OT: College Football Playoff Expansion

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You'd rather watch the third-place ACC team play the third-place Big 12 team than cheer for the MAC champ to upset the SEC runner-up? I just find this baffling. Especially from someone who for decades has covered a team that is always the best team from the underfunded conference.

How is Auburn vs Bowling Green going to draw on the television ratings when it's 35-0 early in the second quarter?

The gap from the top of the SEC versus the top of the MAC is just so extreme.

Would you get that magic upset once every 25 years? Maybe. But the other 24 would be terrible TV.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yet.

You want a meltdown ... wait and see this board if IUP starts 0-2 after electing not to play Week 1.

[boatcapt]

How is Auburn vs Bowling Green going to draw on the television ratings when it's 35-0 early in the second quarter?

The gap from the top of the SEC versus the top of the MAC is just so extreme.

Would you get that magic upset once every 25 years? Maybe. But the other 24 would be terrible TV.

Is it about TV ratings or determining the "champion?" If it's TV then set the playoffs every year as:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Michigan
5. Texas
6. Auburn
7. Florida
8. Penn State

Three round tourney whos fan bases would guaranteed high TV ratings. Come up with a fancy all be it misleading name like "The College Football Championships," get ESPN and Fox Sports to chat it up, get Tifany to design a big ass crystal trophy and present it to the "College Football Champion" at the end of the last game! DONE AND DONE!!

Auburn v Bowling Green would probably draw as well as Louisville vs Kansas State game we would have gotten pitting the #3 ACC team against the #3 Big 12.

[Fightingscot82]

How is Auburn vs Bowling Green going to draw on the television ratings when it's 35-0 early in the second quarter?

The gap from the top of the SEC versus the top of the MAC is just so extreme.

Would you get that magic upset once every 25 years? Maybe. But the other 24 would be terrible TV.

But if Bowling Green beats Auburn that game is talked about for weeks if not years. App State upset Michigan 14 years ago.

If television ratings were that sensitive, ESPN wouldn't bother broadcasting Michigan vs Western Michigan at 12pm on Sept 4. Other G5 vs P5 games on national TV that day: Oklahoma vs Tulane (ABC), Louisiana vs Texas (FOX), Texas Tech vs Houston (ESPN), and Arizona vs BYU (ESPN). The following week: Kansas vs Coastal Carolina (ESPN2), Florida vs South Florida (ABC), South Carolina vs East Carolina (ESPN2), Toledo vs Notre Dame (NBC), UAB vs Georgia (ESPN2), and UNLV vs Arizona State (ESPN2). I left out anything that isn't on a standard cable/dish package like the conference networks or the second tier sports networks like FS1.

Yeah I realize anybody Notre Dame plays gets national broadcast.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

But if Bowling Green beats Auburn that game is talked about for weeks if not years. App State upset Michigan 14 years ago.

If television ratings were that sensitive, ESPN wouldn't bother broadcasting Michigan vs Western Michigan at 12pm on Sept 4. Other G5 vs P5 games on national TV that day: Oklahoma vs Tulane (ABC), Louisiana vs Texas (FOX), Texas Tech vs Houston (ESPN), and Arizona vs BYU (ESPN). The following week: Kansas vs Coastal Carolina (ESPN2), Florida vs South Florida (ABC), South Carolina vs East Carolina (ESPN2), Toledo vs Notre Dame (NBC), UAB vs Georgia (ESPN2), and UNLV vs Arizona State (ESPN2). I left out anything that isn't on a standard cable/dish package like the conference networks or the second tier sports networks like FS1.

Yeah I realize anybody Notre Dame plays gets national broadcast.

Those are regular season games and they need filler. Playoff games are the only show in town and national television. No network wants Ohio U losing by 65 to LSU in December.

[Fightingscot82]

Those are regular season games and they need filler. Playoff games are the only show in town and national television. No network wants Ohio U losing by 65 to LSU in December.

Filler? 12pm on a Saturday in September isn't filler. I'll give you the 10:30pm EST kickoff between UCLA and Utah State or whatever.

[shipfbfan1]

Those are regular season games and they need filler. Playoff games are the only show in town and national television. No network wants Ohio U losing by 65 to LSU in December.

See my scenario would have a max of two teams per conference in a 12 team playoff with each P5 champion getting an autobid, and most years it would be the 2nd best team in each P5 league getting an at large bid with the other 2 spots guaranteed to G5 or independents. The top 4 teams would get byes (P5) and then 5/12, 6/11, 7/10 and 8/9 matchups. So you would never have SEC champ playing a G5 school in round 1 lol.

