College football is broken

[jpfalcon09]

Same 5-6 programs every year vying for the playoff. Undefeated G5 programs get a thankless access bowl which doesn't matter.

I don't understand how any fan can say getting the same schools in January is for the good of the product.

The rest are simply fooling themselves.

[MarkL]

A prediction I read a few years ago: barring no fundamental changes to college football, no program will ever win a national championship again that has not already won it. This isn't the NFL. I would say there is more competitive distance between teams ranked 1 through 8 in college football than in all of the NFL.

[mbenecke]

I’d love to see an 8-team playoff, with all Power 5 champions getting an auto-bid, plus the highest ranked Group of 5 champion also getting an auto-bid. Then you have 2 wild card spots that could be filled with the other highest ranked teams. First round hosted on campus for the higher seed, then the rest is a traditional playoff of the top 4, with games at neutral sites.

It may not lead to a different champion than one of the 3 we typically get, but it would at least allow for more access to G5 teams, which currently have no legitimate way to earn a national title. I’d also love to go back to the computer system instead of 13 people sitting in a room and picking their favorite teams.

[MarkL]

Expanding the playoff isn't the answer. All that will happen is a round of utter blowouts. I heard a really good chat about this on YouTube. Basically it said everyone wants a good end to their season. If you expand the playoff to allow guaranteed spots for G5 champions, then the reward for a great season is a splattering at the hands of Alabama. Because the distance between teams 1 and 8 is massive. Add in auto tie ins for smaller programs and the distance increases exponentially.

The way to fix this problem is for the NCAA to do what they should have done the first time a coach signed a million dollar contract and when Nebraska left the Big 12 and their historical rivalries for Big Ten bucks. NCAA in both occasions failed to demonstrate any kind of leadership. They should have put the foot down and respectively said that coach salaries must remain within reason and conference changes must be approved by an independent body. The game has been ruined by the chase for almighty dollars. You cannot with a straight face say that players are students first at the big programs. The mission of major college football is no longer to educate and enrich while providing entertainment. Instead it is to chase money and spend along the way.

Is the NCAA even capable of making the game more fair for everyone rather than the big few programs? If the NCAA sniffs around Alabama and finds problems, then sanctions Alabama halfway to hell and administratively kills their chances at a playoff, will the SEC say screw it, we're taking our toys and going home and who all wants to join us? I do not know. All I know is the game has gotten too big for its own good and I'm not sure reform is possible.

[Falco_peregrinusana]

We had this discussion at school... all of us being alumns of a MAC school. To make it truly fair; perhaps a college draft. "Mr. Jones from St. Francis prep school in Valdosta, Florida, you have been chosen #1 by the Bowling Green University Falcons". I think that in five years, EVERY college program in America would have a shot at the title. Unfortunately, the powers of college football would never go for this. Perhaps hard to explain to the student athlete that his university has been chosen for him... but if you are focused only on competetive balance, it would work..
Something that more realistically could help the balance of power is to REDUCE the number of scholarships to... say 40 scholarships. It would decrease the financial burden on the smaller, less lucrative universities. Also, that player on the cusp of going to Ohio State would more likely go to a MAC school for a full ride than to walk on at Ohio State. I am sure the powers that be would not put up with this, but I will have to say that college football is getting very boring with the same four teams every year. College basketball is much more watchable, with fifty teams at least having a shot at the sweet sixteen.

[2006Grad]

I would love to see some variety in the teams making the final 4, but in reality this has always been college football. The same teams tend to dominate. I looked at the AP poll winners by decade to see if there was better variety of winners “back in the day” the answer is yesish
1950’s - 8 different teams
60’s - 7 different teams
70’s - 7
80’s - 7
90’s - 8
00’s - 8
10’s - 6 with this year being up in the air, maybe A&M or ND to add to the list?
Either way, this last decade has had less variety but it’s not that much of an outlier AND my guess is that there would have been even less variety if they had a playoff this whole time. Several of the teams that picked up titles were “probably” not the best teams. Looking at you BYU, Maryland, Colorado
Point being the cream has always risen to the top, no different now. I do support the 8 team idea, with an auto for the G5. Regardless of the beat down we would take I would be anywhere, anytime BG makes it! And are you really sure that the good Boise and TCU (pre big 12) teams wouldn't have give a 1/2 seed a game?

