The current version and structure of college football will not last past 2031. Everything being discussed right now is about the next 6 to 7 years and then massive changes will come.
REPORT: The SEC & Big Ten are looking to each have 4 automatic bids to the playoff when the next contract begins in 2026, per @CFBHeather
- Thread starter RaleighPittFan
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My favorite thing though is the big and sec are saying they are doing this for”what is best for college athletics”. No you’re not. You are doing what is best for you and best for football, damn everything else. Just be up front.
I mean the only play all the other non SEC schools have is to kick out the Big 10 and SEC teams from all sports on their schedule. Have the NCAA hockey kick out teams, Wrestling, baseball and yes basketball, just don't play them or schedule them. That's not going to happen.
They should run for office. I don't mind when entities lie like this. That's what they do. Same with politicians. It bothers me when they don't get called out on it.
Keep in mind, the College Football Playoff Management Committee, which consists of the commissioners of every conference plus the Notre Dame AD, already gave control of the format of the CFP from 2026-32. (ESPN is also a partner) And they have also already agreed to unequal playoff revenue sharing that heavily favors the Big 10 and SEC.
There’s two pages in this thread I haven’t read yet…but instead of a championship game, a play in game involving the 2nd and 3rd place teams would be tasty.
In English soccer’s 2nd division, the 1st place team (and a 2nd place team) automatically get promoted to the Premier League. But 3-6 play a mini tourney for that final promotion spot. That final match is played at a 100,000 seat neutral site and is regarded as the biggest game in the sport because so much money is on the line. I don’t mean to infuriate anyone for bringing up soccer, but that system generates so much for that sport in that country. Could you imagine the interest around a college football game where two teams face off for the right to make the playoff? It wouldn’t be any less interesting than a conference championship game and would be potentially even more interesting and get better ratings.
Doesn't matter "who any one wants to see play". It all has to do with giving ALL of the teams that compete at the FBS level a chance to possibly qualify for the national playoffs. By the way, upsets happen all the time in sports, that is why the games are played. Appalachian State beating #5 Michigan, AT Michigan in 2007, Pitt beating #2 WVU, AT WVU in 2007, those are the kind of upsets that make college sports so exciting to watch. How about Vanderbilt knocking off #1 Alabama this year??? All of those games had sell out crowds, maybe you are just wrong about what people want to see.
Once or twice a year there are stunning upsets. They're not going to build a billion dollar playoff model on that possibility. They're going to shape it and manipulate it to keep the largest fan bases engaged and interested for as long as they can because those fans happily turn over huge sums of money. Vandy was nice and a lot of fun for their fan base but in a few weeks their stadium will be back to normal and their fan base will be disengaged. No money to be made there.
i was just thinking about this. Jivecat, if your team is pretty much in the playoffs then is that conference championship game REALLY that important?
If my team is in, im pretty much happy with being 3rd and not having to play in that game.
Now for the acc and big 12, that Conference championship game will be very important, to ensure a bid BUT for the big 10 or SEC team, both teams will be in as well as the 3rd and 4th (and possibly 5th) best teams in those respected conferences so it's almost a blessing to not have to play in it..
Florida is not horrible. Ask UCF. But they are not top 25. The ACC needs to make a splash. I nominate Pitt!
Our “best” year is below average for Ohio State. Give us some sustained high level success and we will draw. 40 years of bad football does not build a fanbase
It's pretty clear that you did not watch the Alabama - Vanderbilt game, so I will help you out. The current capacity of Vanderbilt's stadium is 40,350. The actual attendance for the game last Saturday was 28,934. That isn't actually a sell out. Or even close to it.
And if you had watched the game, you would have noticed that at least half of those 28,934 people were wearing Alabama crimson. And yeah, I get that usually when people say that it's an exaggeration. Sometimes a huge exaggeration. That was not. There were section after section that were completely filled with fans wearing red.
28,934 is actually a sell out this year. Capacity will be back above 40,000 next year when they finish with the renovations.
Two years of renovations. Only Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt football FirstBank Stadium renovation: A look inside at construction updates
Here's a look at construction at Vanderbilt football's FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Renovations began in August 2023
www.tennessean.com
What will Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium capacity be in 2024?
The capacity this season will be 28,934. This is just over 400 more seats than there were in 2023, when the capacity was 28,500.The additional seating from a year ago is in the form of bar-style club seating in the north end zone. There are tables at field level, as well as three rows of seats on the club level.
Before construction began, the capacity was 40,350.
Vanderbilt's capacity will be even higher in 2025, as the south end zone construction includes both traditional seating and suites.
