First of all, let it be known that I abhor all of the players sitting out bowl games. However, even in the old days most coaches considered one the biggest advantages of making a bowl game was the extra weeks of practice the NCAA allowed. Mostly they were good for the younger players working out for the next year. I believe we have to stop thinking of the bowl games as the end of this year and start thinking of them as the beginning of next year. This excludes the CFP games. For those, I have to agree with Southern that I would like to get rid of the byes. Go to 16 teams with 8 home games at the top 8 rated team's stadiums. With the fact that all the bye teams lost, I don't see many coaches arguing against that.
I would also suggest ignoring the conference champion stuff when ranking the top 16. If you win your conference, congratulations. If you are not in the top 16, take your trophy and go rest on your laurels.
For clarification, when I say "they don't matter" I am specifically talking about evaluating a team or conference's strength/ranking. You simply can't think that teams having lost multiple starters to opt-outs or the portal has much bearing on how good a team they were during the regular season. It is what it is.
That said I agree with you, the extra practice and opportunity to see young guys play is definitely a benefit to next year's team.
I’m with you 81 take the top 16 teams and that’s who’s in the playoffs.
I like the 12 team format. None of the next 4 teams out REALLY did any good in their bowl games.....except for maybe Ole Miss who played a fairly mediocre Duke team.
Let's just hope Penn State never wins the BIG10 and gets a bye. That didn't work out for any of the bye teams!
GO STATE!!
@mtnittanylion that’s true this year but the transfer portal and NIL money is watering down the top dogs talent. Teams like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State can’t sit on players anymore they’re going to teams like Ole Miss and Oregon and it’s just getting started. 16 teams is good with me and that might not be enough in 4 years it was just 2 or 3 years ago where outside the top 5 or 6 you could see the drop off in talent. The goal is Win the conference championship game first and then try for the NC baby.
A 16-Team playoff requires 4-games (16, 8, 4, 2) and the losers go away. Why not expand to 128 Teams and play 7-games (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2) that begin on week 5 of the season, involves all 128 teams and then runs until week 11? To be fair and unbiased, a random draw process would be used and Team ranking would not be considered. Rivalry games, conference championships and bowl games can be played after the tournament. The student-athletes who don't want to play can leave, and the coaching staff can begin preparing for the next season.
Because the first 5 games would be meaningless, and a bunch of kids would start opting out after the first 2 playoff games.A 16-Team playoff requires 4-games (16, 8, 4, 2) and the losers go away. Why not expand to 128 Teams and play 7-games (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2) that begin on week 5 of the season, involves all 128 teams and then runs until week 11? To be fair and unbiased, a random draw process would be used and Team ranking would not be considered. Rivalry games, conference championships and bowl games can be played after the tournament. The student-athletes who don't want to play can leave, and the coaching staff can begin preparing for the next season.
The first 4 or 5 games would not be meaningless because they would be used in the total count to determine bowl eligibility. The pre-tournament games would give the coaches an opportunity to prepare their teams for the 128-Team Tournament.Because the first 5 games would be meaningless, and a bunch of kids would start opting out after the first 2 playoff games.A 16-Team playoff requires 4-games (16, 8, 4, 2) and the losers go away. Why not expand to 128 Teams and play 7-games (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2) that begin on week 5 of the season, involves all 128 teams and then runs until week 11? To be fair and unbiased, a random draw process would be used and Team ranking would not be considered. Rivalry games, conference championships and bowl games can be played after the tournament. The student-athletes who don't want to play can leave, and the coaching staff can begin preparing for the next season.
The only student-athletes who are likely to opt out are those who believe they have a high probability of being selected in the early rounds of the draft. A consideration is that a student-athelete could possibly hurt their chances of winning a postseason award if they opt out. An added benefit for the Teams is that other student-athletes would have a chance to play. Based on the performance of he Michigan second-stringers against Alabama, the second-stringers want to be on the field and want to compete.
Wouldn't it be great to have teams in bowl games who are manned with players who really want to play in the bowl games? Wouldn't it be great for the Service Academies to stay competitive for the national title until they are beaten? The Army, Navy and Air Force Academies won't have any opt outs. They are playing for their schools. Wouldn't it be great for the "Lesser Teams" to be able to compete with the Big Boys whether in the 0-Loss Group, 1-Loss Group or the x-Loss Group? The "Lesser Teams" won't have any opt outs and maybe some of those schools will earn a spot in a bowl game.
One other consideration, if the money from the tournament is split across all 128 teams, the gap between the haves and have-nots is reduced.
