The NCAA in a power move negotiated directly with schools and the networks to create an 8 team playoff beginning in the 2022 season. But that isn't all. They cut out the completely bloated, corrupt, and incompetent conferences which had become no more than a bunch of middle men who grew fat and rich changing their rules as they went to ensure favored status to one or two schools in their good ole boys club. The NCAA saw an opportunity to improve efficiency and fairness by doing away with the conferences altogether and bringing all 130 FBS schools under a new structure broken down by regional pods. The result is less waste to conference fat cats, a national college officiating crew that brings a new level of standardization and fairness, and more money to schools through newly negotiated TV deals including an 8 team playoff.
College football fans had grown tired of a structure which ensured that the same exact handful of teams competed for the playoff every single year and the other 120+ plus schools simply had no chance at a national championship. The impetus for this movement began in 2020 as we saw the nth iteration of Clemson embarrassing Ohio St and Alabama curbstomping Notre Dame to give the same old boring rerun of Alabama/Clemson in the national title game. Meanwhile, Notre Dame finished the season getting absolutely blown out in their conference championship. At the same time Ohio St only played half a season where the Big 10 altered their rules to allow them to compete in their conference title game and then altered their player safety rules again allowing COVID recovering athletes to compete in the playoff despite the conference's insistence that it could lead to myocarditis. Simultaneously, three non-Power 5 teams had perfect seasons playing significantly more games than Ohio St and beating more opponents with winning records than Ohio St by larger margins than Ohio St.
Fans across the country had seen enough of the exact same teams and story lines in the playoffs. They no longer cared. Alabama/Clemson part V- thousand is just not that interesting to people not in the southeastern US. Even Alabama and Clemson fans weren't that interested as they knew if their team lost this year that they would get the same shot next year and the year after that and the year after that, etc., etc., ad infinitum. Ratings sunk for the playoffs that we swear we saw several times before like a bad rerun plummeted.
In stepped the NCAA. Why? Well, the golden goose was getting slaughtered. It turns out the Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio St had been buying the top recruits via booster payments that went against NCAA rules. TV ratings were dropping like a rock with the same teams year after year being "selected" by a few powerbrokers in the playoff selection committee mostly by a process they called "eye test". 120+ schools decided that they didn't want to be automatically eliminated before the season started every year. And no one was happy that the regular season essentially no longer mattered. Athletic department budgets were going under. TV contracts were about to get renegotiated for less money. Someone had to step in or all of college football was going to step in it.
So what did the NCAA create in renegotiating with the schools and networks directly? Perhaps an the most inclusive, fair, and efficient solution to their tired, ratings drop of a product. There are 65 P5 teams and 65 non-P5 teams. They created 8 regional pods with 8 P5 and 8 non-P5 teams. How does it play out?
Regular season:
Each P5 team plays all 7 P5 in their pod (3 or 4 home games per year, alternating years), 3 home non-P5 in their pod, and 2 P5 from another pod (one home and one away ).
Each non-P5 team plays all 7 P5 in their pod (3 or 4 home games per year, alternating years), 3 away P5 in their pod, and 2 non-P5 from another pod (one home and one away ).
This gives each P5 team exactly 9 P5 games (some years 5 home, next year 4 home) each season and guarantees every team to play the same number of P5 teams. It allows for 2 games outside of the region which helps to gauge the strength of the regional pods and also allows for a traditional rivalry game that may be outside of the pod to occur.
This also allows for each P5 in the pod to play 3 non-P5 in the pod which gives these teams a chance every year to prove themselves with the big boys and simultaneously serve as the early season ramp up games for the P5 teams. It also gives the P5 teams 7 or 8 home games per season.
Then let the top pod P5 play the top pod non-P5 to earn their spot in the playoff during the 1st Saturday of December.
Playoff: 8 regional pod champions earn spots and their rankings determine their matchups after a bye week.
Round 1: 8 @ 1, 7 @ 2, 6 @3, 5 @ 4 during the 3rd Saturday of December. Bonus, another home game with home revenue for the top 4 seeds. It would be fun to see some southern schools actually have to play in the north this time of year as well. Then they get a bye week over Christmas.
Round 2: (1st Saturday of January) 8/1 winner hosts 5/4 winner at bowl location. 7/2 winner hosts 6/3 winner at bowl location. Bye week follows for winners.
