Time for a POWER 4 CONFERENCE ONLY Playoff. These non-power 4 conference teams are diminishing the playoff already.

LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
It's time to have a power 4 conference ONLY playoff and all non-power 4 teams are in a separate lower division with their own playoff. It is 100% clear that those teams do not belong. This is not a playoff game. It is a scrimmage game.
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I’ve felt this way for a long time. These aren’t playoff games, they’re glorified scrimmages. I get there are legal and antitrust reasons why G5 teams have to be included, but from a football standpoint it’s obvious they don’t belong in the same bracket. A Power 4 playoff and a separate G5 playoff would make way more sense for everyone.

This isn't basketball and no Cinderella story will happen imo...
 
Pennstate_one said:
I’ve felt this way for a long time. These aren’t playoff games, they’re glorified scrimmages. I get there are legal and antitrust reasons why G5 teams have to be included, but from a football standpoint it’s obvious they don’t belong in the same bracket. A Power 4 playoff and a separate G5 playoff would make way more sense for everyone.

This isn't basketball and no Cinderella story will happen imo...
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Including the non-power 4 teams by automatic bid is the equivalent of a DEI hire. It is favoring a team not qualified to be there over others much more qualified while simultaneously lowering the overall quality of the product.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
Including the non-power 4 teams by automatic bid is the equivalent of a DEI hire. It is favoring a team not qualified to be there over others much more qualified while simultaneously lowering the overall quality of the product.
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That’s the part people ignore. Power 4 teams play a much tougher schedule every week and are built for it. When you run that gauntlet all season, you’re far more likely to actually survive multiple playoff games. G5 teams might be good, but they don’t face that level of depth and physicality week after week.

And pointing to past P4 blowouts misses the point and I'm quite sick of hearing it lol. Blowouts happen even among elite teams. That doesn’t mean they didn’t belong. Most of the time, the G5 team is the one that hits the wall first because the jump in competition and just straight depth is real. I don’t know what the perfect format is, but pretending those paths are equal just doesn’t make sense.
 
Pennstate_one said:
That’s the part people ignore. Power 4 teams play a much tougher schedule every week and are built for it. When you run that gauntlet all season, you’re far more likely to actually survive multiple playoff games. G5 teams might be good, but they don’t face that level of depth and physicality week after week.

And pointing to past P4 blowouts misses the point and I'm quite sick of hearing it lol. Blowouts happen even among elite teams. That doesn’t mean they didn’t belong. Most of the time, the G5 team is the one that hits the wall first because the jump in competition and just straight depth is real. I don’t know what the perfect format is, but pretending those paths are equal just doesn’t make sense.
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And this is why Notre Dame shouldn't get in next year unless they are undefeated. They play only 4 teams with a winning record this year which includes Navy and 4 loss SMU who was a G5 team not long ago. They have two ranked teams on their schedule and a series of warm up games leading to each contest. They only have to get up for 2 games all year to be undefeated. 1 loss should instantly eliminate them in 2026.
 
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LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
And this is why Notre Dame shouldn't get in next year unless they are undefeated. They play only 4 teams with a winning record this year which includes Navy and 4 loss SMU who was a G5 team not long ago. They have two ranked teams on their schedule and a serious of warm up games leading to each contest. They only have to get up for 2 games all year to be undefeated. 1 loss should instantly eliminate them in 2026.
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That’s exactly the issue. ND gets the benefit of a soft schedule and avoids a conference title game entirely. If you’re not playing a Power 4 grind or a championship game, the margin for error should be smaller. One loss should matter more for them than it does for teams that run a gauntlet every week.
 
Let them play a play in tournament in the off week.

I don't agree with excluding them, but we certainly shouldn't have multiple lower tier teams in the main tournament.

Let these conferences pick their champion amongst themselves. Send one team. That team will be qualified.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
It's time to have a power 4 conference ONLY playoff and all non-power 4 teams are in a separate lower division with their own playoff. It is 100% clear that those teams do not belong. This is not a playoff game. It is a scrimmage game.
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The only good thing about it was the fact that a wager on Oregon and Ole Miss as a 2-team parlay on the moneyline was like a Christmas gift from Santa. Free money with the only hitch being you had to put down a pretty healthy bet in order for it to yield any kind of meaningful pay-off.

That factor aside, the games themselves quickly turned into televised scrimmages dressed up in playoff garb. It really hurt that two such games were featured this year after the ACC's ridiculous tiebreakers put 5-loss Duke in its conference championship game and the Blue Devils were impolite enough to actually win.
 
What I don't understand is that these power 4 conferences have to understand that they are pi$$ing away 2 shares of the playoff money to teams and conferences that clearly don't belong. At some point, the profit motive will win out. I fully understand that these conferences and ADs at schools may be incompetent but at some point, someone may press them on why 1/6th of the money is being gifted to undeserving teams/conferences that are clearly a lower tier.

Any competent people at the power 4 conferences would look at this and say, why are we pi$$ing away this money and damaging our product at the same time? Who wants to watch 1st round games that you know are going to be blowouts the moment that the bracket is released? My guess is that the non-power 4 1st round games are going to be barely watched in the future. Who wants to watch a glorified scrimmage game dressed up as a playoff game? You continue to water the product down like that and people are going to start questioning if this is even a playoff anyway (many already have). And when the ratings drop, they all lose.
 
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LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
What I don't understand is that these power 4 conferences have to understand that they are pi$$ing away 2 shares of the playoff money to teams and conferences that clearly don't belong. At some point, the profit motive will win out. I fully understand that these conferences and ADs at schools may be incompetent but at some point, someone may press them on why 1/6th of the money is being gifted to undeserving teams/conferences that are clearly a lower tier.

