bowls now if they don’t make the playoff. So why are we clamoring for bowls to stay? Would the sport really be worse off if last year’s Outback Bowl between Vanderbilt and Iowa was a first round playoff matchup instead?

The bowl system was knelt a death blow with the introduction of the 4 team CFP, but they should have just expanded to 16 or 24 immediately. The 12 team format was a poor attempt to keep a dying system on life support

[u/PSU02 → u/polishonions]

I don't think people are upset about the 24 team playoff because they lament bowls becoming obsolete.

People are upset because the 24 team devalues the importance of each regular season game and makes CFB more like the NFL.

Take the Indiana-OSU game this year. Traditionally, this would be a MASSIVE game, especially in the BCS and 4 team playoff era. The winner would all but clinch a spot in the Big Ten Championship and keep their National Championship hopes alive. While the loser would have their season on life support and would likely need to win out to have a shot at a national championship. Under the 24 team playoff, it won't matter even close to as much, because the loser will drop 2-4 spots and still be right in the hunt for a championship

[u/AdminYak846 → u/PSU02]

Except with a smaller playoff field, you'll just see the same teams going for it. How many times do we need to watch Alabama and Clemson during the 4-team playoff field for it to not get boring.

[u/PSU02 → u/AdminYak846]

Didn't Cincinnati make the last 4 team playoff?

[u/InfiniteDew → u/AdminYak846]

Not with the introduction of NIL

[u/polishonions → u/polishonions]

Also for the record - I want autobids for all conference champions (G6 included) in a 24 team format. I know that’s a nonstarter, but there’s a closer chance that happens in this iteration than in the 4 or 12 team versions

[u/telly69 → u/polishonions]

I would be fully on board with the 24 team format if all conference champions got autobids.

[u/r0botdevil → u/telly69]

I would like to see only conference champions going to the CFP.

Break up these stupid, bloated, coast-to-coast superconferences, go back to geographically-relevant conferences of ~10 teams where everyone plays everyone else in their conference every year, each conference has a CCG and that's essentially the first round of the playoffs.

[u/RukiMotomiya → u/polishonions]

This is what I want.

[u/CrOS2012 → u/polishonions]

That would cause the SEC and B1G to throw hissy-fits, because they want all that money for themselves.

[u/pjs32000 → u/polishonions]

Yes. A million times yes. The oligarchs (Big 10 and SEC) will never allow it but that is the only way I would support expanding the existing playoff.

[u/esports_consultant → u/polishonions]

The 12 system also sucks. 

[u/Vulcanic_1984]

Spin the teams off into for profit entities. Put the ownership out for bids. Require the teams to pay full market rent for school facilities and to pay annual license fees to the schools for the trademark use. Let each team set its own rules, determine its own payroll, and schedule its own games, like boxing. No more taxpayer subsidies for this through public schools; no more nonprofit subsidies through private schools. There is no reason for parents and kids paying tuition to subsidize this and no reasons for boosters to get a tax write off for contributing to it. If it is going to be free market, let it be free market.

[u/Alderan → u/Vulcanic_1984]

That doesn't solve any issues that any CFB fans actually care about.

There are schools that don't spend government funds on athletics. If it was the case that athletics was draining funds that should otherwise go to academics, then those schools that don't participate would become in higher demand, and the free market would sort it out.

The reason that it hasn't been "sorted" to your liking is that strong athletics increases application rates, Alabama is unironically a posterchild of this.

Schools already have a framework for employing members of the student body, and athletics can function the same way. Then the leagues can issue regulatons to those schools who wish to compete in those leagues.

We don't need NFL owners to rent the stadiums.

[u/thatoneging20 → u/Vulcanic_1984]

I've been saying it for awhile, the only thing silly about all of this is that its still tied to academic institutions. It feels weird because it's still college sponsored professional sports, which is genuinely stupid (it was stupid already with coaches being paid insane amounts, but even more so now)

[u/Alderan → u/thatoneging20]

I'm genuinely asking, what does coaching pay have to do with any of this?

[u/Vulcanic_1984 → u/Alderan]

The argument would be if "it just means more" and we cant pay players market rates because there is a public interest at play, then why should coaches get market pay?

[u/Alderan → u/Vulcanic_1984]

Is there someone saying that we can't pay players? I'm certainly not.

