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This is at least a step in the right direction and while I still expect the committee will manipulate rankings to try and stack the deck against G5 teams, it is still a huge win for us. It gives us a legit path to the CFP.

With a legit path to make the playoff I believe that makes it easier to retain quality coaches like Luke Fickell, and even other coaches as it gives them the opportunity to coach on the highest stage. Similarly it will help recruiting as its more likely a recruit coming to Cincinnati will play in the Playoff before a recruit going to lower to mid P5 schools like Kentucky.

It also allows us to continue to build off the current momentum the program has. It will already help recruiting, but imagine in a few years we are able to make the Playoffs in back to back years, or something like 3 out of 4 seasons while Fick is still here and we even win a game or two one year. It becomes a destination for top end recruits out of high school and we no longer have a ceiling on what the program can build and accomplish, where as now it is much harder without access to the CFP.

Everyone should love this new playoff format. Even if you are an Alabama, OSU, Clemson or Oklahoma fan. These schools have to feel good that even if they lose 1 or even 2 games, they are basically going to make the playoffs every year.

Every other school has to be happy, as they now have a path to the playoffs that was previously blocked due to the dominance of Clemson, OSU and Bama and to a lesser extent Oklahoma. (I'm drawing a blank, has a non Oklahoma Big XII school ever made the playoffs? I think not.)

Fans and TV networks will enjoy this, as now games @ the end of the season will have meaning as more teams fight for the top 12, and also fight for the all important #5-#8 seeds. That home playoff game for teams will be a major money maker for schools. I wonder how they will break out that ticket revenue?? Will some of the ticket gate receipts go to the league, or will some of it go to the opposing team?

Think about some of these schools who can fit in 80,90,100K fans. That times $50 a ticket-- $5mm. Not an insignificant amount of money to even the big schools. Even a school like UC could bring in $2mm for a home playoff game.


Fun fact-- had this playoff been implemented last year. UC would have had the #8 seed, and hosted the #9 seed--- Georgia. So basically a reverse of the Peach Bowl where Georgia, in essence, had home field advantage.

Just having a shot at it will be huge for our program. I don't expect to win the CFP the first or second time we get in, but once recruits start seeing us get there, our recruiting will trend upwards in a way that will allow us to have the depth of talent to compete against the elite teams. Once we have the kind of depth that comes from multiple top 25 recruiting classes, a special QB could lead Cincinnati to a national title. Doubt we'll ever recruit on OSU or Alabama's level unless we get in the ACC or Big 12 and have sustained success at that level, but having CFP access and keeping Fickell around could at least get us to the point where we're landing multiple top-250 recruits each cycle, with plenty of high 3-star guys right behind them.

(06-11-2021 09:52 AM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 09:33 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  

(06-10-2021 12:53 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I've been arguing for 6 autobids for a long time but not guaranteeing 5 to the p5 instead going 6 highest ranked conference champs. It looks like that's the direction we're heading. That's awesome.

Good call, Mark. It made sense to me, but no way I thought they would ever go with it. I'm nervous. It's almost like they are being too generous.

Trust me, it is not generosity.

Notre Dame likes it because they are unlikely to crack the Top Four very often.

The SEC likes it because they expect to grab at least three of those six at large bids.

The PAC likes it because it is about the only way they will ever sniff the playoffs.

The P5 like giving the G5 one guaranteed spot because now it is only 1 out of 12, the television people will get their Cinderella story every year, and they just got any politicians off their back.

They all like it because they expect to see a serious rise in network money out of the deal.

The only people who won't like it are the bowl people, but they have been slowly becoming less relevant the last decade or so.

I agree with most of this. They didn't have to do the best 6 conference champions. though. They could have done the P5+1, and no one would have said a word.

(06-11-2021 09:52 AM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 09:33 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  

(06-10-2021 12:53 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I've been arguing for 6 autobids for a long time but not guaranteeing 5 to the p5 instead going 6 highest ranked conference champs. It looks like that's the direction we're heading. That's awesome.

