You have not taken into account, however, that there might be more parity among the conferences if every conference champion had a spot in the playoff.
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That’s true and actually I did think about that, but it would take awhile and the gap would probably still be really wide. In basketball where every team has a shot at the dance, Sam Houston still isn’t taking any recruits from UNC, Kentucky and Duke. Maybe a Gonzaga could spring up, but it’s a lot harder with 85 scholarship players than 13. And even still, it’s not like there’s going to be the football version of Gonzaga in every conference.
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Every conference champ is deserving of a shot at the title regardless of the odds.
It also removes some of the risk associated with losing an OOC game, so maybe some P5s would be more willing to play the better G5 programs. Win all your conference games, and the 4 loses you took OOC (extreme case) might still allow you to win your division, play for your conference championship and make a real playoff.
A loss or two today makes it very hard to have a shot at the playoffs, whereas an auto-bid for the conference champions keeps more teams alive longer, it should create more regular season interest.
Maybe some schools would use their OOC games to renew old rivalries lost to realignment. Schools could use their OOC games to test themselves against quality competition as a prep fir their conference schedule. The whole concept re-emphasizes the importance of winning your conference, which is a primary goal for every program.
Let’s the first couple rounds be played at home of highest ranked schools, use the bowls for semifinals/finals. Lots of good teams will not make the playoffs, they can fill out the lower level bowls.
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I’m a proponent of 16 teams. All 10 conference champs.
And the remaining at-large teams needed to have at least participated in the CCG.
Sorry if you are Auburn getting beat by Bama and don’t get to play the CCG, but that is how playoffs work.
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But a Villanova can win in MBB, or a Gonzaga, or a Florida Gulf Coast, or a Butler, or an Indiana State, or, or, or…
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I don’t know why you would use Villanova as an example. They are a major program, albeit a notch below the blue bloods. They were in arguably the best conference for basketball not long ago (I’d argue ACC was better, but a case could be made for the Big East) and the Big East is still basically the equivalent of a P5 type conference for basketball.
Florida Gulf Coast was an awesome story, but I believe they are the only 15 seed to ever reach the sweet 16. There have been something like 136 15 seeds in the tournament. Those aren’t great odds. Similarly UMBC is the only 16 seed out of the 136 to win a game.
Gonzaga/Butler are great stories and kind of the best case scenario (note that Butler also got the conference call up). But it would be really hard to replicate in football. In football you have 80 scholarships vs. 13. In basketball for the tourney you need 7-8 guys vs. 35-40 in football in addition to injury attrition. Also, in hoops the extreme blue chip talent leaves after a year vs. 3 in football so you can help bridge the talent gap with solid players who know your system, are well coached and have a few years of physical maturity over the superstars on Duke or Kentucky. And even if you did have a replication of the Zags (have some success and then start to bridge the talent gap through recruiting and get lucky with a coach that sticks around), it would be like us or UCF probably rather than ULala or Akron.
Similarly, Indiana State kind of lucked out and had the best player in the country which can make a big difference in basketball.
I also never said a Sun Belt or MAC team would never win a playoff game. It could happen and if the playoffs went on for a really long time it probably would at some point. But the vast, vast majority of the time they’d get destroyed and viewers and networks aren’t going to be particularly interested in it other than the really rare occasion when there’s an upset in the making. The SEC plays the Sun Belt all the time and those games aren’t getting the prime time slots.
I can see both sides of the argument on this one and something would have to be done with conference strength to make something like this a reality. If the conference were willing to come together and share revenue, or the networks are able to pick and choose which teams they pay their money to, instead of entire conferences, we’d probably see some realignment among all the conferences as schools try to position themselves for better opportunities in the playoff.
Would the conferences come together to build a more regional conference structure in order to balance out the conferences? Depends on the money; always depends on the money.
Until something along those lines happens, doubt we ever see every conference champion make it for the exact reasons your stating.
Yes, but that is a pool of 64 teams. This would be 10-16. you would end up with at least one power, perhaps two, in each conference.
I don’t think football should necessarily be compared to basketball and neither should the playoff formulas. It’s easier for smaller schools to compete in basketball as only a few key players can be the difference between a really good team as compared to an average team. Let’s also not forget that a basketball team can play a few games over a week span as compared to football.
Should the CFP expand? Of course. Should it be even close to the size of the NCAA tournament, no. I’d be ok with anything from an 8 team model up to 16.
With that said, there’s much more wrong with college football than just the current playoff format. The power conferences don’t even play by the same standards. The SEC gets away with an 8 game conference schedule; big 12 plays a round robin and ACC plays a 9 game conference schedule, etc. OOC scheduling is all over the map as well.