Forget about money, crowd size and everything else. If teams are competing at the same level (FBS), then they should ALL be treated equally when it comes to having a chance to win a NC. Win your conference and you are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. If you want to have the 3rd and 4th place teams from the SEC and Big 10 qualify, that's fine, just increase the number of teams for the playoffs from 12 to 18.
WHO CARES??? If they are meeting in the NC playoffs, tv ratings will be fine.
This isnt about getting the best 14 teams in. Its not an NCAA event. It truly is an SEC/B10 Invitational. Its their tournament. They call the shots. And as I said, they will always have "Dont like it, we out."
They want 8 of the 14 slots guaranteed and want the ACC, B12, G6, and ND to fight for the last 6 with the ACC and B12 getting 2 each, G6 1 and ND 1. Not sure why the SEC would agree to this as this locks them in at ONLY 4 bids.
Idealism is long gone in college football. Everyone gets a cut now so everyone wants more money. It's money today, money tomorrow, and it will be money in ten years. Fair or equal chance or whatever anyone thinks it should be is just talking around in circles. People writing the checks are making all of the decisions now.
What he does not realize is that the day that someone somehow forces a situation that every conference winner in the division has to make the playoff is the day that the top, right now probably four conferences announce that they are creating their own division and leaving the other schools behind to do whatever they want.
And when I say probably four right now, we all know that the day is coming when that could just as easily be two as it would be four. But for now the top two would want the cover of three and four.
Not sure if this has been previously discussed.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...includes-70-teams-private-equity-backing/amp/
https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...includes-70-teams-private-equity-backing/amp/
I really wish they'd let the new format play out before tweaking it. So far, it looks as if it's working out.
I would prefer that the only automatic qualifiers are conference champions. If those other teams are good enough, they should make it by being the highest ranked wild cards. I fully would expect the SEC to earn at least 4 seeds each time, but let's not guarantee it.
I would prefer that the only automatic qualifiers are conference champions. If those other teams are good enough, they should make it by being the highest ranked wild cards. I fully would expect the SEC to earn at least 4 seeds each time, but let's not guarantee it.
If you assume that winning games is important to the whole process, then yes. If you take in the reality of the SEC and B1G having to share revenue with the peasants, then no. Not working out at all.
But they do. Just about every Power 4 (or 5 or what ever the number is this week) has at least 1 or 2 games against a G5 school already on their schedule. If they can play them during the regular season, then they should be given that equal chance for a NC playoff spot.
Upsets happen all the time in sports and college football is no different.
The MAC champ would be a 30 plus point underdog, and no, they don't deserve a spot. The NCAA basketball tournament is a much larger field, and the at-large teams that are left are not capable of winning an NC.
NC State had to win 5 in 5 just go get in and almost won the whole thing. There have been First Four to Final Fours so they absolutely do leave out teams who could win the whole thing. Pitt last year was one.
You are missing the point of the post. If you are playing in a conference that is at the FBS level and you win that conference, then you should receive an opportunity to participate in the national championship playoffs.
Also, who cares how many points a MAC champion would be in a given game? Upsets happen all of the time and that's why we play the games. 30 point underdog...who cares?
I offer you the following examples to support the point of the post...
-In 2007, Pitt was a 28 1/2 underdog to WVU, did it matter? No, it did not.
-In 2007, App. State was a 34 1/2 point underdog when they upset Michigan. did it matter??? No it did not.
-In 2017, Howard beat UNLV and they were a 45 1/2 point underdog, Did matter??? No it did not.
The solution is simple. Raise the number of teams from 12 to 16 and give ALL FBS conference champions a GUARANTEED spot in the playoffs. It is the right thing to do.
Patience grasshopper. We a literally moving from 4 to 12 this year. It used to be no championship just bowls. then it went to two teams, then it went to 4 teams. Just about everyone can assume it will eventually go to 16 teams within 10 years.
They doesn't mean auto bids will be handed out to non P4 though
The solution is even simpler than that. Lop off all the teams and conferences that aren't really playing at the same level, they just want to pretend that they do. And then we won't ever have to even think about the MAC champion ever again, just like we don't think about the MEAC champion now.
That is the same logic that has held the FBS level of college football back from where it needs to be. Why even have a national playoff system in place at all, we can just use the same asinine bowl game system that has been around for years.
Or we could have a national championship system in place that the schools that are actually participating on the highest level can play in. And we can have a different playoff for the teams that aren't playing at the highest level. You know, just like they do now.
The notion that the MAC is playing at the same level as the Big Ten or that Conference USA is playing at the same level as the SEC is nuts. You have to be delusional to think that. You can call them the same but they are more like apples to oranges than McIntosh to Golden Delicious.
