Change the 12 team format to enhance the TV product

1. The first on-campus playoff games in college football history had the next scoreline: home teams 145, visitors 68.

Average margin of victory: 19.3 points.

Four games over 28 hours and never a competitive fourth quarter. The atmosphere within the stadium was incredible, but the tv was bad. And bad television is bad for faculty football.

To be fair, one-sided playoff games are nothing latest.

During the four-team playoff era, quite a few losses occurred within the semifinals.

There are setbacks within the early rounds of the NFL playoffs.

There are losses within the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

But there’s a difference, which we'll get to in a moment.

2. The major competitive takeaway from the weekend is more of a reminder than a lesson.

The 4 winners played at home, were higher seeded and, most significantly, had larger, stronger and higher players at the road of scrimmage.

The sport's postseason has modified dramatically, but the muse for fulfillment has not. Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State dominated up front and, in consequence, on the scoreboard.

The CFP could grow to 16 or 32 or 64 teams, but the elemental truth stays: Only a handful of teams each season have the talent mandatory to advance deep within the tournament.

Nothing will change this reality. There is not any reminiscent of the 3-point line that allowed Oakland to beat Kentucky or Yale and topple Auburn last spring. It's all about talent within the trenches.

But unlike the NCAAs or the NFL, college football has the flexibility to make short-term structural changes to extend the drama.

3. Conference commissioners, who serve because the CFP's administrative committee, will meet next month in Atlanta to start discussing adjustments for the 2026 season, when a brand new contract cycle with ESPN begins.

The deal will raise $1.3 billion annually for six years. But every little thing else concerning the CFP within the 2026 season is changing.

Common sense and organizational unity aren't exactly hallmarks of faculty football usually, let alone the CFP. But the commissioners should use the present blank slate to create a greater product for the opening round.

That's the goal, in spite of everything: to offer the general public with essentially the most compelling content possible – not for the fans within the stadiums, but for the die-hard and casual observers who watch on television and drive the rankings that generate the revenue for ESPN, which serves as a sporting event ATM

For this purpose, the seeding process must be modified. The top 4 spots ought to be reserved for the top-ranked teams and never exclusively assigned to the conference champions.

If the seeds were based on the rankings, No. 1 Oregon wouldn’t face Ohio State, ranked sixth but seeded eighth, within the quarterfinals.

If the seeds were based on the rankings, Boise State, seeded third but ranked ninth, would have faced Indiana within the opening round as an alternative of getting a bye to the quarterfinals.

If the seedings match the rankings, the likelihood of competitive play within the opening round increases.

4. Limiting the variety of blowouts is far more vital today than it was within the four-team format. Why? Because the semifinals were typically played on New Year's Day, which is a component of faculty football.

The opening round games the weekend before Christmas have direct competition… from the NFL.

It's tough enough that the game can compete directly with the king. Regular one-sided games only make the situation worse.

Typically, college football television rankings are released on Wednesday. That could change next week due to Christmas – viewership data might not be available until Thursday.

We expect a blast in each the rating game and the games on the sector.

5. Ohio State's win over Tennessee reinforced our pre-CFP belief that the Buckeyes are one among the few teams able to winning the national title.

The others: Oregon, Notre Dame and Georgia, although Texas might be on the list too.

But the consequence in Columbus had broader implications. By destroying the Volunteers, Ohio State deprived the SEC of what would have been a serious talking point for the conference and its ESPN media machine: that SMU and Clemson's double-digit losses proved the ACC didn't deserve two teams.

In other words, the SEC could have used those losses to argue that it deserves three or 4 bids in the following round of the playoffs (together with the Big Ten), thereby having access to the ACC, the Big 12 and the Group of Five would have made it tougher.

We could still get there. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is undoubtedly preparing to make use of his influence as essentially the most powerful figure in sports to insist on format changes that may profit his conference.

But had the Vols played a competitive game in Columbus while the ACC teams failed, Sankey would have had significantly more influence at next month's administrative committee meeting in Atlanta.

Everything concerning the way forward for the game, including postseason structure, have to be viewed through the lens of the SEC and the Big Ten.

6. Four games and 4 losses later, the Hotline needed to ponder which teams have reason to be frustrated with the choice and seeding process:

– Oregon is in fact at the highest of the list.

As a reward for winning the Big Ten and getting the No. 1 seed, the Ducks will face Ohio State within the quarterfinals relatively than Arizona State or Boise State.

(Incidentally, Oregon is an underdog against the Buckeyes within the Rose Bowl.)

– Notre Dame also has a case.

The Irish took fifth place in the ultimate rating. But as a No. 7 seed, they are going to face No. 2 Georgia within the quarterfinals, not No. 4 Penn State.

— And there's one other one: Brigham Young.

We addressed the Cougars' situation before CFP Selection Day, arguing that they were significantly undervalued based on their resume, especially in comparison with SMU.

The Cougars beat SMU head-to-head in Dallas and have a greater record and schedule strength, but were seven spots behind the No. 10 Mustangs and watched SMU fight for the ultimate at-large spot.

We suspect they’d have been more competitive Saturday morning at Beaver Stadium.


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