The Eight-Team Playoff Is (Probably) Just Around The Corner

[selmaborntidefan]

ADs Overwhelmingly Favor Expanded College Football Playoff - Stadium

Are we getting that much closer to a bigger field?

watchstadium.com

A whopping 88 percent of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) athletic directors want an expanded College Football Playoff when the current playoff contract ends after the 2025 regular season, according to a survey conducted by Stadium.

Of those athletic directors who favor an expanded playoff, 72 percent believe eight teams should qualify. Also, 66 percent of the ADs said the highest-ranked non-Power Five team should receive an automatic bid to an expanded playoff.

The startling playoff expansion revelation is one of a handful of key findings in Stadium’s two-week series on the state of college football. Of the 130 FBS athletic directors Stadium reached out to, 112 responded to our anonymous survey. While the specifics of how many teams and who qualifies varies somewhat between Power Five and Group of Five conference athletic directors, one thing is certain: Change is coming to the College Football Playoff.

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If this does happen, you can kiss your rivalries good-bye, because who cares?

Get ready for all those wonderful things you have in the NFL
- resting players in late season games once you've clinched a spopt
- an even more dramatic nose-dive in stadium attendance


And just wait until the inevitable "but there are TWO unbeaten G5 teams, why didn't both of them get into the playoffs?"

 

[B1GTide]

Expanded playoffs means Alabama and Ohio State are both in it almost every year. I can live with that.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Expanded playoffs means Alabama and Ohio State are both in it almost every year. I can live with that.

True enough. It's going to be like the very moment they expanded the MLB playoffs, the Yankees (who had gone 14 years without making it) suddenly made the playoffs 17 of the next 18 years...and Boston began making it).


(Seriously - since they expanded the playoffs the first time in 1994, the ONLY time we ever had a post-season without at least the Yankees or Red Sox in the games was 2014. ONCE in 26 seasons).


But krazy3 is correct - all that rush and joy everyone got from rooting for Oregon and K-State and Okie State and Boise State to lose - it's gone. In 2011, Tide fans all over the country were watching the Boise St-TCU game because IT MATTERED. Even though it was on Versus, it mattered.

Now? It won't matter a whit. We're going to re-regionalize the sport like the days of trains.

(Do the idiots not grasp that the so-called "challenging schedule" argument falls by the wayside when you have AUTOMATIC BERTHS? That means I can pull an Arkansas here and play a bunch of out of conference nobodies, but if I go 5-1 in the West and win that one game in the SECCG, I'm in the playoff now).

 

[B1GTide]

True enough. It's going to be like the very moment they expanded the MLB playoffs, the Yankees (who had gone 14 years without making it) suddenly made the playoffs 17 of the next 18 years...and Boston began making it).


(Seriously - since they expanded the playoffs the first time in 1994, the ONLY time we ever had a post-season without at least the Yankees or Red Sox in the games was 2014. ONCE in 26 seasons).


But krazy3 is correct - all that rush and joy everyone got from rooting for Oregon and K-State and Okie State and Boise State to lose - it's gone. In 2011, Tide fans all over the country were watching the Boise St-TCU game because IT MATTERED. Even though it was on Versus, it mattered.

Now? It won't matter a whit. We're going to re-regionalize the sport like the days of trains.

(Do the idiots not grasp that the so-called "challenging schedule" argument falls by the wayside when you have AUTOMATIC BERTHS? That means I can pull an Arkansas here and play a bunch of out of conference nobodies, but if I go 5-1 in the West and win that one game in the SECCG, I'm in the playoff now).

I'll still watch. I love football. The games may not matter as much, and that will hurt companies like Disney, FOX and CBS, but it won't impact my enjoyment of the game. And, if I am being honest with myself, I don't really care as much about the importance of an "every game matters" regular season as I do about Alabama and Ohio State making it into the playoff every year.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I think it would be funny to see Alabama get into the playoffs as the #8 seed and win 3 titles in a row - and watch Brando's head explode. And he (among others) would deserve it given their biases.

 

[MOAN]

I think a much expanded playoff, say a 96 team playoff would be the answer for this year especially compared to no season at all. Start the season with Phil Steele's preseason ranking and pit the top seed against the bottom seed all the way down, winner advance till you get to the final 3. Let the committee choose the 4th team from the one loss teams and have your regular 4 team playoff!! Could do the whole thing in 2 months or so!!
Ain't going to happen I know. More likely to not have a season at all. An 8 team playoff was always inevitable with the expansion to 4. May just get here sooner than later now because of this virus. In all probability to shorten the season as one of the reasons for it!!

 

[TNElephantitis]

Expanded playoffs means Alabama and Ohio State are both in it almost every year. I can live with that.

I'll still watch. I love football. The games may not matter as much, and that will hurt companies like Disney, FOX and CBS, but it won't impact my enjoyment of the game. And, if I am being honest with myself, I don't really care as much about the importance of an "every game matters" regular season as I do about Alabama and Ohio State making it into the playoff every year.

I agree with this. I honestly HATE having to sit on pins and needles, hoping other teams lose at the end of the season, especially if Bama has a loss.

