SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams

[B1GTide]

That was the point all along to kill off the bowls and consolidate that revenue to the playoffs. Just go back and look at the attendance at the Gator Bowl this year which has historically averaged 50K-60k fans. The attendance was only about 12k this year.

Espn does not want bowl games to die. They take place during a period with little competition for audiences during the week.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

I am not a big fan of expanding the SEC schedule to nine games, especially if playing a very strong schedule is going to be held against a team and playing a schedule full of cupcakes is going to be rewarded by the playoff selection committee.

100% agree!

In fact, we should be reducing the number of conference games and adding more weak teams like SMUs and the Bosies play.

 

[BamaBoySince89]

I’m a fan of downsizing but why not just take it to 16 like the powers that be really want and remove these automatic qualifiers.

It’s not going back to what is reasonable and full of common sense so why not just make it 16 and be done with it, at this point I’m over it

 

[Cruloc]

SEC gets 4
Big 10 gets 4

Everyone else fits in the remaining 8 slots.

Seeds done by the final ranking instead of auto bids like ASU and Boise got this year.

Ok. I don't care anyway, its all ridiculous now.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

The dirty little secret that it seems nobody wants to admit is that INTEREST in college football isn't "really" national, it's regional and locked primarily into two regions in the entire USA:
1) the deep southeast (south of Kentucky, but I'll redraw to include TX and OK but not MO)
2) the Ohio-Michigan-Pennsylvania sorta "triangle"

The "interest" in other states is PRIMARILY based upon people from those states who have relocated to Idaho or wherever. Look at the top 22 TV ratings in CFB prior to the playoff/bowls and tell me if you notice anything at all:

1. Georgia-Texas, SEC Championship -- 16.6 million (ABC)
2. Georgia-Texas -- 13.19 million (ABC)
3. Michigan-Ohio State -- 12.3 million (Fox)
4. Georgia-Alabama -- 11.99 million (ABC)
5. Penn State-Oregon, Big Ten Championship -- 10.5 million (CBS)
6. Alabama-Tennessee -- 10.23 million (ABC)
7. Tennessee-Georgia -- 9.96 million (ABC)
8. Ohio State-Penn State -- 9.77 million (Fox)
9. Ohio State-Oregon -- 9.6 million (NBC)
10. Texas-Michigan -- 9.19 million (Fox)
11. Texas-Texas A&M -- 9.45 million (ABC)
12. Indiana-Ohio State -- 9.32 million (Fox)
13. LSU-USC -- 8.62 million (ABC)
14. Georgia Tech-Georgia -- 8.47 million (ABC)
15. Notre Dame-Texas A&M -- 7.92 million (ABC)
16. Alabama-LSU -- 7.9 million (ABC)
17. Texas-Oklahoma -- 7.63 million (ABC)
18. Clemson-Georgia -- 7.58 million (ABC)
19. Auburn-Alabama -- 7.16 million (ABC)
20. Georgia-Ole Miss -- 7.08 million (ABC)
21. Alabama-Oklahoma -- 6.98 million (ABC)
22. Florida-Georgia -- 6.97 million (ABC)

EVERY single game includes AT LEAST ONE team from the named area; 17 of these games feature BOTH PROGRAMS from the geographic area (#23 is the Big 12 title game between Iowa St and Arizona St).

Expanding the playoff was dumb.
Expanding it more is even dumber.

 

[TideEngineer08]

The dirty little secret that it seems nobody wants to admit is that INTEREST in college football isn't "really" national, it's regional and locked primarily into two regions in the entire USA:
1) the deep southeast (south of Kentucky, but I'll redraw to include TX and OK but not MO)
2) the Ohio-Michigan-Pennsylvania sorta "triangle"

The "interest" in other states is PRIMARILY based upon people from those states who have relocated to Idaho or wherever. Look at the top 22 TV ratings in CFB prior to the playoff/bowls and tell me if you notice anything at all:

1. Georgia-Texas, SEC Championship -- 16.6 million (ABC)
2. Georgia-Texas -- 13.19 million (ABC)
3. Michigan-Ohio State -- 12.3 million (Fox)
4. Georgia-Alabama -- 11.99 million (ABC)
5. Penn State-Oregon, Big Ten Championship -- 10.5 million (CBS)
6. Alabama-Tennessee -- 10.23 million (ABC)
7. Tennessee-Georgia -- 9.96 million (ABC)
8. Ohio State-Penn State -- 9.77 million (Fox)
9. Ohio State-Oregon -- 9.6 million (NBC)
10. Texas-Michigan -- 9.19 million (Fox)
11. Texas-Texas A&M -- 9.45 million (ABC)
12. Indiana-Ohio State -- 9.32 million (Fox)
13. LSU-USC -- 8.62 million (ABC)
14. Georgia Tech-Georgia -- 8.47 million (ABC)
15. Notre Dame-Texas A&M -- 7.92 million (ABC)
16. Alabama-LSU -- 7.9 million (ABC)
17. Texas-Oklahoma -- 7.63 million (ABC)
18. Clemson-Georgia -- 7.58 million (ABC)
19. Auburn-Alabama -- 7.16 million (ABC)
20. Georgia-Ole Miss -- 7.08 million (ABC)
21. Alabama-Oklahoma -- 6.98 million (ABC)
22. Florida-Georgia -- 6.97 million (ABC)