[u/Vulcanic_1984 → u/Alderan]

You cant keep the schools running it and pay market rates. The schools are owned by the public, so the incentive is to subsidize excess pay with literal or in kind tax contributions of public facilities. When college football cross subsidized all sports and developed olympians, etc., it arguably served some public purpose. Now it is costing nearly schools more than it brings in most places - if you included facilities costs and the loss of value that the schools could get by selling team ownership, it would be astronomical.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/Alderan]

I guess the question is why should an academic institution whose main goal is education have their highest paid employee be a football coach.

[u/Alderan → u/LabOwn9800]

2 reasons, if I had to guess:

1. The quality of the person in that role has more impact on the schools revenue than any other single position in the institution, in combination with the candidate pool for qualified individuals being smaller for elite coaches than for elite college administrators.

2. A significant portion of those salaries is being contributed by boosters who would only ever contribute money to football, and often explicitly for a specific coach, so the numbers are being inflated by that. This isn't necessarily funds that the schools would have access to otherwise.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/Alderan]

I understand why.

I’m pointing out that maybe an academic institution whose mission has nothing to do with sports shouldn’t put the most value (via salary) on a sports coach. If you include NIL payments I’m sure you need to drop to below the top ten individuals before you get a non athletic individual. If you exclude admin I’m sure it’s not until you get past the top 50 you get to actual professors and researchers.

This is especially bad for those schools that charge students higher tuition or fees to financially support those coaches and players.

[u/Alderan → u/LabOwn9800]

But what I'm saying is it's not the university placing the value. It's the student body.

When the football team is better, more people want to go to Penn State.

Whether the chancellor at Penn State is a top-tier guy or just some average Joe is not going to really affect an incoming student's decision about the university, but the head football coach will.

And as long as that's the case more value is going to be placed on getting the right head football coach than on getting the right chancellor.

You see things like this all the time in other businesses where some of the top earners in businesses are elite salespeople, sometimes making even more than the CEO of the company, because the value that they generate for the company is just individually so much more than anyone who develops the product or manages the team. It doesn't mean that that company is wrong for paying the salesperson like that.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/Alderan]

But these are (mostly) state funded institutions not a private business.

Is the goal to have higher applications? Or is the goal to provide the best quality education?

I looked up Penn states mission:

To advance teaching, research, and public service across undergraduate, graduate professional and continuing education in diverse disciplines, promoting human and economic development.

I can’t see where football fits into that statement. And the fact that teachers and researchers are not their priority as evidence of who they pay the most to says they are not following their mission. As you pointed out it may raise applications but that doesn’t mean enrollment increases as they already don’t admit all that apply.

I’ll exclude psu athletics because it is 100% self funded (for now) but schools that make students pay to subsidize coaches and players salaries are going counter to their missions. Georgia is one of those schools and it should make you mad. You attend that university to get a degree and they force you to pay for Kirby smart or gunner Stocktons pay. Students will be in debt for decades to pay for their degree and that’s made worse so that these guys can become uber wealthy.

But ask me if I would rather have psu win every NC in all sports or have psu ranked #1 in academics. The answer is a resounding give me better academics.

[u/Alderan → u/LabOwn9800]

Look if you want to say that universities are more about generating revenue than promoting education, I'm definitely not going to argue there. I'm just coming at this from a place of, yes they're prioritizing "improving their university to compete nationally" and one of the things that allows them to do this is revenue, so it is a priority for them.

But if this is a "the university system needs to be completely overhauled" convo, which I doubt we even disagree on, then it probably needs to be a different thread, because I'm not sure athletics is a top 5 issue in that regard.

As for the UGA fee that you want me to be irate about. It's $50 bucks a semester, and subsidizes ticket costs to football games so they're all $8 and grants free access to all other sporting events.

By contrast, it seems like Penn State's tickets are $35/game, so if you attend the games you'll pay more. Full disclosure: I don't even think that's a bad way of doing it because then only the people that want to go to the games are paying the fee, but I also paid a fee for a rec center that I went to one time in my 4 years, and never attended one of the university concert events which came out of my student life fee. Having some of my fees pay for services that I didn't use on campus isn't exactly a novel experience.

If I didn't want to pay athletic fees, I could have gone to a school that didn't charge athletic fees, but in fact it was the opposite. One of the main reasons I chose Georgia over the other in-state schools because of the athletics and would have paid more in fees to do so. Ironically though Georgias fees are less than Georgia Techs, so the only other choice would have resulted in more athletic fees.

