The CF"p"

[rudel.dietrich]

While no doubt still hugely popular, the sport does have some problems.
It’s “postseason” matters little when it’s players are not paid and opt out of bowl games to get ready for their next career where they do get paid.
Coaches cannot really complain because they are so highly paid that they will begin their next job before the season even ends.

And not every game can be competitive. But Georgia in most sports books settled on about 13.5 point favorites and covered that into the first quarter.

Every sport has its issues. But these seem like some deep issues that need solutions.

I am not really sure how to fix any of them. And I am not a big enough fan of the sport to spend a lot of time on the subject.
But it does seem to be off-putting to someone who only casually follows the sport that your players and coaches don’t finish the season through a combination of being paid nothing (players) to being paid too much (coaches)

It also seems like only one conference really matters and that is the SEC. I guess other aspects are fun. But when it comes to the ultimate prize, more often than not it will come from that conference.
And conferences keep changing.
And I am a fan of European football where in each league only a handful of teams have a realistic chance of winning.


I guess the fundamental problem is that you have too many schools and not enough games to determine who is the best beyond a doubt.

And that gets into the whole issue of if this is an amateur sport played by student-athletes or a pseudo-professional sport that is an unpaid minor league.


Even when I lived there for 10 years, I found university athletics fandom to be very odd to wrap my head around.

It simply does not exist here. I mean we have them. But it's more glorified intermural athletics than serious sport.
Our best youth players are identified and play for junior sides of professional clubs.

I am not saying it is a better system. Just very different.

[GeoWar]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

Why are they wanting to expand the playoffs?
If your championship game has one team pulling its starters in the fourth quarter then maybe you donÂ’t have enough talent to expand.

The focus is on records . Now the process and strength of opponent .

The "major" teams need to schedule teams that are stronger ..... Yes I want to see a return to Bowls games AND a top 2 or 4 teams figured by a computer ----- I prefer two teams that are conference champions matched .

Some conferences schedule 8 conference games , others 9 , I think one is or has talked about 10 ...... with NCAA requiring min. 12 team conferences for a Championship game .

Teams play 2 or 3 games out of conference -- then schedule Alabama = Utah State, UL Monroe , Austin Peay ....... Ohio State = Notre Dame, Arkansas State, Toledo .... Georgia = Oregon , Samford, Kent State ...... Michigan = Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn ...... TCU = Colorado (PAC12) , Tarleton , SMU ............

Not just one school most power schools schedule 3 "cupcakes" (** which every once in a while upset) and pay the schools to lose. And the games are usually home games due to the money and local benefits.

And Bowl games need to be matched locally so bowls can make money and profit NOT just collect media money .

BCS _ BCS _ BCS _ BCS

[GeoWar]

20 years on this site ------

[ohiodevil]

Originally Posted by GeoWar

20 years on this site ------

Youngin'

[DJ_Jak_32]

Originally Posted by pilight

Expanding the playoffs will make it less likely that the best two teams are in the final.

The odds are more likely they will, the new format will give the winners of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 the top 4 seeds, then the other 8 teams will be at large, but probably will come from the SEC.

Based on the CFB Playoff rankings, Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio St would have received 1st round byes, so the rest of the matchups would be:

#5 Alabama vs #12 Washington
#6 Tennessee vs #11 Penn St
#7 Clemson vs #10 USC
#8 Utah vs #9 Kansas St

I don't see TCU making it to the championship game based on this method, you probably have a better chance of a Georgia/Tennessee, Georgia/Alabama or Georgia/Michigan championship game. So yes, the two best teams have a better shot at making it and odds of a 65-7 title game is much less likely.

[pilight]

That's not what happens in any sport with expanded playoffs. The NCAA basketball tournament almost never features a final with the two best teams. The NFL playoffs rarely result in the two best teams making the Superbowl. The list goes on.

[DJ_Jak_32]

Originally Posted by pilight

That's not what happens in any sport with expanded playoffs. The NCAA basketball tournament almost never features a final with the two best teams. The NFL playoffs rarely result in the two best teams making the Superbowl. The list goes on.

Comparing pro sports to college is apples and oranges, the NFL system promotes parity, that's why we see so many last place teams win the division the next season in the NFL.

No system is perfect, the system college football used before the 4 team playoff was very flawed, then they did the top 4 teams, but the question always was did the best 4 make it in. Now they get the top 12, so if you are the best team, you should be able to win. But the goal is not to get these 65-7 championship games.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

[Cobra Mgr]

When SCOTUS unanimously ruled against the NCAA it spelled the end of college sports as we know it. And football feels the affects more than any other sport. The problem is that the powers that be are trying to hold on to as much tradition as they can despite the majority of that tradition being rooted in antiquated out of date values & ideology.

College football cannot be "fixed". It can only accept the times & recognize what lies ahead. Forget what it used to be. Forget the charade you pretended it to be. And embrace what it can, and in a lot of ways should, be.

For the ones who run it, it is a means of advertising your school & getting application requests & donations. For the ones who participate it is a minor league. OWN THAT. Get rid of all the rules pertaining to the educational experience. The man behind the curtain has been exposed. He can no longer be hidden. If a player wants to get a degree while he is there, that's OK. But there is no need to make getting a diploma a phony goal for everybody.

Someone is going to finally recognize this. And when they do, those that had the chance to get jump started on that fact are going to be kicking themselves.

