ESPN opens window to negotiate CFP expansion to 24 teams

[RUMMENIGGE]

Yeah, I was convinced the bye was too big of an advantage. And then they all started losing.

I still vote to get rid of them.

I am fine either way about the bye. In my opinion the only advantage to a bye is to get the banged up or injured players extra time to heal. I do think it gives the fans almost a four week advantage on making reservations to Pasadena, New Orleans, Atlanta or wherever they end up instead of two weeks.

What I do not like is Tulane in the playoffs because they were the last clown standing in the American Athletic Conference. They played Mississippi in the regular season and I believe they got beat badly. Then James Madison was admitted to the playoffs because Duke beat Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. If they want to keep criteria how they award the Group of Six a playoff spot fine, but they need to do a real eyeball test and pick and rank the best G6 that has a best chance of pulling off an upset.

 

[adcoop]

I’m so happy you’ve finally decided to come forward and denounce football for health reasons. Your sincerity is commendable.

Maybe you’ll also take the next step and become an advocate for education. Now, that’s a tradition you might embrace!

I don't know what your issue is, but you are acting overly emotional and acting like you have no clue of the physical toll involved with football. I am just saying there is a cut-off point somewhere where they may be playing too many games. I don't claim to be a medical expert to know where that line is. However, the knowledge that the Conference Championships games are going away helps in that regard some.

....and please stop with the overly emotional education argument that has nothing to do with what anyone on this thread was talking about. Many of these kids take remote classes already. Playing a playoff games is not stopping a student from getting their academic work done. You can do more than one thing at a time.
You have a difference of opinion on the issue. That's okay. I don't see you as some problem with society because you don't see it like I do. Just imagine if we were all the same and thought the same. Maybe it would provide you comfort, but would make for a pretty boring place IMO.

 

[TheRoo]

But there won't be any more truly premier players total than now, and the BIG Boys will still get the preponderance. Pretenders ought to be weeded out sooner.

Wouldn't watching a team with a quarter of the budget beat one of the big boys be enjoyable though? I'm just happy we didn't have this system 15 years ago because we would have never assembled the teams we had during that time. Clowney would have been at LSU. Lattimore would have been at UGA. And so on.

 

[KingWard]

Wouldn't watching a team with a quarter of the budget beat one of the big boys be enjoyable though? I'm just happy we didn't have this system 15 years ago because we would have never assembled the teams we had during that time. Clowney would have been at LSU. Lattimore would have been at UGA. And so on.

I want something before the playoffs eliminating the teams that ought not be in it.

 

[TheRoo]

I want something before the playoffs eliminating the teams that ought not be in it.

But if a pretender makes the Top 24 and beats UGA in the playoffs, who is the pretender in that scenario? I'd say the team with all of the money studs who still couldn't get it done.

24 is perfect in my opinion and it should be Gamecock Football far more exciting on average from year to year.

 

[KingWard]

But if a pretender makes the Top 24 and beats UGA in the playoffs, who is the pretender in that scenario? I'd say the team with all of the money studs who still couldn't get it done.

24 is perfect in my opinion and it should be Gamecock Football far more exciting on average from year to year.

When a true blind hog hoists the trophy, then get back to me. It hasn't happened in any playoff format yet. It won't happen in this one, either. All they do is get in the way, a la Cincinnati.

 

[Harvard Gamecock]

When a true blind hog hoists the trophy, then get back to me. It hasn't happened in any playoff format yet. It won't happen in this one, either. All they do is get in the way, a la Cincinnati.

I'm a bit confused. Cincinnati has never been a part of the playoffs, or are you referring to the 2021 Peach Bowl.
In that instance, Cincinnati led most of the game, and it took a FG with 1:25 left in the game for UGA to pull that game out.

 

[TheRoo]

When a true blind hog hoists the trophy, then get back to me. It hasn't happened in any playoff format yet. It won't happen in this one, either. All they do is get in the way, a la Cincinnati.

But what does it matter if they hoist the trophy or not? If battle-tested UGA loses to them with 3x the talent, they are the playoff pretender in that scenerio. Not to mention, how can they ever hoist the trophy if you don't want them included in the first place?

 

[kidrobinski]

But what does it matter if they hoist the trophy or not? If battle-tested UGA loses to them with 3x the talent, they are the playoff pretender in that scenerio. Not to mention, how can they ever hoist the trophy if you don't want them included in the first place?

I don’t see the problem. Besides, I’m tired of watching the same-o same-o teams every bloody year.