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For those who don’t pay attention, college basketball has the same upsets during the regular season as it does during the tournament. They are so rare in college football, so why would it change in a playoff? Comparing college basketball and football does not make sense. The game of basketball is much easier for upsets and especially with how college basketball is now. A small school can have an all senior lineup of sharp shooter who get hot one night and beat a team with multiple freshmen who will be in the NBA. Also for viewing pleasure, we get 16 games a day the first weekend so you can ignore the multiple beat downs and lock in on the 1 possible big upset. In football you aren’t sitting there watching a 3+ hour beat down every year hoping for an upset.
Yes. There is a lack of uniformity among the conferences in football. Everyone’s got their own set of rules, but it’s supposed to be understood that everyone has a “shot” at the playoff. That’s what networks want you to believe. That the CFP champ is the best team out of 120+ schools. It’s really only the best team out of like 20 Blueblood schools, if that.
Also, one thing that’s always irked me is the automatic tie-ins. That crap needs to go ,but never will. Why is it that only 2 conferences get a shot to play in the Rose Bowl , considered the grandaddy of all bowls!? In the end, money rules college football.
And it helps bring in a guy like Dana! Go Coogs!
8 teams. 1st round at the higher seeds home field 2 weeks before January 1st. Second round on January 1st at traditional bowl sites on the traditional bowl day. Championship a week to 10 days at a warm weather or covered site.
Yes, but often in CFB what is called an upset really is not an upset.
When Temple beat the crap out of Penn State a few years ago the talking heads kept saying “upset”. But Temple was clearly the better team.
When we beat OU we were as good as they were. When we crushed Louisville and Lamar Jackson we were FAR better than they were.
UCF played competitive to LSU after losing one of the nation’s best QBs and playing a guy making his 3rd start.
The conference winners of the G5, especially the AAC and MWC have a very good chance of advancing through the playoffs.
During the regular season 95% of the time the P5 team is playing a home game versus a G5. I’m sure that tradition would stay alive and well in the CFP if they become inclusive.
Teams like UCF or Boise when they are at their peak, or us in 2015 will have a chance in the playoff. But all those teams proved themselves in the regular season and didn’t lose 3 or 4 games. I’m just not for every conference champ getting in, even a P5 champ. Remember the year 6-6 UCLA was in the conference championship game. If they won that, they wouldn’t deserve a spot with 6 losses. G5 conference champs don’t deserve a spot with multiple losses. I like that the regular season is important in college football. When expanded if every undefeated is guaranteed a spot, then no body can say that every FBS team doesn’t have a chance. If expanded more to 12 or 16, then they should give a big boost to conference champs so a G5 who drops one or maybe two, but is clearly a good team still gets in.
And to make it more clear, another reason I am against a 16 team playoff is I don’t feel a team like 4 loss UT should get in either. Fresno St would be more deserving of a spot in that scenario. But we all know there will never be a format like that where 2 loss Fresno gets in over 4 loss UT.
ESPN is going to have the game on all its stations, with different announcers and different formats, to boycott you have to turn off ESPN. Unless the ratings are down, for the fourth rematch, the CFP will feel things are fine. If change is to come in 2025 a 4th, 5th or 6th rematch is not acceptable, it will only be because the ratings of the same rematch are down.
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Agree, you turn it off and they will have to change their scam. Again, even if they expand to six or eight the cfp scammers will come up with an excuse that the G5’s do not belong. A playoff with conference champions plus five at large. The first round will be like a wild card game system. The three worst rated league champions plus the five at large. Then you are down to eight Teams. You give some “love” to the P5’s. Everyone wins and you can bet the audience will follow. My quick explanation is too simple and makes too much sense for the cfp scammers. Therefore it won’t even be considered. Think for a moment the advertising potential. Seniors do not want to play? You get the players covered under a new tv contract. Like I wrote earlier it just makes too much sense.
The scammers have to be sued.
THERE’S ANOTHER PROBLEM with the current playoff system …
LOGISTICS …
Tonight’s game at Levi Stadium will be sold out … no doubt … but the tickets will be the cheapest in the history of the playoffs …
Both teams have had to cross the continent to get there … especially those driving … or as I like to add … to galaxies far far away …
Prices in the nosebleed section at Levi are going for ah song and ah dance … $300 avg …
PLANNERS will probably RETHINK any future locations … IN THE CENTER OF AMERICA!!! … and not in Trondheim Norway or Singapore or Hong Kong (if you’re going to galaxies far away might as well make it glamorous … 
)
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Looking at it in a different way, what if it was USC and Ohio State in this years championship game? Wouldn’t those tickets be as high as pass championships games?
CFP can’t predict who will most likely make the championship game in any given year and they can’t automatically exclude the west coast from hosting a game.
True, all the more reason to try and get more teams involved in the playoffs, not less.
They must think outside the box to bring parity, find avenues for Boise, BYU and UH
to compete with equal payouts, limit scholarships, increase the number of teams
in the playoffs. Nothing will change unless viewership is DOWN.