National Championship: 3rd Saturday of January.
Bowl games: All not qualifying for round 2 of the playoffs are seeded by their closest AP ranking partner (i.e. 5 verses 6, 7 verses 8, 9 verses 10, etc.).
Of course, this hasn't happened yet. But it should.
College football fans had grown tired of a structure which ensured that the same exact handful of teams competed for the playoff every single year and the other 120+ plus schools simply had no chance at a national championship. The impetus for this movement began in 2020 as we saw the nth iteration of Clemson embarrassing Ohio St and Alabama curbstomping Notre Dame to give the same old boring rerun of Alabama/Clemson in the national title game. Meanwhile, Notre Dame finished the season getting absolutely blown out in their conference championship. At the same time Ohio St only played half a season where the Big 10 altered their rules to allow them to compete in their conference title game and then altered their player safety rules again allowing COVID recovering athletes to compete in the playoff despite the conference's insistence that it could lead to myocarditis. Simultaneously, three non-Power 5 teams had perfect seasons playing significantly more games than Ohio St and beating more opponents with winning records than Ohio St by larger margins than Ohio St.
Fans across the country had seen enough of the exact same teams and story lines in the playoffs. They no longer cared. Alabama/Clemson part V- thousand is just not that interesting to people not in the southeastern US. Even Alabama and Clemson fans weren't that interested as they knew if their team lost this year that they would get the same shot next year and the year after that and the year after that, etc., etc., ad infinitum. Ratings sunk for the playoffs that we swear we saw several times before like a bad rerun plummeted.
In stepped the NCAA. Why? Well, the golden goose was getting slaughtered. It turns out the Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio St had been buying the top recruits via booster payments that went against NCAA rules. TV ratings were dropping like a rock with the same teams year after year being "selected" by a few powerbrokers in the playoff selection committee mostly by a process they called "eye test". 120+ schools decided that they didn't want to be automatically eliminated before the season started every year. And no one was happy that the regular season essentially no longer mattered. Athletic department budgets were going under. TV contracts were about to get renegotiated for less money. Someone had to step in or all of college football was going to step in it.
So what did the NCAA create in renegotiating with the schools and networks directly? Perhaps an the most inclusive, fair, and efficient solution to their tired, ratings drop of a product. There are 65 P5 teams and 65 non-P5 teams. They created 8 regional pods with 8 P5 and 8 non-P5 teams. How does it play out?
Regular season:
Each P5 team plays all 7 P5 in their pod (3 or 4 home games per year, alternating years), 3 home non-P5 in their pod, and 2 P5 from another pod (one home and one away ).
Each non-P5 team plays all 7 P5 in their pod (3 or 4 home games per year, alternating years), 3 away P5 in their pod, and 2 non-P5 from another pod (one home and one away ).
This gives each P5 team exactly 9 P5 games (some years 5 home, next year 4 home) each season and guarantees every team to play the same number of P5 teams. It allows for 2 games outside of the region which helps to gauge the strength of the regional pods and also allows for a traditional rivalry game that may be outside of the pod to occur.
This also allows for each P5 in the pod to play 3 non-P5 in the pod which gives these teams a chance every year to prove themselves with the big boys and simultaneously serve as the early season ramp up games for the P5 teams. It also gives the P5 teams 7 or 8 home games per season.
Then let the top pod P5 play the top pod non-P5 to earn their spot in the playoff during the 1st Saturday of December.
Playoff: 8 regional pod champions earn spots and their rankings determine their matchups after a bye week.
Round 1: 8 @ 1, 7 @ 2, 6 @3, 5 @ 4 during the 3rd Saturday of December. Bonus, another home game with home revenue for the top 4 seeds. It would be fun to see some southern schools actually have to play in the north this time of year as well. Then they get a bye week over Christmas.
Round 2: (1st Saturday of January) 8/1 winner hosts 5/4 winner at bowl location. 7/2 winner hosts 6/3 winner at bowl location. Bye week follows for winners.
National Championship: 3rd Saturday of January.
Bowl games: All not qualifying for round 2 of the playoffs are seeded by their closest AP ranking partner (i.e. 5 verses 6, 7 verses 8, 9 verses 10, etc.).
Of course, this hasn't happened yet. But it should.
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