Playoff Expansion Discussion

[ThomasTomasz]

 

[Calhoun]

How the teams are selected/seeded and by who is more important than the number of teams. The discontinuation of conference championships would be a step in the right direction, probably would mean no auto bid for conference winners. That's the right answer, the 24 best teams in the country regardless of conference affiliation/record.

Alternatively, give all FBS conference champs an auto bid. Assuming 24 is the expanded play-off number, this would still leave 14 at-large spots, more than the total of 12 available currently across the whole CFP. That would mean at least five mids per play-off, and I'm good with that in the bigger picture.

 

[Xeliou66]

A 24 team playoff would weaken CFB IMO - hell having 12 teams in the playoff is already pushing it and we get some weaker teams who aren’t championship caliber, having 24 would just make the regular season mostly meaningless - basically the way college basketball is. However I understand why they are considering it, given that teams have started opting out of bowl games and the bowls have sadly become basically meaningless, so it does make sense from that perspective.

I don’t see how they could end the playoff by the second week of January especially if they expand the field.

 

[AJBuckeye]

With 24 teams there is still a fair amount of incentive to be ranked high. My guess is the format would be as follows
No Championsip game and Army Navy will still have a time slot
Dec 6 Championship week. Army - Navy
Dec 13 Seeds 9 - 16 host Seeds 17 -24
Dec 20 Seeds 1 - 8 host Dec 13 Winners
New Years Window Quarter
Jan 7 Semi
Jan 15 Championship

I could see Dec 6 and 13 being swapped or possibly have some of the first round games during both weekends.

Biggest thing is the selection process. The ESecPN selection committee needs to be removed.


One thing will likely happen is the B10 and SEC will force the committee to take their top 4 teams each. The other 2 Power Conference will likely get 2 autobids.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I don’t see how they could end the playoff by the second week of January especially if they expand the field.

There's a whole month between the Army-Navy game and New Year's day, they could totally squeeze in three or four rounds. They could even have games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Top 8 get a bye
next 16 face off first week
Quarters second week
Semis third week
Finals

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

With 24 teams there is still a fair amount of incentive to be ranked high. My guess is the format would be as follows
No Championsip game and Army Navy will still have a time slot
Dec 6 Championship week. Army - Navy
Dec 13 Seeds 9 - 16 host Seeds 17 -24
Dec 20 Seeds 1 - 8 host Dec 13 Winners
New Years Window Quarter
Jan 7 Semi
Jan 15 Championship

I could see Dec 6 and 13 being swapped or possibly have some of the first round games during both weekends.

Biggest thing is the selection process. The ESecPN selection committee needs to be removed.


One thing will likely happen is the B10 and SEC will force the committee to take their top 4 teams each. The other 2 Power Conference will likely get 2 autobids.

My Ninja

 

[Xeliou66]

There's a whole month between the Army-Navy game and New Year's day, they could totally squeeze in three or four rounds. They could even have games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Top 8 get a bye
next 16 face off first week
Quarters second week
Semis third week
Finals

Interesting, I guess they could fit that in. But they would have to go up against the NFL if they were playing on Thursdays and I’m not sure they do that. But they could still do Friday/Saturday.
I have mixed feelings about it - it would make the regular season the same as college basketball’s regular season - fun to follow but largely meaningless. On the other hand since the bowls don’t matter anymore it would get more teams involved in a postseason so that’s a plus. But it wouldn’t solve the issue of some teams feeling left out - the only way to avoid that is to literally include every team in the postseason.

 

[Calhoun]

With 24 teams there is still a fair amount of incentive to be ranked high. My guess is the format would be as follows
No Championsip game and Army Navy will still have a time slot
Dec 6 Championship week. Army - Navy
Dec 13 Seeds 9 - 16 host Seeds 17 -24
Dec 20 Seeds 1 - 8 host Dec 13 Winners
New Years Window Quarter
Jan 7 Semi
Jan 15 Championship

I could see Dec 6 and 13 being swapped or possibly have some of the first round games during both weekends.

Biggest thing is the selection process. The ESecPN selection committee needs to be removed.


One thing will likely happen is the B10 and SEC will force the committee to take their top 4 teams each. The other 2 Power Conference will likely get 2 autobids.

Aren't the two bolded statements above contradicting? Also, recall President Trump signed an executive order protecting the annual Army-Navy game by mandating an exclusive, four-hour TV window on the second Saturday of December. This action precludes college football playoff broadcasts during the game.