EVERY single game includes AT LEAST ONE team from the named area; 17 of these games feature BOTH PROGRAMS from the geographic area (#23 is the Big 12 title game between Iowa St and Arizona St).

Expanding the playoff was dumb.
Expanding it more is even dumber.

NASCAR:

 

[Bama9001]

Regardless of whether it stays at 12 or goes to 14/16, the SEC/B1G should have a minimum of 4 bids each, that would go to 5 each in the 16 team format.

The slots in the playoffs would be guaranteed to those conferences with the possibility of losing an auto bid based on some objective criteria. For instance, the #5 team in the SEC has zero wins over top 25 teams. Perhaps multiple losses to unranked teams (that one would have taken us out this year). Some kind of OBJECTIVE criteria. I don't want to watch bad SEC/B1G teams in the playoffs either.

The team that loses one of the conference's auto bids would remain in the hunt for an at-large bid based on all the competing teams' resumes.

 

[BamaFan6462]

Espn does not want bowl games to die. They take place during a period with little competition for audiences during the week.

ESPN should’ve thought about that when they were whining about wanting playoffs years ago. The four team playoff hurt them as it was, yet they still kept on wanting more when literally everyone knew the other bowls would be affected.

 

[B1GTide]

ESPN should’ve thought about that when they were whining about wanting playoffs years ago. The four team playoff hurt them as it was, yet they still kept on wanting more when literally everyone knew the other bowls would be affected.

They did. Guaranteed. They know what they are trying to accomplish. Might not work, but they have a plan.

 

[BamaFan6462]

They did. Guaranteed. They know what they are trying to accomplish. Might not work, but they have a plan.

No doubt. They’re willing to drive up the profit they can make off of college football for a few years not caring if it kills the sport or not. They get a big boost in earnings, then move on to the next sport.

 

[B1GTide]

No doubt. They’re willing to drive up the profit they can make off of college football for a few years not caring if it kills the sport or not. They get a big boost in earnings, then move on to the next sport.

I hate ESPN so won't defend them in anything, but football is not the sport that they want to kill.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

NASCAR:

For almost a decade, NASCAR had something resembling a national fanbase far better than CFB, to the point they built and opened tracks with SRO crowds in Texas, California, Chicago, and Kansas City. But their infatuation was similar to when the Carolina-based NWA wrestling promotion (1987) decided they wanted to be a "big deal" and moved their annual Thanksgiving show in Greensboro, NC (since 1961) to Chicago, and wiped out both towns forever for NWA wrestling.

NASCAR did a similar thing - thanks to NBC and Fox sticking their noses into the racing business - and saying things like, "Fans would rather watch the superspeedway race from California than two races at Rockingham and Martinsville. Oh and why not move Darlington away from Labor Day!"

And the same thing happened to NASCAR as happened to wrestling.

In 2004, NASCAR was getting ready to have a regular season race in Japan and expand worldwide, like maybe they thought they were the NFL. The sport peaked in 2005 - and it has been all downhill ever since. Rules changes, track changes, the same guy winning all the championships, corruption, the whole bit.

College football would do well to learn from the examples of both a fake sport and a real one.

Unfortunately, like every overdose victim who has thousands of people that could serve as a warning, they won't.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I’m a fan of downsizing but why not just take it to 16 like the powers that be really want and remove these automatic qualifiers.

It’s not going back to what is reasonable and full of common sense so why not just make it 16 and be done with it, at this point I’m over it

You can have automatic qualifiers or you can have a committee/group of voters.

Or you can have autos for some and a committee for the rest.

I'm more bothered by the notion of committees (the Mike Leach argument) than I am "conference champions make the field" (but without a bye).

The sole effect this whole thing is having on me is, "Makes me care even less than I already do and interest continues to wane."

 

[Ole Man Dan]

I have looked into my magic ball and looked at one scenario of expansion.
1. The BIG 10 and the SEC make it official and leave the NCCA...
In this scenario the SEC expands by taking in the BIG 12...
The BIG 10 takes the ACC, and the rest can do something else...
Nick Saban is the CZAR of FOOTBALL.
(It's my Ball, and that may be the future')