Good call, Mark. It made sense to me, but no way I thought they would ever go with it. I'm nervous. It's almost like they are being too generous.

Trust me, it is not generosity.

Notre Dame likes it because they are unlikely to crack the Top Four very often.

Notre Dame finished top 4 as much as anyone outside of Bama/OSU/Clemson.

I think it's pretty clear the committee as a whole wanted to emphasize conference championships and keep the importance of those games as best they could. Only getting the bye if you are one of the 4 highest ranked conference champions is a big deal.

I think the committee rightly pointed out that Notre Dame could join a conference if it wanted, but even if it didn't, them not being able to get a bye was a fair tradeoff because they don't play a conference championship game anyways. You aren't asking Notre Dame to play any more games than those top 4 teams. This is always why I'm sure ND was agreeable to what at face value seems a bad deal for them.

(06-11-2021 12:42 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I think the committee rightly pointed out that Notre Dame could join a conference if it wanted, but even if it didn't, them not being able to get a bye was a fair tradeoff because they don't play a conference championship game anyways. You aren't asking Notre Dame to play any more games than those top 4 teams. This is always why I'm sure ND was agreeable to what at face value seems a bad deal for them.

(06-11-2021 12:42 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 09:52 AM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 09:33 AM)Z-Fly Wrote:  

(06-10-2021 12:53 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I've been arguing for 6 autobids for a long time but not guaranteeing 5 to the p5 instead going 6 highest ranked conference champs. It looks like that's the direction we're heading. That's awesome.

Good call, Mark. It made sense to me, but no way I thought they would ever go with it. I'm nervous. It's almost like they are being too generous.

Trust me, it is not generosity.

Notre Dame likes it because they are unlikely to crack the Top Four very often.

Notre Dame finished top 4 as much as anyone outside of Bama/OSU/Clemson.

I think it's pretty clear the committee as a whole wanted to emphasize conference championships and keep the importance of those games as best they could. Only getting the bye if you are one of the 4 highest ranked conference champions is a big deal.

I think the committee rightly pointed out that Notre Dame could join a conference if it wanted, but even if it didn't, them not being able to get a bye was a fair tradeoff because they don't play a conference championship game anyways. You aren't asking Notre Dame to play any more games than those top 4 teams. This is always why I'm sure ND was agreeable to what at face value seems a bad deal for them.

That's a really good point. It becomes Notre Dame's de-facto 13th/conference championship game, which makes it more fair to the rest of the field. That 13th game for the top 4 is usually a conference championship game against a really good team, so this evens things out.

(06-11-2021 01:05 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 12:42 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I think the committee rightly pointed out that Notre Dame could join a conference if it wanted, but even if it didn't, them not being able to get a bye was a fair tradeoff because they don't play a conference championship game anyways. You aren't asking Notre Dame to play any more games than those top 4 teams. This is always why I'm sure ND was agreeable to what at face value seems a bad deal for them.

That's a really good point. It becomes Notre Dame's de-facto 13th/conference championship game, which makes it more fair to the rest of the field. That 13th game for the top 4 is usually a conference championship game against a really good team, so this evens things out.

Of course. It's the only kind of point I make.

One thing that I don't like is they want to play the quarterfinals on January 1st or 2nd. That just seems unnecessarily late to me. They're going to end up competing more with the NFL playoffs, and the season will be unnecessarily long. Here is how I would do it with the 12-team model:

(all dates are Saturday unless otherwise noted)

week 1: August 28th
week 2: September 4th
week 3: September 11th
week 4: September 18th
week 5: September 25th
week 6: October 2nd
week 7: October 9th
week 8: October 16th
week 9: October 23rd
week 10: October 30th
week 11: November 6th
week 12: November 13th
week 13: November 20th
week 14: November 27th

conference championship games: Friday, December 3rd and 4th
first round of playoffs/beginning of bowl season: Friday, December 10th and 11th
quarterfinals of playoffs: Friday, December 17th and 18th
between December 18th and January 1st, traditional bowl games are the focus
semifinals/end of bowl season: January 1st
championship game: Monday, January 10th

This way, no team has to go more than two weeks without playing. Making the top 4 teams wait nearly a month to play their first playoff game seems like a recipe for subpar football, and is actually a disadvantage for those teams.

