The Rest of College Football

[Mike]

The Rose Bowl is the de facto national championship just like last year.

[froot loops]

Just put 16 teams in and play 8 1st round games. The games this weekend sucked but it was cool to have it on campus and in the north.

[iam416]

The cold weather games were nice. And the home games were great. There's an obviously awful error in format that is easily correctable -- and I think gets corrected for 2025.

The SEC/B10 may agree to go to 16. But they'll want guaranteed spots. It's really up to those conferences.

Mike:

Texas is pretty damn good. So, I think Oregon/OSU will have to get past Texas and then beat Georgia in Atlanta. I do think Oregon/OSU are at least 2 of the best 3 teams out there, but the road for either after the Rose Bowl isn't automatic. Or even close.

And, yes, Penn State's path to the semifinal still irritates me.

[Cody_Russell]

I’m in a $10 college football picks pools with 5 other friends about who will win the national championship. The draft order lucky draw gave me the 1st overall pick and it was the easiest decision to pick OSU despite their Vegas odds last week. Hedging! Either OSU doesn’t win a championship OR $10 turns into $60. Plus as I’ve been saying all year, OSU is the most talented team. Only their Care Bear fake tough guy head coach can hold them back… or losing a close game to a quality team like Oregon, Texas, Georgia, Penn State, or ND.

The actual playoff games last weekend were dreadful due to the uncompetitiveness. Though being able to see the college campus environments for December playoff football was cool.

In a perfect world, these teams would have significantly more home and away matchups during the regular season. Then I think the best format is 6 teams because it would keep the value of the regular season. Top 2 teams get a bye. Yes, that’s all wishful thinking and nonsense at this point because $$$ will dictate expanding the playoffs in the future.

[iam416]

The B10/SEC aren't going to agree to 6 unless there's no automatic qualifiers. Or even 8. That's why we're at 12. And will get to 16.

I mean, we're trucking toward a B10 vs SEC semifinals -- though, Georgia could definitely lose. Texas-B10 is automatic. And I think PSU-UGa is most likely.

Anyway, those two conferences have 34 teams including ALMOST all the brands that matter. Notre Dame and maybe a few ACC schools are all that's missing. The B12 is effectively Group of 5 now.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The mechanics of a 16 team playoff and the time it takes to get all the games in, given academic schedules, aren't entirely smooth but, I agree, we're clearly headed toward 16 teams each in the BIG and SEC. For now, missing a decent organizing agency for a football playoff, the CFB Playoff Committee will do as that organizing agency. I don't particularly care what happens to the bystanders in the other conferences. The Presidents (including ND for now), or some other organizing agency, will independently have to get their heads together and figure out how they might want to proceed collectively

[Cody_Russell]

Yes, might as well form a professional league at this point. One with well governed leadership and a salary cap that is easily trackable. No more paying players under the table (cheating prior to NIL). No more LA Dodgers baseball-like crap where with Michigan, the 2nd richest person in the world can buy Bryce Underwood. It feels soulless to be a fan that’s the beneficiary of it…. But hey, it’s better than being a fan of a cheapskate (Chris Ilitch/ this Tigers offseason in particular LOL).

Give me some college football structure. It’s time!

…

Georgia is only favored by 1.5 over ND at this moment. Hopefully it’s a competitive game and not uninteresting like the 4 playoff games so far. Very similar teams due to the Beck injury. QB that is a tough and big runner, but has questions as a passer. Win with defense and toughness.
Gotta root for Riley Leonard and ND because seeing them win would be different. I’m not really into the M vs ND rivalry due to how it’s a dead series and I didn’t see the late 80s/ early 90s games.

[lineygoblue]

Ok to go to 16 teams, but no more byes. Everybody plays from Week 1. 16 goes to 1, 15 goes to 2, etc. Yeah there'd still be blowouts but at least everyone would play, and the possibility of a major upset would exist.

Reference: The NCAA Mens (and Womens) Basketball Tournament(s) who take 68 teams apiece.