Any competent people at the power 4 conferences would look at this and say, why are pi$$ing away this money and damaging our product at the same time? Who wants to watch 1st round games that you know are going to be blowouts the moment that the bracket is released? My guess is that the non-power 4 1st round games are going to be barely watched in the future. Who wants to watch a glorified scrimmage game dressed up as a playoff game? You continue to water the product down like that and people are going to start questioning if this is even a playoff anyway (many already have). And when the ratings drop, they all lose.
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The top four to six teams should be possible champs. Even a good 12th team running the table means they won the tournament, but not a natty, IMO. Teams like JMU may add interested in a David v. Goliath sense, similar to what a St. Peter's or Loyola Chicago did for basketball.
 
Frank Lee said:
The top four to six teams should be possible champs. Even a good 12th team running the table means they won the tournament, but not a natty, IMO. Teams like JMU may add interested in a David v. Goliath sense, similar to what a St. Peter's or Loyola Chicago did for basketball.
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If we're going for David v. Goliath, why not invite the top HS team in the nation? Or the best DIV III school? Or the pop warner champs? We could put a team together from the board and get that 12th slot. What's 1/12th of the total playoff money? We could split it.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
What I don't understand is that these power 4 conferences have to understand that they are pi$$ing away 2 shares of the playoff money to teams and conferences that clearly don't belong. At some point, the profit motive will win out. I fully understand that these conferences and ADs at schools may be incompetent but at some point, someone may press them on why 1/6th of the money is being gifted to undeserving teams/conferences that are clearly a lower tier.

Any competent people at the power 4 conferences would look at this and say, why are pi$$ing away this money and damaging our product at the same time? Who wants to watch 1st round games that you know are going to be blowouts the moment that the bracket is released? My guess is that the non-power 4 1st round games are going to be barely watched in the future. Who wants to watch a glorified scrimmage game dressed up as a playoff game? You continue to water the product down like that and people are going to start questioning if this is even a playoff anyway (many already have). And when the ratings drop, they all lose.
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Yup, you've heard of the wisecrack that they're so dumb they'd f-up a 2-car funeral procession.

Leave it to college football and friends to f-up a 12-team playoff.

The most obvious solution would be to have the committee simply rank the 12 best teams as they see it...or even use the AP poll for that purpose.

As it is, teams from these lesser conferences are receiving participation trophies and nothing more. This is not like college basketball where you do get occasional big-time upsets in a field of 68. Football is different even if once in a blue moon there's an historic upset like Appalachian State beating Michigan.
 
LudicrousSpeedGO! said:
If we're going for David v. Goliath, why not invite the top HS team in the nation? Or the best DIV III school? Or the pop warner champs? We could put a team together from the board and get that 12th slot. What's 1/12th of the total playoff money? We could split it.
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or a special needs team. or even 3-loss DI team at the 11 and 12 slots. None will be or should be Nat'l champs, so if going to twelve teams, then why care so much? It's the semis and the final that matter.
 
Frank Lee said:
or a special needs team. or even 3-loss DI team at the 11 and 12 slots. None will be or should be Nat'l champs, so if going to twelve teams, then why care so much? It's the semis and the final that matter.
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I'm thinking that the below is reason enough for it to matter who gets those 11 and 12 slots.

For 2025-2026, here’s how much each team will make in the College Football Playoff:
  • $4 million for each of the 12 teams that makes the College Football Playoff
  • $4 million for each of the 8 teams that makes the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
  • $6 million for each of the 4 teams that makes the College Football Playoff Semifinals
  • $6 million for each of the 2 teams that makes the College Football Playoff National Championship Game
Additionally, each team who participates in the College Football Playoff receives $3 million to cover expenses for each round.

Additionally, each conference receives $300,000 for each of its schools whose football team meets the NCAA’s APR for participation in a postseason football game. Each independent institution also receives $300,000 if its football team meets the same standard.
 
I think the power 4 conferences should build their own league. There could be divisions like the NFL. Teams would play all the teams in their division and then play all the teams im another division. The other division will rotate every year. The playoffs could work like the NFL. Some teams have easier schedules than others every year, but it is not an Issue in the NFL because teams play their way in.

And yes, I am aware that ND does not want this. That is fine, they are free to adjust to the new college football setup or to opt out. ND special rules and agreements should no longer exist

No more opinions about who gets into the playoffs.

The boring games with power 4 teams playing smaller programs will go away, which gives the fans an overall better product.

Traditional rivalries can easily be maintained by putting both teams in the same division.

The power 4 conferences will keep the money "in house"

The new league could also have rules to cleanup the portal rules. Maybe a max coiuld be imposed on the amount of NIL each team coild use
 
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Nemo said:
I think the power 4 conferences should build their own league. There could be divisions like the NFL. Teams would play all the teams in their division and then play all the teams im another division. The other division will rotate every year. The playoffs could work like the NFL. Some teams have easier schedules than others every year, but it is not an Issue in the NFL because teams play their way in.

And yes, I am aware that ND does not want this. That is fine, they are free to adjust to the new college football setup or to opt out. ND special rules and agreements should no longer exist

No more opinions about who gets into the playoffs.

The boing games with power 4 teams playing smaller programs will go away, which gives the fans an overall better product.

Traditional rivalries can easily be maintained by putting both teams in the same division.

The power 4 conferences will keep the money "in house"

The new league could also have rules to cleanup the portal rules. Maybe a max coiuld be imposed on the amount of NIL each team coild use
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It definitely already feels semi-pro. That’s actually the problem. We’ve taken the pay and mobility parts of pro sports but none of the structure that makes it all work. Breaking off without contracts, caps, or a commissioner just makes it an unofficial pro league with all the same chaos. If we’re going that route, it needs to be done cleanly not half-a** ya know? It is absolutely insane how "wild west" it all feels.
 
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