No one would care about bowl games leading up to the playoff, the top teams would be worried about staying healthy.The first 4 or 5 games would not be meaningless because they would be used in the total count to determine bowl eligibility. The pre-tournament games would give the coaches an opportunity to prepare their teams for the 128-Team Tournament.Because the first 5 games would be meaningless, and a bunch of kids would start opting out after the first 2 playoff games.A 16-Team playoff requires 4-games (16, 8, 4, 2) and the losers go away. Why not expand to 128 Teams and play 7-games (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2) that begin on week 5 of the season, involves all 128 teams and then runs until week 11? To be fair and unbiased, a random draw process would be used and Team ranking would not be considered. Rivalry games, conference championships and bowl games can be played after the tournament. The student-athletes who don't want to play can leave, and the coaching staff can begin preparing for the next season.
The only student-athletes who are likely to opt out are those who believe they have a high probability of being selected in the early rounds of the draft. A consideration is that a student-athelete could possibly hurt their chances of winning a postseason award if they opt out. An added benefit for the Teams is that other student-athletes would have a chance to play. Based on the performance of he Michigan second-stringers against Alabama, the second-stringers want to be on the field and want to compete.
Wouldn't it be great to have teams in bowl games who are manned with players who really want to play in the bowl games? Wouldn't it be great for the Service Academies to stay competitive for the national title until they are beaten? The Army, Navy and Air Force Academies won't have any opt outs. They are playing for their schools. Wouldn't it be great for the "Lesser Teams" to be able to compete with the Big Boys whether in the 0-Loss Group, 1-Loss Group or the x-Loss Group? The "Lesser Teams" won't have any opt outs and maybe some of those schools will earn a spot in a bowl game.
One other consideration, if the money from the tournament is split across all 128 teams, the gap between the haves and have-nots is reduced.
"The only student-athletes who are likely to opt out are those who believe they have a high probability of being selected in the early rounds of the draft." - I believe this is naive considering we already have kids opting out of seasons when they hit their redshirt 4 games. The amount of kids doing so would most likely go up.
"Wouldn't it be great to have teams in bowl games who are manned with players who really want to play in the bowl games?" - We already do, and people are complaining that those games are not fun to watch. It's why the conversation of eliminating the bowls altogether has already started. The TV ratings for bowl games outside of the CFP are terrible.
@tae-buetel Your 128 team playoff fantasy might work in a chess tournament. When you are talking about a football team with 85+ players and probably hundreds of coaches and support staff its a slightly different prospect. Not to mention thousands of fans who can't get tickets or hotel reservations for next weeks game because they don't know if there will be one or where it will be. Then again there is the stadium staff, stadium prep, TV coverage and probably a couple of other things that I haven't even thought of.
The only reason a 12 or 16 team playoff works is because all of the games after the first round are played at predetermined places (bowls) and times.
@psugrad81 I don’t know who can get off work enough to go to 3 bowl games and then there’s the cost. Cut the bowl games down to 32 teams that qualify with 16 teams being in the playoffs and do a NFL system of home games for the team that earned home field advantage and swap up the NC games every year at the 6 major bowls. The cost and time will be outrageous to go to all these games. That would be only 8 bowl game which would be fun.
Sorry but Bowl games like the Mayo Bowl and Poptart Bowl DON’T matter ! 16 team playoff and the season ends for all teams that don’t make it in is what I’d love to see. I know it would never happen but it would be so much better for CFB if all post season games actually meant something.
@psujoe The teams that play in those games get the same extra practice time, 6 weeks I believe, that all the bowls get. While you don't enjoy watching those games the fans of those teams do enjoy the games. Why get all upset over garbage bowls. They don't matter to you, don't watch. They also add games to the bowl pick em sheets at the work place.
@psujoe I’m good with that as well. If there was just eight bowl the bowls might get folks excited again. 16 team playoff and eight bowls counting all the major bowls. Only 32 teams get extra games when there’s 60 now just guessing but it’s a lots.
Let them practice until the end of the playoffs even if they’re not participating if that’s what matters because judging by the attendance and ratings of those garbage bowls their fans don’t care either. I didn't watch any of the games that weren’t part of the playoff and I haven’t seen any figures for overall viewership but would be willing to it bet is trending down.
@psujoe Apparently 11 bowl games outside the CFP had spikes in viewrship...
"The Pop-Tarts, Liberty, Pinstripe and Birmingham Bowls drew 6.8, 4.2, 4.2 and 4.1 million viewers, respectively, on the ESPN family of networks. All four of those numbers represented their respective games' largest audiences in at least nine years."
https://www.si.com/college-football/alamo-pop-tarts-bowls-spike-cfp-bowl-game-ratings?utm_source=RSS
@roaminglion I love the bowl season I just believe we have to many bowl games. 16 team playoff system and eight bowls games that will bring the love of bowls back. Thats 32 teams getting rewarded for a good season.Like homer said, let all the other teams practice for an extra month if they choose too.
There was a few dawg fights in bowl games this year.
I watched a few of the lower bowls, those that had a BIG team involved. There were some good games in those bowls. When the bowls stop making money they will be stopped. They bring in a lot of money for the cities in which they take place. in any case, as i always tell people who are offended or just don't like what is on TV, almost all TVs have a couple of built in features that can help. One is the on/off switch. The other one that is kind of technical is the channel selector.