 

[AJBuckeye]

Aren't the two bolded statements above contradicting? Also, recall President Trump signed an executive order protecting the annual Army-Navy game by mandating an exclusive, four-hour TV window on the second Saturday of December. This action precludes college football playoff broadcasts during the game.

Just thinking about options. The Army Navy game will get its window most likely the second week at noon or 3:30. . The first round would happen during the first two weeks. The could potentially have those games during both of those weeks.

 

[Calhoun]

Just thinking about options. The Army Navy game will get its window most likely the second week at noon or 3:30. . The first round would happen during the first two weeks. The could potentially have those games during both of those weeks.

Sure, but I'm confused about "No Championship Game" proceeding "December 6 Championship week" in your previous post. Seems contradictory.

If whatever expansion plan they cook up doesn't include at least one school automatically from each G5 conference, I hope they file a class action suit against the CFP and ESPN. I'd even send them a few bucks to help the cause. If they find the right judge, might see a possible restraining order stopping all CFP games until an agreement is reached/verdict reached.

 

[dtgold88]

A 24 team playoff would weaken CFB IMO - hell having 12 teams in the playoff is already pushing it and we get some weaker teams who aren’t championship caliber, having 24 would just make the regular season mostly meaningless - basically the way college basketball is. However I understand why they are considering it, given that teams have started opting out of bowl games and the bowls have sadly become basically meaningless, so it does make sense from that perspective.

I don’t see how they could end the playoff by the second week of January especially if they expand the field.

Easy as to last part. Stop having so much time between end of season and round 1 and between other rounds.

as to how many teams? Was a time I thought 8 was perfect but I'd be down with 24 and more football.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

With 24 teams there is still a fair amount of incentive to be ranked high. My guess is the format would be as follows
No Championsip game and Army Navy will still have a time slot
Dec 6 Championship week. Army - Navy
Dec 13 Seeds 9 - 16 host Seeds 17 -24
Dec 20 Seeds 1 - 8 host Dec 13 Winners
New Years Window Quarter
Jan 7 Semi
Jan 15 Championship

I could see Dec 6 and 13 being swapped or possibly have some of the first round games during both weekends.

Biggest thing is the selection process. The ESecPN selection committee needs to be removed.


One thing will likely happen is the B10 and SEC will force the committee to take their top 4 teams each. The other 2 Power Conference will likely get 2 autobids.

I really would like to see Army/Navy be the only Week 0 game. Let them serve as the kickoff game. There are too many traditionalists that want to keep this game in the winter though. And in a 24 team playoff, it could be possible for one of those teams to actually be in it, and would be an unfair ask of them to play the next week after the rest of the schools got a week off.

As long as ESPN has the CFP playoff contract or whatever they have, they will still form their committee.

We already have news that Alabama and OSU are going through with their home and home matchup, so hopefully a playoff expansion means better regular season matchups, and that the larger schools only schedule one game against The Citadel or other smaller schools.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Aren't the two bolded statements above contradicting? Also, recall President Trump signed an executive order protecting the annual Army-Navy game by mandating an exclusive, four-hour TV window on the second Saturday of December. This action precludes college football playoff broadcasts during the game.

they really need to make this game Week 0 and be the only game again. Keeping it in December, even in an exclusive time slot, makes zero sense.

 

[Xeliou66]

they really need to make this game Week 0 and be the only game again. Keeping it in December, even in an exclusive time slot, makes zero sense.

Agreed, if they want Army/Navy to be the only game for a week, they have to make it week 0 in late August, having it in December is just dumb especially if they expand the playoff.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Agreed, if they want Army/Navy to be the only game for a week, they have to make it week 0 in late August, having it in December is just dumb especially if they expand the playoff.

As I said in the post above that one, there are too many traditionalists that may be opposed to it, but it really would draw more eyes to open the season in my opinion.

Also, as someone who would love to attend this game more often, I’m more apt to do it at the end of the summer versus the start of the winter in Philly, the Meadowlands or even further north.

 

[Xeliou66]

As I said in the post above that one, there are too many traditionalists that may be opposed to it, but it really would draw more eyes to open the season in my opinion.

Also, as someone who would love to attend this game more often, I’m more apt to do it at the end of the summer versus the start of the winter in Philly, the Meadowlands or even further north.

