ESPN: College football buzz: What we're hearing about playoff expansion

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PMWinSTP said:
My thought is the first two rounds as home games for higher seed. Rotate the NYD Six yearly for the two semis, which allows the other four to be premium bowls in the years they are not used for semis.
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With a 16 Team playoff, there are NO other premium Bowls.

There are not any with a 12 Team either, not enough for the Bowl Committee/Organizer to pony up anywhere remotely similar cash guarantees.
 

I like the top 5 conference champs getting an auto bid. If the ACC can't get its act together enough for its champ to not be in that top 5 than tough cookies. If the tournament goes to a nice even 16, even better.

Also, I like @PMWinSTP's post above about rotating the top NYD bowls to be semifinals. Yes, it would water down those bowls in the non-CFP years, but it could move the calendar up a week for the portal. Unfortunately, I think the old days of NYD being a college football extravaganza might have to go because of the school year calendar. At this point, the whole D1 playoff system is getting mucked up to retain those top bowl games and they might need to go, like it or not.
 

If you go to 16:

-first two rounds in December at home sites
-final four always on NYD starting with Rose and a rotating bowl after
-Championship Monday like it is now I guess (NFL Playoffs are in the way for a weekend)
 

Ope3 said:
With a 16 Team playoff, there are NO other premium Bowls.

There are not any with a 12 Team either, not enough for the Bowl Committee/Organizer to pony up anywhere remotely similar cash guarantees.
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I guess the Rate Bowl becomes the Grandaddy of Them All!

The Rate Bowl did get some of the best Ratings of this cycle. Ratings according to ESPN were up a lot, at 10-15 year highs for the minor bowls. Unheard of for cable in 2025. So the minor bowls will keep on bowling.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
So if they can't settle (SEC wants 5+11 and B1G wants 24 teams) it will stay at 12 with four P4 champs and an G6. Duke would have replaced JMU this year in that scenario and nothing else would have changed.

I like 24, but I don't like byes, so I'm more inclined to accept 16, but I'm not a fan of 11 at large teams.

This year 16 would have allowed Notre Dame, BYU, Texas and Vanderbilt in.
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WilliamsArenaGuy said:
If you go to 16:

-first two rounds in December at home sites
-final four always on NYD starting with Rose and a rotating bowl after
-Championship Monday like it is now I guess (NFL Playoffs are in the way for a weekend)
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I'd add to get rid of the conference Championship games and this sounds good.
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
If you go to 16:

-first two rounds in December at home sites
-final four always on NYD starting with Rose and a rotating bowl after
-Championship Monday like it is now I guess (NFL Playoffs are in the way for a weekend)
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I think unless you see some serious investment in the facility, you're going to see the powers that be push to remove the Rose Bowl from the playoffs/championship rotation.
 

disco said:
I think unless you see some serious investment in the facility, you're going to see the powers that be push to remove the Rose Bowl from the playoffs/championship rotation.
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The game day facilities are not bad and are maintained. It’s a great setting for a game. The only slight knock is that some people don’t like walking an extra 50 feet to get concessions outside the stadium walls.

I’m guessing UCLA is moving for the new shiny stadium that they think will help recruiting. Game day locker rooms should be better too.
 



WAGopher said:
The game day facilities are not bad and are maintained. It’s a great setting for a game. The only slight knock is that some people don’t like walking an extra 50 feet to get concessions outside the stadium walls.

I’m guessing UCLA is moving for the new shiny stadium that they think will help recruiting. Game day locker rooms should be better too.
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It's also closer to campus.
 

WAGopher said:
The game day facilities are not bad and are maintained. It’s a great setting for a game. The only slight knock is that some people don’t like walking an extra 50 feet to get concessions outside the stadium walls.

I’m guessing UCLA is moving for the new shiny stadium that they think will help recruiting. Game day locker rooms should be better too.
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Well, there's some question whether UCLA can break their lease.

But in terms of the playoffs and national championship games. Look what ticket prices are for that game. The people with that kind of money aren't likely to want to sit on aluminum benches, and there aren't many suites in that stadium. I have to think that there's an expectation of more amenities. There's a reason the Cotton Bowl isn't played in the Cotton Bowl stadium anymore, despite it still being there.
 

Ope3 said:
With a 16 Team playoff, there are NO other premium Bowls.

There are not any with a 12 Team either, not enough for the Bowl Committee/Organizer to pony up anywhere remotely similar cash guarantees.
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My brother, you forget about the poptart bowl
 

Word is Warde and Petitti are trying to get 24 teams in- which makes me want to puke. We'll start seeing teams like Troy bragging about their playoff run- right before getting blown out in their first game.
 



disco said:
Well, there's some question whether UCLA can break their lease.

But in terms of the playoffs and national championship games. Look what ticket prices are for that game. The people with that kind of money aren't likely to want to sit on aluminum benches, and there aren't many suites in that stadium. I have to think that there's an expectation of more amenities. There's a reason the Cotton Bowl isn't played in the Cotton Bowl stadium anymore, despite it still being there.
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Good point and I don’t know what kind of premium seating they have
 


16
All conference champions in the Massey ratings top 25 get an auto bid (up to 11)….would have only been 3 this year

If a conference champion isn’t in top 25 it converts to an extra at large

Committee picks the at large and the seeding.
 
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disco said:
I think unless you see some serious investment in the facility, you're going to see the powers that be push to remove the Rose Bowl from the playoffs/championship rotation.
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I'm afraid of that too. I prefer to believe it won't happen.
 