@tae-buetel Your 128 team playoff fantasy might work in a chess tournament. When you are talking about a football team with 85+ players and probably hundreds of coaches and support staff its a slightly different prospect. Not to mention thousands of fans who can't get tickets or hotel reservations for next weeks game because they don't know if there will be one or where it will be. Then again there is the stadium staff, stadium prep, TV coverage and probably a couple of other things that I haven't even thought of.
The only reason a 12 or 16 team playoff works is because all of the games after the first round are played at predetermined places (bowls) and times.
“fantasy” …. That’s only mildly condescending but it is probably best if we always endeavor to be civil to one another. In that vein, I would like to thank you for reinforcing a point that I have made prior which is that a Team is much more than the players that are on the field. As such, there are many issues that are administrative in nature. However, those administrative problems can be overcome by processes.
The problems that I was addressing are due to deception, human nature, and flawed reasoning. The acknowledged driving force behind the college football playoff and all its evolutions since the Bowl Coalition has been a desire to determine a true national champion. The Bowl Coalition was replaced by the Bowl Alliance which was then replaced by the Bowl Championship Series which subsequently gave way to the New year’s Six / College Football Playoff. Throughout the process of incremental change which was spurred by fan discontent, the acknowledged driving force remained a desire to determine a true national champion. But even with the latest adjustments, there is still a lot of discontent with the structure and fans have questioned the fairness.
I find it interesting that no one ever stopped to question the validity of the logic or to consider the true purpose of college football. I can only assume this is because the true motivation behind the effort was money and the goal was to increase the cash flow.
I believe the purpose of college football is to provide a mechanism for student-athletes to attend a university and obtain an education while assisting with school pride and a sense of belonging for the student population. I believe the college football season should not extend beyond January 1st. I prefer the bowl system and ranking system that was in place before all the shenanigans associated with a true national champion began.
However, I am a realist and I know that money drives nearly everything. My purpose of posting the 128-Team Tournament was to simply take the existing construct to a logical extreme and to propose a method by which fairness could be achieved. At present, the 128-Team Tournament is not realistic. However, providing direct payment to players, allowing student-athletes to transfer to multiple schools, and having players with 6+ years of eligibility were all considered unrealistic in the recent past.
If I am in possession of a fantasy, it is my desire that people have a comprehensive ability to think through issues, to have a clear understanding of the purpose and problems being addressed, and to consider the logical fallacies and the flaws in various courses of action.
@psugrad81 i watched the Illinois/VT game and a few others and they were good games. I saw teams out there putting it all on the line playing with pride and trying to win. Most of the players and fans want to play and be out there. It’s fun.
I believe the purpose of college football is to provide a mechanism for student-athletes to attend a university and obtain an education while assisting with school pride and a sense of belonging for the student population. I believe the college football season should not extend beyond January 1st. I prefer the bowl system and ranking system that was in place before all the shenanigans associated with a true national champion began.
Maybe that used to be the sole purpose, but like all things it has changes or morphed into something different. IMO I don't think we should even call them "student/athletes" anymore. Not because of the NIL money or payments, but because it's a legitimate vocation. College is supposed to get you ready for a job, right? Well... football, basketball, and a lot of other sports are jobs. What's so wrong with acknowledging that? Yes making the NBA or NFL is very hard and not a realistic goal for many, but how is that different from anyone going to acting school? Most of those people aren't going to make big money as actors either.
So to me, college football has certainly morphed into a great many things. It's simultaneously a moneymaker for many, a pathway to the NFL, a way into college, a sense of belonging, a source of school pride, etc. None of those things is bad, and I see no reason to artificially limit potential by stopping it on January 1st. I don't think it harms the kids in any way to play into spring semester a bit. Gone are the days of having to be on campus and falling behind because of a travel schedule. It's pretty easy for kids to stay on top of class these days with the internet and online courses. All these kids also have access to special privileges and tutors as well. IMO academics on sports teams is better now than it has been in a while.
Long story short... I don't think we need to look to the past for some sort of "glory years" in regards to football. I think a lot of the change has been very, very good.
@roaminglion i agree Roam. I love Penn State wrestling and especially football regardless if the players are getting paid or not. Be nice if they’d give them 5 years of playing time because they are getting paid to go to school and play football but they only get 5 years and if they’re getting paid they might not jump to the NFL unless they know for sure they’re getting drafted that way we don’t have players sitting out of bowl games because it’s their job. Do away with the redshirt but 5 years is the most you can play college football with absolutely no exceptions.
Also Find a way to refund ole southern $1000 for the spring game I got to watch. Lol
And I think a lot of change has been very, very bad. I guess good & bad is in the eye of the beholder, lol.
@rip I’m sure there is some bad but I honestly can’t see any difference in them getting paid or not. I see the same Penn St football team trying to win. The stadium is full and I love it more than ever especially with all these extra games we’re getting…I love it brother 😁