These “traditionalists” are going to have to get over themselves and realize the sport has changed, especially with the playoff likely expanding soon.
The playoff expansion is really the only way to go now that the bowls are becoming obsolete to the point of teams opting out of them, I dislike how it waters down the regular season but I want to see a vibrant postseason and the only way to have that now is to expand the playoff. I hate seeing the bowls go, they were really unique and a cool way to end the season, and a part of me thinks CFB was best from 2006-2014 under the BCS system when we had a simple national title game and a bunch of bowls and every game mattered - for instance the 2013 “kick six” Bama/Auburn game that pretty much decided a spot in the national championship game was one of the greatest and most exciting games ever, but under the current playoff system it would’ve been meaningless as both teams would be playoff bound. But that era is over and isn’t coming back.

The playoff gives more teams a chance at the title and sometimes in the BCS era it was hard to decide the 2 most deserving teams, so now the process to determine a champion is fairer, but we have some teams that are underserving of a shot at the title in it and we’ll have a lot more in the future, and there are plenty of blowouts and ugly games in the early rounds of the playoff. And the regular season is now just like college basketball’s season - fun to follow but not that meaningful, and that makes me kind of sad because one of the best things about CFB was that in the past literally every game mattered. But the sport changes, and I’ll continue to watch and enjoy it no matter what, but a part of me thinks the system from 2006-2014 was the best.

 

[Calhoun]

Agreed, if they want Army/Navy to be the only game for a week, they have to make it week 0 in late August, having it in December is just dumb especially if they expand the playoff.

Why couldn't they make Army v. Navy the only college football game on Thanksgiving night, prime time? Since the teams are in the same league, should be able to set up their schedules to give each a bye the week before.

There are a few traditional match ups on Thanksgiving, but they should have plenty of opportunities earlier in the day on multiple networks. I don't know if there are usually NFL games on Thanksgiving night, I know there are day games, but I also don't know if Trump's EO precluded only college football or any football played opposite Army v Navy.

Even if Thanksgiving night could be made to work, I'm sure the idea would be dead in the water if doing so interferred with finals and/or mandatory military duties.

If it could be made to work, I can't think of a better way to spend a Thanksgiving night. Leftover turkey sandwich, fire in the fireplace, Irish whiskey, and the Army v Navy game played in the cold, natural elements of the eastern US.

 

[Xeliou66]

Why couldn't they make Army v. Navy the only college football game on Thanksgiving night, prime time? Since the teams are in the same league, should be able to set up their schedules to give each a bye the week before.

There are a few traditional match ups on Thanksgiving, but they should have plenty of opportunities earlier in the day on multiple networks. I don't know if there are usually NFL games on Thanksgiving night, I know there are day games, but I also don't know if Trump's EO precluded only college football or any football played opposite Army v Navy.

Even if Thanksgiving night could be made to work, I'm sure the idea would be dead in the water if doing so interferred with finals and/or mandatory military duties.

If it could be made to work, I can't think of a better way to spend a Thanksgiving night. Leftover turkey sandwich, fire in the fireplace, Irish whiskey, and the Army v Navy game played in the cold, natural elements of the eastern US.

The NFL plays on Thanksgiving night, I doubt they would want to go up against it.

 

[Calhoun]

The NFL plays on Thanksgiving night, I doubt they would want to go up against it.

Probably not, but I know which one I'd watch.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Why couldn't they make Army v. Navy the only college football game on Thanksgiving night, prime time? Since the teams are in the same league, should be able to set up their schedules to give each a bye the week before.

There are a few traditional match ups on Thanksgiving, but they should have plenty of opportunities earlier in the day on multiple networks. I don't know if there are usually NFL games on Thanksgiving night, I know there are day games, but I also don't know if Trump's EO precluded only college football or any football played opposite Army v Navy.

Even if Thanksgiving night could be made to work, I'm sure the idea would be dead in the water if doing so interferred with finals and/or mandatory military duties.

If it could be made to work, I can't think of a better way to spend a Thanksgiving night. Leftover turkey sandwich, fire in the fireplace, Irish whiskey, and the Army v Navy game played in the cold, natural elements of the eastern US.

NFL has Detroit at noon, Dallas at 4:30 and then a third game at 8:15, sometimes a divisional matchup.

Don’t think they would do that to Army/Navy.