 

[BamaMoon]

I agree with the sentiment that this only helps a blueblood and annual power team like Bama, Oh. St., Clemson, OK etc. Yes, it will also allow a weaker team in occasionally, but they'll just get lit up in the first round. Anything that makes it easier for Bama to win a NC I'm for and I think this will.

 

[Probius]

I'll still watch. I love football. The games may not matter as much, and that will hurt companies like Disney, FOX and CBS, but it won't impact my enjoyment of the game. And, if I am being honest with myself, I don't really care as much about the importance of an "every game matters" regular season as I do about Alabama and Ohio State making it into the playoff every year.

Good point. I love football wherever it's played. Even outside of the SEC, I'll watch the great rivalries like Ohio State/Michigan, USC/UCLA, Texas/OU, and the great interconference matchups regardless of what it means for the national championship. That LSU/Texas matchup last season was terrific fun, and it didn't matter that Texas wound up as a mediocre team after. The fans and the rivalries make games at the college level great, not just the promise of a championship trophy at the end of the season. Some of the best Iron Bowls I ever saw were during the '90's when no one thought either Bama or Auburn would win a national championship.

 

[81usaf92]

I say 6 is the only fair way to expand by making the #1 seed truly mean something and not overpopulating the field with undeserving teams. 8 is going to lead to uncontrollable chaos, and make college football one of the most unwatchable sport on TV.

 

[CrimsonTheory]

If we get 8 team tournament, then teams 9 and 10 will complain, and so and so on. Where does it end? I think the endgame, and hopefully I am wrong, is a March Madness like tournament.

December Delirium?
December Delusions?
December Daftness?
December Dumbness?

 

[B1GTide]

and make college football one of the most unwatchable sport on TV.

Gasping for air

 

[81usaf92]

Gasping for air

Not really. They have already turned college football into basketball on grass as it is for tv viewership, but when losses truly don't matter it really is going to be worse than any dumb point people make about the NFL on this board. You are going to see rivalries killed off, and you are going to see a lot of bogus champions crowned. Sure teams like Alabama and Ohio State will probably benefit more, but you are going to see a lot of crap teams lucking out like they do in the NCAA tournament.

More or less its going to be the poll era but worse if we expand to 8 without a super conference system in place.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Not really. They have already turned college football into basketball on grass as it is for tv viewership, but when losses truly don't matter it really is going to be worse than any dumb point people make about the NFL on this board. You are going to see rivalries killed off, and you are going to see a lot of bogus champions crowned. Sure teams like Alabama and Ohio State will probably benefit more, but you are going to see a lot of crap teams lucking out like they do in the NCAA tournament.

More or less its going to be the poll era but worse if we expand to 8 without a super conference system in place.

The automatic qualifier aspect is the worst idea in a history of bad ideas.

 

[B1GTide]

Not really.

Stop watching if you want, but the viewership proves that you are wrong.

 

[TiderJack]

I say 6 is the only fair way to expand by making the #1 seed truly mean something and not overpopulating the field with undeserving teams. 8 is going to lead to uncontrollable chaos, and make college football one of the most unwatchable sport on TV.

Agreed. The #1/#8 and #2/#7 games will be epic one-sided games and unwatchable as you say.

 

[81usaf92]

Stop watching if you want, but the viewership proves that you are wrong.

So you are entirely okay with the occasional UCF winning it all because everyone else gets major injuries through brutal conference schedules.

My point is more, as it is, and not if proper steps aren't taken. There are ways to make an 8 team championship work well, but the current system doesn't support it.

One thing is that college football is entirely offense oriented to the point that a great defense is still giving up 30 points, and most of that falls on the officiating. College football is basically a Madden game now. So step 1 the officiating must be fixed.

Another thing is that the whole idea of the playoff was to keep G5 teams out because the BCS was getting closer and closer to allowing them into a NCG. Really we were one Colt Mccoy incompletion from playing TCU in the national championship in 2009. So really a strong emphasis needs to be put on SOS with an 8 team playoff.

Im not totally against 8, but the current system needs more tweaks to make it work.

 

[BamaMoon]

Agreed. The #1/#8 and #2/#7 games will be epic one-sided games and unwatchable as you say.

Yeah, maybe, but what if we are #7 or #8 because we lost a late game to LSU or Auburn? Or what if we drop an early game and then mature into one of the best teams near the end of the season? Or what if a SECW team has two losses but are obviously playing better than most 1 loss teams? Again, I think adding teams to the current 4 team playoff just helps those who are typically the best teams.

 

[B1GTide]

So you are entirely okay with the occasional UCF winning it all because everyone else gets major injuries through brutal conference schedules.

No way - never said that. But this is the best sport in America, and an 8 team playoff isn't going to move it down the list for me.

I would prefer 6 teams, or stick with 4 - but I will not cry if it goes to 8.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

One problem with an 8 team playoff is that conference championship games start to become meaningless as the loser of the game ends up in the playoff as well as the winner. For example, if an 8 team playoff existed last season the SECCG would have been meaningless as LSU and UGA would have both gone to the playoff regardless of who would have won the game.