GooningGopher said:
My brother, you forget about the poptart bowl
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And the Cheez-it bowl. Seriously though, those currently used for playoff games will still be premium bowls IMHO. Could end up with some pretty nice matchups since they are not really tied to conferences anymore.
 

WAGopher said:
The game day facilities are not bad and are maintained. It’s a great setting for a game. The only slight knock is that some people don’t like walking an extra 50 feet to get concessions outside the stadium walls.

I’m guessing UCLA is moving for the new shiny stadium that they think will help recruiting. Game day locker rooms should be better too.
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That stadium is awful. The concessions is really the only plus about it. The seating sucks, the sound is horrible and while the scenery is gorgeous the location kind of stinks. Whatever premium seating/suites there may have been (I dont remember) probably wouldnt even beat Mariucci's.
 

Dave H said:
That stadium is awful. The concessions is really the only plus about it. The seating sucks, the sound is horrible and while the scenery is gorgeous the location kind of stinks. Whatever premium seating/suites there may have been (I dont remember) probably wouldnt even beat Mariucci's.
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What’s awful about the seating? If it’s the bench seating, most stadiums I visit have it. I didn’t notice the sound was horrible, it just wasn’t spectacular like Oregon’s is.
 

matt said:
I like 16. It gets rid of the bye week issues for the top seeds, and I don’t think a 4 loss B1G or SEC team should be in contention for the CFP.
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The bye itself is not the issue. It's that the break between games is almost a month for those teams. The first round of the playoffs should be the week after the conference championships and then the 2nd round the week after. So the teams getting a bye would just have a normal off week like you'd get in the regular season instead of multiple weeks between games.

Taking away the byes lessens the regular season even more.
 

I don't care how many teams make it, but I'd love to see them work towards:
  • Start the season earlier (people are desperate for FB by July -- why not start in mid-Aug?).
  • Finish earlier (CFB championship should def be a week earlier, if not New Year's).
  • Eliminate the long breaks between games. There's no need for 3 or 4 week layoffs.
  • Finish more of the season (if not all) before the transfer portal opens.
  • More playoff games on campus.
  • Eliminate conference championship games - or integrate them into the CFP. They matter less every year since we've now had two P4 champions not make the playoff and multiple CCG losers that DID make it.
 

fmlizard said:
I guess the Rate Bowl becomes the Grandaddy of Them All!

The Rate Bowl did get some of the best Ratings of this cycle. Ratings according to ESPN were up a lot, at 10-15 year highs for the minor bowls. Unheard of for cable in 2025. So the minor bowls will keep on bowling.
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I'm not saying the Rate Bowl or any of those other consolation games would go away.

If 3 of the NY6 Bowls are not part of the Playoff, then those Presenting Sponsors/Bowl Committees are not going to put up anywhere near what they currently are to help fund the CFP.

Allstate (Sugar)
Chick-Fil-A (Peach)
Capital One (Orange)
State Farm (Fiesta)
Prudential (Rose)
Goodyear (Cotton)

Those sponsors won't just transfer the same money to some On Campus game in which the Date/Venue/Location is not know until a week before the event. Nor would they sponsor the same amount for any Bowl involving the 17th ranked team or higher.
 

GophersInIowa said:
The bye itself is not the issue. It's that the break between games is almost a month for those teams. The first round of the playoffs should be the week after the conference championships and then the 2nd round the week after. So the teams getting a bye would just have a normal off week like you'd get in the regular season instead of multiple weeks between games.

Taking away the byes lessens the regular season even more.
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I agree with everything you said. I should have rephrased to say that a 16 team playoff solves the unequal bye lengths for the top 4 seeds and everyone else. I think giving all teams the same time off is good, and moving the CFP up a week is also good. I’d love to see both changes made.
 

disco said:
Well, there's some question whether UCLA can break their lease.

But in terms of the playoffs and national championship games. Look what ticket prices are for that game. The people with that kind of money aren't likely to want to sit on aluminum benches, and there aren't many suites in that stadium. I have to think that there's an expectation of more amenities. There's a reason the Cotton Bowl isn't played in the Cotton Bowl stadium anymore, despite it still being there.
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Interesting take...having a seatback is a huge reason I pay the seating ransom.

Been to Notre Dame and the stadium is nearly all benches. Always hoping that you are seating by a small human (is that PC?)
 

Swaggerson said:
Interesting take...having a seatback is a huge reason I pay the seating ransom.

Been to Notre Dame and the stadium is nearly all benches. Always hoping that you are seating by a small human (is that PC?)
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My apologies for moving this thread further from its intended topic.

My season tickets are in a section without seat backs. I rent a cushion, with back included, for $45 per seat for the season. It’s quite comfortable.

In my opinion, the only negative, apart from losing the “yardage” viewpoint, is the lack of a drink holder in front of me, but that’s something I can deal with pretty easily.
 

WAGopher said:
What’s awful about the seating? If it’s the bench seating, most stadiums I visit have it. I didn’t notice the sound was horrible, it just wasn’t spectacular like Oregon’s is.
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A lot of college stadiums have bench seating. But high rollers aren't paying thousands to get tickets to a national championship game to sit on them. That's why I said, the powers that fund this stuff are going to demand more than what that old stadium has currently.
 

Some guy said:
16
All conference champions in the Massey ratings top 25 get an auto bid (up to 11)….would have only been 3 this year

If a conference champion isn’t in top 25 it converts to an extra at large

Committee picks the at large and the seeding.
Click to expand...
I don't like "the committee" because ultimately it will be biased.
 


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