Stage is being set for playoff expansion

[TideEngineer08]

Selma yes the Penn State series was originally scheduled for 2004/2005. We moved it to help Shula. Notre Dame was supposed to be 2006/2007 and was ultimately cancelled.

 

[Bazza]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1403404151296565256

 

[PA Tide Fan]

I always like to think of some unusual scenarios that can happen when something like this is proposed. Here's one to think about. Imagine having to beat the same team 3 times in the same season to win a national championship. Two examples, first in the Big 12 Oklahoma and Texas play the Red River Rivalry, they could play again for the Big 12 championship and even if the same team lost both games the 2 loss team could still make the playoff with a chance to end the season for the winner of their previous two meetings. Second example would be if Alabama drew Georgia on the regular season rotation, won the game and then beat them again in the SECCG. A 2 loss Georgia team could get selected for the playoff if both losses were to Alabama. Suddenly we may have to beat them a 3rd time. I'll admit there is only a slim chance of this happening but it would be a tough pill to swallow to have our season end by losing to a team we had already beaten twice.

 

[DogPatch]

For all of you “SEC SEC SEC” fans. You can thank the SEC for making this happen because if the Big XII was by its lonesome with the G5 this thing would never make it this far.

Sankey tells you what the SEC wants


SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey discussed on a media conference call on Thursday afternoon why a 12-team format was preferred over an eight-team layout.

“There is an expectation for automatic access,” Sankey said. “That doesn’t work for teams that are highly ranked… 12 is a halfway point between conference champs and highly ranked teams.”

Sankey also noted that conference champions are more likely to be left out if there’s eight teams instead of 12.

Sankey can eat rocks.

 

[crimsonaudio]

They're not wrong...

Pair of Senators slam CFP expansion recommendation, call it a 'cash grab'

 

[DzynKingRTR]

They're not wrong...

Pair of Senators slam CFP expansion recommendation, call it a 'cash grab'

these senators sure a smrt they pieced that together all by themselves.

 

[colbysullivan]

Bama is still going to win the same number of championships regardless. Sure, there will be years that we slip up against a team that shouldn’t even be in the playoffs, but there will also be years where we lose two games but still make the field. I couldn’t care less about the rest of college football, I just want Bama to win championships. More teams in the playoffs means more chances for Bama.

That said, this whole thing is stupid and they should keep it at 4...

 

[81usaf92]

 

[TideEngineer08]

Bama is still going to win the same number of championships regardless. Sure, there will be years that we slip up against a team that shouldn’t even be in the playoffs, but there will also be years where we lose two games but still make the field. I couldn’t care less about the rest of college football, I just want Bama to win championships. More teams in the playoffs means more chances for Bama.

That said, this whole thing is stupid and they should keep it at 4...

The “Selma national championship equilibrium theory.”

 

[PA Tide Fan]

I'm a bit surprised to hear people think Bama can win just as many championships in a larger playoff field as in a small one. I think something worth studying that is relevant to this discussion is to look at NCAA basketball history and UCLA. They had the legendary John Wooden coaching them to 10 championships in the 1960's and 1970's and they basically owned college basketball at that time. For 9 of those championships the tournament field was around 22-25 teams. In 1975 (Wooden's last season) they did manage to win their 10th championship when the field was expanded to 32 after which Wooden shocked everyone and suddenly retired. I've always wondered about the timing of his retirement so soon after the tourney was expanded to 32. He was still at the top of his game. Did he retire because with tournament expansion he felt like things were becoming more of a crap shoot where he felt he could no longer win championships like before and might eventually be pressured to retire? We'll never know for sure but it could be one reason. In 1985 the NCAA basketball tournament expanded to 64 teams and UCLA has only won once since. It's not that they had bad teams either. They made 27 appearances in the tournament since 1985 but they are only 1/27 in that time frame. I fear this could happen in college football and perhaps to Alabama because history shows things get much more difficult when playoff fields are expanded.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I'm a bit surprised to hear people think Bama can win just as many championships in a larger playoff field as in a small one.

Most are suggesting Bama can make the playoffs even more often than they currently do, but yeah, the competition will be much tougher.

Expansion is not what's good for the sport, it's what's good for the university coffers.

 

[81usaf92]

Most are suggesting Bama can make the playoffs even more often than they currently do, but yeah, the competition will be much tougher.

Expansion is not what's good for the sport, it's what's good for the university coffers.

Expansion was necessary but maybe not to this degree. You have to bring viewership back when attendance is steadily declining. A sport can’t survive long term off of just the South and Midwest markets. Everyone wants to link what Clay Travis has to say about NFL ratings, but fails to understand that NFL still blows NCAAF out of the water.

I still think 6-8 team playoff is with the P5 breaking off from the G5 would be the best system. Have 4-8 additional bowls for a consolation prize. But I fear the BCS made too many people love the little guy to go to something sensible.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Expansion was necessary but maybe not to this degree. You have to bring viewership back when attendance is steadily declining.

But it's not, really.

College Football Playoff (and BCS) Ratings History

A list of all Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff ratings dating back to the very beginning in the 1998-99 season.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

2020 was an anomaly in many ways, viewership across the board was largely down. Remove the 2021 CFP and the numbers are pretty average over the last 20 years.

 

[81usaf92]

But it's not, really.

College Football Playoff (and BCS) Ratings History

A list of all Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff ratings dating back to the very beginning in the 1998-99 season.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

2020 was an anomaly in many ways, viewership across the board was largely down. Remove the 2021 CFP and the numbers are pretty average over the last 20 years.