And as to your last point about being number one academically or number one athletically I agree. But I didn't get accepted to Harvard, and I imagine you didn't either. I don't know if you're like me but I was choosing between the two best universities that offered in-state tuition.

I imagine you had to choose between Pitt and Penn State. Kind of seems like those were pretty comparable so I imagine your decision was made by things, not based on academics, as was mine.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/Alderan]

I don’t want to fight because I think we agree but I will not let you stand there and say Pitt and Penn state are anywhere near comparable.

[u/Vulcanic_1984 → u/Alderan]

Is this true for school revenue or just athletic revenue? Ivies, MIT, etc dont seem to miss out on school revenue.

[u/Alderan → u/Vulcanic_1984]

Interesting article about exactly this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2018/07/28/nick-saban-gets-another-pay-raise-from-alabama-and-the-numbers-show-he-deserves-it/

[u/RVAforthewin → u/Vulcanic_1984]

I thought you had an interesting concept, but you lost me when the teams choose their own rules and payroll. I think the teams still need to be league members and a governing body needs to enforce rules.

[u/Vulcanic_1984 → u/RVAforthewin]

That is an antitrust violation. Google, facebook, and apple dont get to set up a tech league and set rules for their employees.

[u/randy24681012 → u/Vulcanic_1984]

Yep. MLB is the only antitrust exception cause congress really liked baseball back in the day, and other pro leagues are one corporation with franchises. Owning an NFL team is not unlike owning a Subway.

[u/davis214512]

In 5-10 years it will be telling when we know the lowest seed to win the championship. It will be a good indicator of how many teams really should be included.

[u/ratamadiddle]

Correct.

Meaningless Bowls.

[u/Square-Weight4148]

Yeah, that something is the relevence of the regular season, the conference championships, the bowl games, and any shred of an evidence that its an amateur sport.

[u/luisstrikesout]

I miss when a school was heavily fined or banned for a player getting a free haircut. I miss the chaos of should it be 1 vs 2 in the BCS Game. I miss the New Year Day Bowl Games. I miss PAC-10 after dark. I miss when Big 10 actually had 11 schools, thanks Penn State. I miss the Big East. I miss the OGs of College Gameday.

The game died a long time ago, we are just now opening our eyes.

[u/FCKABRNLSUTN2]

The “I’m too enlightened and moral to be mad about the 24 team playoff” people sure will be mad when an 8-4 bama team gets in.

[u/Ok_Sky6795]

With a 24 team playoff, the argument moves to who should be in, SMU or Northwestern

[u/wikiwombat]

Why stop at 24? If 24 is good, 48 will be twice as good!

[u/10kLines]

I'm not gonna read all that, but is it bowl games?

[u/Inevitable_Catch_566]

Just give the 24 team playoff a chance. It might be good. Really need to give auto bids to all 10 conference champions though.

[u/Idrinkbeereverywhere]

I could see players from the 20th team in sitting still

[u/Mission_Pirate_4150]

We can have more in season big games. With the mandating of 10 p4 games, some of these teams are going to have to improve their schedule. Some of these SEC out of conference games are nothing but scrimmages against the sisters of the poor.

[u/custerb11]

It's been dead for years already, this is just buzzards cleaning up the corpse.

[u/Bad_Karma19]

Nah, it's dead.

[u/Lazy-Vehiclez]

Wait until the players unionize...it's coming, eventually

[u/ProfessionalSky5527]

Nick Marsh is a fucking moron. Geez

[u/Adams5thaccount]

Yeah the high stakes drama is gone now. For about 5-6 teams a year. And it starts for about 40 more.

[u/RelaxedPuppy]

24 game playoff it too many teams. Greed is driving this one

[u/Neither-Amoeba-9759]

24 will absolutely be the nail in the coffin. College football was never meant to be the NFL. What made college so great is that every game mattered the most. Kids played to be legends . That has already been lost. A four team playoff was the right amount. Not every team deserve the shoot. Shit is a joke now

[u/jacobii]

The 24 team playoff would be fun if they had home games until the championship and didn't spread it out all the way until late January

[u/mf-TOM-HANK]

It's probably the death of Ohio State v Maryland and nothing of value will have been lost