(06-11-2021 01:12 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 01:05 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 12:42 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I think the committee rightly pointed out that Notre Dame could join a conference if it wanted, but even if it didn't, them not being able to get a bye was a fair tradeoff because they don't play a conference championship game anyways. You aren't asking Notre Dame to play any more games than those top 4 teams. This is always why I'm sure ND was agreeable to what at face value seems a bad deal for them.

That's a really good point. It becomes Notre Dame's de-facto 13th/conference championship game, which makes it more fair to the rest of the field. That 13th game for the top 4 is usually a conference championship game against a really good team, so this evens things out.

Of course. It's the only kind of point I make.

...and Jack Swarbrick (ND's AD) is on the committee making these recommendations. I found that interesting.

A couple of thoughts.

I've always been an 8 team guy, but I really like this. I like this better than the 5 x P5 champs + G5 + 2 at large format that most thought would be the likely expansion format. We really could see a year where the PAC champion is left out in favor of two G5 champs. Won't happen often, but it will happen.

Home games up North for some teams are going to be huge. We can probably thank the B1G for that. Looks like their new commissioner is more about looking out for their schools than about protecting the Rose Bowl.

For ND, being locked out of a bye really won't matter. Their bye will be in not playing a CCG and then--in many if not most years--they'll host a first round game.

A scenario where UC hosts a first round game and beats a freezing SEC team to roll its way into the semi's is completely realistic.

(06-11-2021 12:17 PM)ladeda Wrote:  Think about some of these schools who can fit in 80,90,100K fans. That times $50 a ticket-- $5mm. Not an insignificant amount of money to even the big schools. Even a school like UC could bring in $2mm for a home playoff game.

I'd be shocked if the "home" games were treated like true home games. They'll essentially by first round playoff games hosted by on-campus sites. In other words, all the money beyond the hosting school's expenses will be thrown into the overall playoff financial pot. And that's the way it should be. No way should an OSU be allowed to profit off the playoffs more than eight of the other schools who make the field.

(06-11-2021 06:05 PM)Bearcat 1985 Wrote:  

(06-11-2021 12:17 PM)ladeda Wrote:  Think about some of these schools who can fit in 80,90,100K fans. That times $50 a ticket-- $5mm. Not an insignificant amount of money to even the big schools. Even a school like UC could bring in $2mm for a home playoff game.

I'd be shocked if the "home" games were treated like true home games. They'll essentially by first round playoff games hosted by on-campus sites. In other words, all the money beyond the hosting school's expenses will be thrown into the overall playoff financial pot. And that's the way it should be. No way should an OSU be allowed to profit off the playoffs more than eight of the other schools who make the field.

I think this is an open question and one of the reasons ND may have agreed to this format -
"The details of how those 11 games in a 12-team system would unfold will still need to be worked out in upcoming months. But the thought is that the first four teams would get a bye and teams No. 5 to No. 8 would host teams No. 9 through 12 at home sites. (This could, of course, irk teams that finished higher and don’t get the big gate, memorable experience and home-field advantage of a playoff game.)"

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-footbal...ZBt94PJA2U

(06-11-2021 06:01 PM)Bearcat 1985 Wrote:  A couple of thoughts.

I've always been an 8 team guy, but I really like this. I like this better than the 5 x P5 champs + G5 + 2 at large format that most thought would be the likely expansion format. We really could see a year where the PAC champion is left out in favor of two G5 champs. Won't happen often, but it will happen.