 

[KingWard]

But what does it matter if they hoist the trophy or not? If battle-tested UGA loses to them with 3x the talent, they are the playoff pretender in that scenerio. Not to mention, how can they ever hoist the trophy if you don't want them included in the first place?

I want those 12 games that precede the playoffs to mean someting dear, every one of them, and you don't do that by ushering the Boise States of this world through a slackened, expanded process.

 

[TheRoo]

I want those 12 games that precede the playoffs to mean someting dear, every one of them, and you don't do that by ushering the Boise States of this world through a slackened, expanded process.

I see what you're saying but how dear can the 12 games be if they can't take care of Boise in the playoffs? Because talent-wise, there's far more distance between Boise and a UGA today than there was pre-NIL.

Why not let a few other leagues have an outside shot at the lottery to make their season a little more meaningful? The odds of a Boise running the table in a 24-team scenerio is almost zero. And those odds were greater when they were trying to shove a dark horse in a 4 or 8 team playoff structure.

March Madness typically finds the best team in the country -- or at least the team that is playing the best ball for a number of weeks. That's about as much as you can ask for.

 

[KingWard]

I see what you're saying but how dear can the 12 games be if they can't take care of Boise in the playoffs? Because talent-wise, there's far more distance between Boise and a UGA today than there was pre-NIL.

Why not let a few other leagues have an outside shot at the lottery to make their season a little more meaningful? The odds of a Boise running the table in a 24-team scenerio is almost zero. And those odds were greater when they were trying to shove a dark horse in a 4 or 8 team playoff structure.

March Madness typically finds the best team in the country -- or at least the team that is playing the best ball for a number of weeks. That's about as much as you can ask for.

Excessive inclusiveness has tainted everything it's touched. This wouldn't be any different. Football is different. Every game is a war. Don't use up premier personnel tripping over or getting scissored between pretenders. Exclude the manifest pretenders.

 

[TheRoo]

Excessive inclusiveness has tainted everything it's touched. This wouldn't be any different. Football is different. Every game is a war. Don't use up premier personnel tripping over or getting scissored between pretenders. Exclude the manifest pretenders.

How do you break the cycle of handing the same teams more NIL money to stay on top year after year? This happens both externally (playoff payouts/corporate exposure, etc) and internally (increased donor interest.) That's as rigged as it gets.

 

[KingWard]

How do you break the cycle of handing the same teams more NIL money to stay on top year after year? This happens both externally (playoff payouts/corporate exposure, etc) and internally (increased donor interest.) That's as rigged as it gets.

Nothing rigged about it. It's competitive athetics. By its very nature, it's supposed to be a meritocracy. This shouldn't be about trust-busting.

 

[TheRoo]

Nothing rigged about it. It's competitive athetics. By its very nature, it's supposed to be a meritocracy. This shouldn't be about trust-busting.

I like the idea of 24-teams and removing the human element of selection by going with the computer models.

This way you make it more fun but still retain the integrity you're looking for as those models are definitely skewed towards the big conferences from the onset of any given season.

And let's be honest, the National Champion is often the hottest team in the moment, and not always the best team.

A couple of years ago many thought we were the hottest team in the country when the regular season ended.

It would have been fun to see if we could have ridden that wave.

 

[KingWard]

I like the idea of 24-teams and removing the human element of selection by going with the computer models.

This way you make it more fun but still retain the integrity you're looking for as those models are definitely skewed towards the big conferences from the onset of any given season.

And let's be honest, the National Champion is often the hottest team in the moment, and not always the best team.

A couple of years ago many thought we were the hottest team in the country when the regular season ended.

It would have been fun to see if we could have ridden that wave.

I agree with the computer selection process completely, with absolutely NO automatic bids. I would be more in favor of expansion if these were in place. But as it is, I can't buy in to as many as 24 teams.

I would also say that there have been few, if any, championships won by other than the best team, but absolutely none won by a truly undeserving team.

 

[Uscg1984]

My only thought now is just to get rid of byes. Its a small ask, imo.

I don't think the problem is that teams get byes (byes make winning yor conference important, which is a good thing) but the fact that earning a bye means your team is sitting idle for a month and has to play a team that played about a week ago. One week of rest is beneficial, but a month of rest grows rust.

Follow the NFL's lead and start the playoff a week after the conference championship games.

Note that I am a college football purist and would have never expanded the playoff beyond 4 teams, but since expansion is inevitable, the byes are the only way I can think of to maintain the importance of winning your conference.