IDK maybe. But it could also be a sign that many have gotten their final reason to drop sports altogether. Really only the Super Bowl this year didn’t see a significant decline.

Sports media
“Even with a double-digit drop and historic low, Baylor-Gonzaga held up better than the majority of marquee sporting events over the past year. Its 14% decline in viewership is modest compared college football’s National Championship in January (-27%) or last year’s World Series (-30%), NBA Finals (-49%) and and Stanley Cup Final (-61%). Perhaps only the Super Bowl — which fell just 9% and still averaged more than 90 million viewers — more successfully weathered the storm.”

I guess we will have to see. But the numbers don’t really look good even compared to other sports championships.

 

[DogPatch]

I'm a bit surprised to hear people think Bama can win just as many championships in a larger playoff field as in a small one. I think something worth studying that is relevant to this discussion is to look at NCAA basketball history and UCLA. They had the legendary John Wooden coaching them to 10 championships in the 1960's and 1970's and they basically owned college basketball at that time. For 9 of those championships the tournament field was around 22-25 teams. In 1975 (Wooden's last season) they did manage to win their 10th championship when the field was expanded to 32 after which Wooden shocked everyone and suddenly retired. I've always wondered about the timing of his retirement so soon after the tourney was expanded to 32. He was still at the top of his game. Did he retire because with tournament expansion he felt like things were becoming more of a crap shoot where he felt he could no longer win championships like before and might eventually be pressured to retire? We'll never know for sure but it could be one reason. In 1985 the NCAA basketball tournament expanded to 64 teams and UCLA has only won once since. It's not that they had bad teams either. They made 27 appearances in the tournament since 1985 but they are only 1/27 in that time frame. I fear this could happen in college football and perhaps to Alabama because history shows things get much more difficult when playoff fields are expanded.

I had always heard Wooden's success was tied to Mafia involvement in LA when I was younger.

 

[DogPatch]

Everyone wants to link what Clay Travis has to say about NFL ratings, but fails to understand that NFL still blows NCAAF out of the water.

Really? I thought NFL ratings had dropped below NCAA football a couple of years ago.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Just throwing this out there for you or anyone else... do you consider the AAC on par with the power 5? At least let's say, do you see the AAC as being on par with the ACC and the Pac 12?

I do not but that seems to be what a lot of media types (and certainly the AAC conference commissioner) want.

The AAC are want to be's.
When the AAC starts beating ranked SEC teams regularly, people may see them in a better light. Until then the AAC is on a par with where Boise St. was a dozen years ago. Boise St. had a high opinion of themselves, but they didn't fare well when they played really good teams.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

I hate the fact Notre Dame has equal say with the conferences.

ND needs to join a conference. We have had too many years of everybody kissing up to ND, because they used to play good football.
ND needs to get in the game, if they want to play in the game.

 

[81usaf92]

Really? I thought NFL ratings had dropped below NCAA football a couple of years ago.

You can fudge numbers to make it fit your case, but it can only go so far. Generally speaking the NFL blows the NCAAF out of the water in ratings.

Like take this for example. The Browns and Giants played on SNF on the same weekend that Clemson and Notre Dame did for the ACC title ( using this because that was college football’s biggest ratings win of the day beating even the SECCG)

Viewership during championship week

Cle vs NYG= 15 million
ACCCG= 10 million

But that’s about as close as it got for big games to big game. That same weekend the Chiefs vs New Orleans drew 23 million.

Clay Travis and the anti NFL marching band tries to use matchups with teams like Jacksonville and Houston and tries to compare them to Alabama and Ohio St. Yes he is correct that viewership is down in the NFL but he fails to address the actual gap in viewership the NFL has on college football in general and that college football numbers were down as well. Probably the only two sports that were down with ridiculous numbers were the NBA and MLB. MLB is more of a carrier issue with Sinclair buying 90% of the regional market and refusing to allow streaming services to have it. The NBA is..... well I’ll save it for other boards.

The point is the NFL is still King in sports viewership in America and college football is no closer to catching it than it was 10 years ago. College football usually competes well compared to the other sports though.

 

[DogPatch]

You can fudge numbers to make it fit your case, but it can only go so far. Generally speaking the NFL blows the NCAAF out of the water in ratings.

Like take this for example. The Browns and Giants played on SNF on the same weekend that Clemson and Notre Dame did for the ACC title ( using this because that was college football’s biggest ratings win of the day beating even the SECCG)

Viewership during championship week

Cle vs NYG= 15 million
ACCCG= 10 million

But that’s about as close as it got for big games to big game. That same weekend the Chiefs vs New Orleans drew 23 million.

Clay Travis and the anti NFL marching band tries to use matchups with teams like Jacksonville and Houston and tries to compare them to Alabama and Ohio St. Yes he is correct that viewership is down in the NFL but he fails to address the actual gap in viewership the NFL has on college football in general and that college football numbers were down as well. Probably the only two sports that were down with ridiculous numbers were the NBA and MLB. MLB is more of a carrier issue with Sinclair buying 90% of the regional market and refusing to allow streaming services to have it. The NBA is..... well I’ll save it for other boards.

The point is the NFL is still King in sports viewership in America and college football is no closer to catching it than it was 10 years ago. College football usually competes well compared to the other sports though.

Does the difference in the number of games make the argument for the NCAA? After all, NCAA football allegiances are split over way more than 32 teams.