Home games up North for some teams are going to be huge. We can probably thank the B1G for that. Looks like their new commissioner is more about looking out for their schools than about protecting the Rose Bowl.

For ND, being locked out of a bye really won't matter. Their bye will be in not playing a CCG and then--in many if not most years--they'll host a first round game.

A scenario where UC hosts a first round game and beats a freezing SEC team to roll its way into the semi's is completely realistic.

I could even see a scenario where 2 G5’s rank ahead of both the ACC and Pac12. If there happened to be an upset in the ACC championship we have seen times where the ACC was down significantly outside of Clemson. If Clemson lost in the CCG to a 4 loss team and a similar scenario played out in the Pac12, we may see situations where 2 G5 autobids get in. Now I would have to assume the ACC and/or Pac12 would still get a team in, but not via the autobid.

It may not be likely, but having the possibility at all was more than most of us expected. Whether that is tweaked in the final setup remains to be seen, but if it stays as is it could be a real gamechanger for teams like UC.

Maybe I read it incorrectly but I don't see why Notre Dame can't get a bye. The 6 highest rated conference champions get an autobid, but I believe the 4 byes are based on final CFP ranking. So if ND is ranked #1-4 it would still get a bye even though it came to the playoffs via an at large bid.

(06-12-2021 09:42 PM)catcane Wrote:  Maybe I read it incorrectly but I don't see why Notre Dame can't get a bye. The 6 highest rated conference champions get an autobid, but I believe the 4 byes are based on final CFP ranking. So if ND is ranked #1-4 it would still get a bye even though it came to the playoffs via an at large bid.

The byes specifically go to the top four "conference champions." Notre Dame can't win a conference if they're not in one. Also, ND gets a bye every single year by not having to finish the regular season with a conference championship game. The four teams who get a bye will all have won a conference championship game. Also, **** Notre Dame.

(06-13-2021 07:32 AM)Bearcat 1985 Wrote:  

(06-12-2021 09:42 PM)catcane Wrote:  Maybe I read it incorrectly but I don't see why Notre Dame can't get a bye. The 6 highest rated conference champions get an autobid, but I believe the 4 byes are based on final CFP ranking. So if ND is ranked #1-4 it would still get a bye even though it came to the playoffs via an at large bid.

The byes specifically go to the top four "conference champions." Notre Dame can't win a conference if they're not in one. Also, ND gets a bye every single year by not having to finish the regular season with a conference championship game. The four teams who get a bye will all have won a conference championship game. Also, **** Notre Dame.

News flash...

Anybody who's not Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St. or Oklahoma aint getting a bye either.

Another news flash: I'm old enough to remember times when all of those teams sucked. Sic gloria transit.

(06-13-2021 08:29 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(06-13-2021 07:32 AM)Bearcat 1985 Wrote:  

(06-12-2021 09:42 PM)catcane Wrote:  Maybe I read it incorrectly but I don't see why Notre Dame can't get a bye. The 6 highest rated conference champions get an autobid, but I believe the 4 byes are based on final CFP ranking. So if ND is ranked #1-4 it would still get a bye even though it came to the playoffs via an at large bid.

The byes specifically go to the top four "conference champions." Notre Dame can't win a conference if they're not in one. Also, ND gets a bye every single year by not having to finish the regular season with a conference championship game. The four teams who get a bye will all have won a conference championship game. Also, **** Notre Dame.

News flash...

Anybody who's not Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St. or Oklahoma aint getting a bye either.

The first time Alabama doesn't win their conference, but finishes 11-1, and doesn't get a bye, Nick Saban will complain about the "system" because his team had a tougher schedule than the (insert conf here) Champion.

(06-13-2021 02:03 PM)Cat-Man Wrote:  The first time Alabama doesn't win their conference, but finishes 11-1, and doesn't get a bye, Nick Saban will complain about the "system" because his team had a tougher schedule than the (insert conf here) Champion.

And he'll say it right after their week 10 win over SW Eastern Illinois Polytechnic.