[Globetrotter]

Its a relatively easy fix.

1. 16 team tournament
2. Balanced scheduling....pick out of a hat for 4 nonconference games and force teams like OSU to travel. 2 home and 2 away.
3. Allow Power 5 players to transfer to non power 5 without losing a year.
4. I used to say get rid of the coaches poll, but that's toast right?

The 3rd one would never be agreed to but the first 2 would make a ton of sense. And they would allow non power 5's to build.

[Schadenfreude]

Expanding the playoff isn't the answer. All that will happen is a round of utter blowouts. I heard a really good chat about this on YouTube. Basically it said everyone wants a good end to their season. If you expand the playoff to allow guaranteed spots for G5 champions, then the reward for a great season is a splattering at the hands of Alabama.

This would be much, much better than the current situation. I'd love to see it.

In college basketball, the 1-16 opening games don't have much drama either. But it's still a hell of a tournament with crazy upsets and insane drama. A 16-team playoff would be like that, too, and the MAC wouldn't always be a 16 seed.

[Antimob]

Undefeated G5 programs get a thankless access bowl which doesn't matter.

1) What exactly is a "thankless access bowl"?

2) They don't matter to whom?

3) Didn't LSU win the national championship last year? Where are they now?

[TommyG]

Playoff that includes all conference champions would be the way to go. Whether that is 10 team with top 2 seeds getting byes or 16 team with some at large spots. You could do 1st and 2nd rounds at home sites. It would be great for college football.

Never gonna happen because the last thing the P5 wants is to share money and they don’t want group of 5 programs to gain any momentum on the national level. It’s only going to keep separating more and more. It is likely FBS football is breaking away from NCAA and forming their own legislation and appointing a commissioner. Once that happens you will likely see P5 and a few select group of 5 schools break away and keep all the money.
Only way to change the process would be to go to court and really push for an overhaul. Problem is all the ADs and commissioners want to stay friendly with P5 schools so they can move on when they get the opportunity.

[Tony4BG]

Very broken, both College Football Playoff and bowl selection. Due to all the bowl conference tie ins, a 9-2 Army left out. #LetArmyPlay

[hammb]

College football is total garbage. I still post here and follow BG football, but can't really stomach watching them. Don't think I've watched a single college football game this season from kick to finish. In a year where we're home literally all the time I still don't ever feel compelled to put on a college football game. It's just a horrible horrible product. It has been for years, but it's getting worse.

It's not JUST the fact that Alabama, Clemson, and OSU are in the playoff nearly every year. It's more the fact that so few games are even worth watching. I don't know how anybody considers themselves a big time fan of the sport anymore. If you're not a fan of one of the top 10-20 programs you have zero chance of accomplishing anything worthwhile. And if you ARE a fan of those teams, they've put so much distance between themselves and the rest of the sport that only 1 or 2 of their games even have meaning.

I know I've argued on this board til I was blue in the face how much worse the current CFP system is for the MAC than the BCS was. Every time they make a meaningful change it is with the exact same goal in mind: further the illusion of inclusion while funneling even more money to the blue bloods. For at least 20 years I've argued in favor of a 16 team playoff with all conference champs getting included, it actually makes SENSE, unlike everything else they've ever tried, but the reasons against it are simple: Revenue would go to the G5 conferences. Revenue that would GREATLY improve our ability to actually field a football team.

But alas, I know that will most certainly never happen, and I just can't stand to actually WATCH the sport anymore. As always, hope BG can rebuild this thing and get back to winning the MAC, but my give-a-s**t meter has been destroyed by the system. Thankfully after 20 years of suffering I'm finally getting enjoyable real football to watch.

[jpfalcon09]

Undefeated G5 programs get a thankless access bowl which doesn't matter.

1) What exactly is a "thankless access bowl"?

2) They don't matter to whom?

3) Didn't LSU win the national championship last year? Where are they now?

1) Playing against a P5 program that doesn't want to be there. The money is nice but that's about it.

2) The casual sports fan.

3) I don't know what LSU has to do with my post. They lost a Heisman Trophy winner at QB and several other skilled players - but they'll in all likelihood be back in a year or two.