[Déjà Bru]

I haven't been following this thread, although I have been dimly aware of what it is about. To the extent that it disapproves of the format of the CFP, I would just say that such misgivings would certainly be supported by a rather ridiculous final score of 65-7 in the championship game. It would seem that this was not a matchup of the two best teams in college football; not by a long shot.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

When SCOTUS unanimously ruled against the NCAA it spelled the end of college sports as we know it. And football feels the affects more than any other sport. The problem is that the powers that be are trying to hold on to as much tradition as they can despite the majority of that tradition being rooted in antiquated out of date values & ideology.

College football cannot be "fixed". It can only accept the times & recognize what lies ahead. Forget what it used to be. Forget the charade you pretended it to be. And embrace what it can, and in a lot of ways should, be.

For the ones who run it, it is a means of advertising your school & getting application requests & donations. For the ones who participate it is a minor league. OWN THAT. Get rid of all the rules pertaining to the educational experience. The man behind the curtain has been exposed. He can no longer be hidden. If a player wants to get a degree while he is there, that's OK. But there is no need to make getting a diploma a phony goal for everybody.

Someone is going to finally recognize this. And when they do, those that had the chance to get jump started on that fact are going to be kicking themselves.

This is a good take. There is a whole lot of money wrapped up into this which makes it tricky.
How a multi billion dollar industry got away with for decades using unpaid labor is baffling.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

How a multi billion dollar industry got away with for decades using unpaid labor is baffling.

Welcome to the USA! We're #1!

(In worker exploitation and wealth gap, that is…)

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Welcome to the USA! We're #1!

(In worker exploitation and wealth gap, that is…)

Absurd, although I assume this is just hyperbole. Because the line of countries who would like a word is quite long...

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by thehef

Absurd, although I assume this is just hyperbole. Because the line of countries who would like a word is quite long...

I am curious if the business world has as much control over government in developed industrial countries as they do in the US.

[snarls200]

Originally Posted by DJ_Jak_32

The odds are more likely they will, the new format will give the winners of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 the top 4 seeds, then the other 8 teams will be at large, but probably will come from the SEC.

Based on the CFB Playoff rankings, Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio St would have received 1st round byes, so the rest of the matchups would be:

#5 Alabama vs #12 Washington
#6 Tennessee vs #11 Penn St
#7 Clemson vs #10 USC
#8 Utah vs #9 Kansas St

I don't see TCU making it to the championship game based on this method, you probably have a better chance of a Georgia/Tennessee, Georgia/Alabama or Georgia/Michigan championship game. So yes, the two best teams have a better shot at making it and odds of a 65-7 title game is much less likely.

While likely it will be those 4 confrences getting the byes most seasons its the top 4 confrence champions who get the byes.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

Why are they wanting to expand the playoffs?

Originally Posted by DJ_Jak_32

Because then the actual two best teams should make it to the championship game.

Debatable...

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Expanding the playoffs is about making sure there is equal access. Its not about making competitive games.

Also debatable...

Originally Posted by DJ_Jak_32

But we really know it's all about $$

Not debatable

And that's not a criticism. Just an "it is what it is" observation.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by thehef

Absurd, although I assume this is just hyperbole. Because the line of countries who would like a word is quite long...

Well, we are #1 in wealth gap, because, being the richest, it's easier for unchecked wealth to soar the highest. But that's total $. If you're doing it on a percentage basis, using the GINI coefficient, we're not even #1 in the OECD 36:

Mexico 43.4
Turkiyë 41.9
U!S!A! 41.5
(China 38.6)
(Russia 37.7)
(India 35.7)

Still, when you're more unequal than any country named "stan" (Turkmenistan, 40.8; Uzbekistan, 35.3; Tajikstan 34.0; Pakistan 33.5; Kazakhstan 27.5; Kyrgyzstan 27.3), I wouldn't brag.

My goodness, over 50% more unequal than Kazakhstan. I guess Sasha Baron Cohen can shut up with those smug "Borat" films, huh?

(No data for Afghanistan, but then we ran that place for 20 years, so arguably it's on us.)

And of course all of Europe is streets ahead of us. Spain must be so embarrassed to pull a 36.9, don't you think?

SOURCE: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gini-index.asp

***************************
As for worker exploitation, there's a caveat there, too. I've only seen the data (per Wikipedia) for the OECD 36, and while we are the only country that has "systematic violations of workers' rights", four countries (Mexico, Korea, Greece, Turkiyë) don't make any guarantees, so we're really just 32nd out of 36, not 36th, you could argue. (Or you could argue that we're the worst at enforcing what few rules we've made…)

We are still the ONLY nation on the planet that gives ZERO paid holidays. Every "Christian Nation" on Earth gives their workers Christmas off…with pay. Except the USA. (I mean, 1st Amendment, but even so. Most countries give 9-12 paid holidays, plus at least two weeks paid vacation. USA? NOTHING.)

Try going to Wikipedia and just checking a random group of countries. (My last time I did Armenia, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.). It's just embarrassing how poorly we compare. To Burkina Faso, FFS. (No offense, Burkina Faso. KUTGW.)

Paid holidays in Canada, 2022: https://www.gov.nl.ca/exec/tbs/2022-paid-holidays/ Just an example.

And of course, we don't have any paid parental leave, which is the only such case on Earth. (Papua New Guinea used to be as backward as us, but they remedied that problem. U!S!A!? Not so much.)

Source: https://www.findlaw.com/employment/f...countries.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mater...eave_n_2617284

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article...ntries-compare

So perhaps not the absolute worst at everything, but still sadly oppressive and unequal. JMO.