Round 2 is re-seeded and the top 4 winners from Round 1 get home games. All remaining rounds are played at bowl sites.

This format has worked in Division 2 and other NCAA divisions for decades. The games are fun, competitive and hotly contested.

The networks will fight this common-sense approach for whatever their reasons are. But its the best way to go.

[froot loops]

Yes, might as well form a professional league at this point. One with well governed leadership and a salary cap that is easily trackable. No more paying players under the table (cheating prior to NIL). No more LA Dodgers baseball-like crap where with Michigan, the 2nd richest person in the world can buy Bryce Underwood. It feels soulless to be a fan that’s the beneficiary of it…. But hey, it’s better than being a fan of a cheapskate (Chris Ilitch/ this Tigers offseason in particular LOL).

Give me some college football structure. It’s time!

…

Georgia is only favored by 1.5 over ND at this moment. Hopefully it’s a competitive game and not uninteresting like the 4 playoff games so far. Very similar teams due to the Beck injury. QB that is a tough and big runner, but has questions as a passer. Win with defense and toughness.
Gotta root for Riley Leonard and ND because seeing them win would be different. I’m not really into the M vs ND rivalry due to how it’s a dead series and I didn’t see the late 80s/ early 90s games.

The only way you are going to provide structure is if there is a union of the players. Any attempt of the structure that you are describing would get slapped around in the courts. It's the reason why they have NIL and these unlimited transfers, the NCAA has very little power to provide structure that isn't collectively bargained.

[iam416]

That’s why it’ll reduce down to SEC/B10

[froot loops]

Maybe that gets around the antitrust laws. I'm not sure but maybe it works.

I'm not sure just reducing it to the Big Ten and SEC makes college football more popular either. I'm a big tent guy, if Boise has a good team I'd like to see that team yet a chance even if they face long odds. Cutting more than half the colleges out of the action seems to be counterproductive.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It's going to happen. In july of this year,the Third Circuit in Johnson v. NCAA held that student athletes are not barred from being considered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Third Circuit began its opinion by signaling in no uncertain terms that the days of the NCAA’s long-successful “amateurism” argument are over. The court retorted: “Do efforts that provide tangible benefits to identifiable institutions deserve compensation? In most instances, they do.” (credit to Reed Smith Law)

In April of 2025, the day final approval is expected for the landmark, $2.8 billion lawsuit settlement that lays the foundation for players to receive money directly from their schools, what was once considered anathema to the entire concept of college sports will become the norm. (Credit to AP).

All of this will force the powers to be to deal with these sticky issues (Credit to Reed Smith Law):

• Will universities face minimum wage back-pay liability for past student athletes?
• Will universities face cross-sport or all sport class action lawsuits?
• Will higher education insurers cover claims from student athletes for back pay?
• Will student athletes be entitled to overtime? To workers’ compensation? To employee benefits?
• Will the Johnson decision galvanize the so-far slow-moving student athlete unionization trend?
• Will Title IX require equal pay for student athletes in comparable teams of different genders?
• Will NIL payments be considered part of student athletes’ pay?
• Will the treatment of Division I athletics be carved out or will the new legal obligations of colleges and universities in relation to student athletes transcend the divisions?

I'm really not sure who "the powers to be" are or will be. That may or may not sort itself out over the coming first quarter of 2025 but IMO, the reality on the ground is that the BIG and the SEC are going to be the power brokers because those two conferences generate most of the total annual CFB revenues through televised rights contracts and will have a say in determining who is going to run the CFB show.

[iam416]

I think it’ll reduce to the power 2 because they can collectively bargain and set rules.

[iam416]

The portal is the thing that really sucks. Obviously.

[lineygoblue]

The portal is the thing that really sucks. Obviously.

Agree. That's why it needs to be eliminated completely (not likely) or it needs to be restricted. Such as, one portal transfer every 4 years. Student athletes who have graduated may still transfer for a 5th year if they have eligibility remaining.

This unlimited portal transfer thing has got to go. Even professional athletes don't have unlimited free agency.