[Fightingscot82]

See my scenario would have a max of two teams per conference in a 12 team playoff with each P5 champion getting an autobid, and most years it would be the 2nd best team in each P5 league getting an at large bid with the other 2 spots guaranteed to G5 or independents. The top 4 teams would get byes (P5) and then 5/12, 6/11, 7/10 and 8/9 matchups. So you would never have SEC champ playing a G5 school in round 1 lol.

I could live with that. People can't criticize a school like UCF for "not playing anybody" when a) the P5 refuses to play them and b) the post-season is designed to exclude them even if they did beat P5 teams.

[Matt Burglund]

I could live with that. People can't criticize a school like UCF for "not playing anybody" when a) the P5 refuses to play them and b) the post-season is designed to exclude them even if they did beat P5 teams.

UCF is not scheduled to play a P5 in 2021, however ...

In 2020 Georgia Tech (ACC) played UCF and in ...

• 2019 Stanford (PAC-12) and Pitt (ACC) did
• 2018 North Carolina (ACC) and Pitt (ACC) did. The UNC game was canceled because of Hurricane Florence.
• 2017 Maryland (ACC) did.
• 2016: Michigan (BigTen) did.
• 2015: Stanford (PAC-12) and South Carolina (SEC) did.
• 2014: Penn State (BigTen), Missouri (SEC) and N.C. State (ACC) did.
• 2013: Penn State (BigTen), South Carolina (SEC), and Baylor (Big 12) did.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I could live with that. People can't criticize a school like UCF for "not playing anybody" when a) the P5 refuses to play them and b) the post-season is designed to exclude them even if they did beat P5 teams.

Or until they lose to, yikes, Pitt.

[IUP24]

Or until they lose to, yikes, Pitt.

You say that as a joke, but Pitt controlled that entire football game except for a stretch in the 3rd quarter. The reality though, is that's what life is like when you play in a Power 5 league. You play teams with depth and teams that are as good as you on a weekly basis. UCF had really good players, but in that league, they were considerably better than others they would go up against each week when they got into the 2nd half or later in the football game/season because they had better depth guys. When you get locked into a game against teams with as much or more depth, you'll eventually lose.

Every kid on Pitt's team is an ACC player. The same can't be said for UCF. When you play in any of those Power 5 leagues, most of those games are toss ups. Easier to go unbeaten in those G5 leagues. It's not that I root against Cinderella stories, but that's just reality.

As I said previously, and as Matt agreed with, life is just different as P5 school going up against those G5 teams. In a playoff setting, or in a regular season, they won't do what they do playing against Bowling Green and Akron.

[ctrabs74]

Well just read an interesting article in which BYU's AD states that they want to be in a football conference soon and while we all assume they're holding out hope for a PAC 12 bid they could also be looking at a backup option in the AAC where they would probably be able to get get the conference to add some western schools like SDSU, Boise State, to lessen the travel costs. This would give the AAC the boost they need to have their conference considered a Power Conference and force the powers that be to change from P5 to P6.

Competitively, BYU would be an ideal fit for the AAC, but I don't see it being a good geographic fit. They would've been better off staying in the Mountain West, but that's just my opinion. To be honest, Liberty would be a better fit geographically for the AAC if LU wanted to stay in their existing conference (Navy already competes in AAC football as an associate member, so adding Liberty as an affiliate shouldn't be too hard in my opinion).

[shipfbfan1]

Competitively, BYU would be an ideal fit for the AAC, but I don't see it being a good geographic fit. They would've been better off staying in the Mountain West, but that's just my opinion. To be honest, Liberty would be a better fit geographically for the AAC if LU wanted to stay in their existing conference (Navy already competes in AAC football as an associate member, so adding Liberty as an affiliate shouldn't be too hard in my opinion).

I agree that Liberty fits in better geographically but when you look at the make up of the AAC BYU if they wanted the more competitive league they'd have to say AAC over MWC as in the MWC it's just SDSU and Boise State. In the AAC you have Navy, Houston, UCF, Memphis, Temple and a revitalized SMU program. The AAC could opt to throw a bone to Boise & SDSU and see if they take the invite as well to give them more of a western footprint to alleviate traveling for BYU.

[Fightingscot82]

I agree that Liberty fits in better geographically but when you look at the make up of the AAC BYU if they wanted the more competitive league they'd have to say AAC over MWC as in the MWC it's just SDSU and Boise State. In the AAC you have Navy, Houston, UCF, Memphis, Temple and a revitalized SMU program. The AAC could opt to throw a bone to Boise & SDSU and see if they take the invite as well to give them more of a western footprint to alleviate traveling for BYU.

A coast to coast conference would be really interesting.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Just read one publication that thinks OU QB Spencer Ratliff could make 7 figures this year.

Not a bad gig as a college student.