(01-11-2022 04:21 PM)RUScarlets Wrote: (01-11-2022 04:14 PM)stever20 Wrote: It's such a huge moneymaker that means there is no chance in hell that it's going to change. I mean Big Ten gets about 40 million I think just on that game in TV money, let alone ticket sales etc.
Then the 12-team playoff is simply not going to happen... until we adopt semi-professional status or a new super division all together. I also do not envision them going to an 11 game regular season, although this is more likely and may be the only path forward for 12 teams.
To be very clear, the Big Ten was fine with 12 teams - they just are still asking for P5 auto-bids. The only party that has objected to 12 teams is the ACC. Semi-professional status is here already - if these colleges are truly worried about having to pay athletes, then one would think that it’s even more important to make the most money possible in an expanded CFP.
In any event, I agree with stever20 that CCGs aren’t going anywhere EVER. Those games make more money for the SEC and Big Ten than the CFP itself at this point and they don’t have to share a dime of it. The expanded CFP in whatever form needs to be 100% additive to the current system.
By the way, I personally advocated for an 8-team playoff (particularly the 5+1+2 format) for many, many, many years. Before I ever wrote anything on conference realignment, one of the first posts that I had on my blog over 15 years ago was an 8-team playoff with the then 6 BCS AQ conferences and 2 at-large bids. I’d be 100% happy with an 8-team playoff with 5+1+2 or 6+2 over today’s system.
However, the CFP expansion proposal committee honestly shocked me with their 12-team playoff proposal. It would be like hoping that you could double your money one day and now you find out that you could triple your money.
At the same time, I see why going larger to 12 teams was actually the compromise. Ultimately, the SEC and ND need as many at-large bids as possible. The other conferences need some form of conference champ protection, whether it’s the top 6 conference champ or P5 auto-bids. The 8-team playoff simply cannot serve both, which is why everyone except the ACC seems to at least acknowledge that 12 teams is where we should be at (even if there are still disagreements about *who* those 12 teams should be).
So, believe me - I’m not advocating for 12 teams simply because it’s 12 teams. Instead, I’m advocating for CFP expansion in and of itself and, in analyzing everyone’s interests, the only size of a playoff that could conceivably meet those interests is 12. If 8 teams could serve those interests, then that would be fantastic, but it’s very clear that the SEC and ND would only agree to that if it’s a straight top 8 ranking, which is exactly what everyone else in college football doesn’t want.
I admit upfront that I am an unabashed and completely biased supporter of CFP expansion. Therefore, I am an unabashed and completely biased supporter of the format that will get us to that end point even if it’s actually different than the one that I’ve advocated for previously.