There has been adequate discussion about Clemson-Alabama CFP Championship game, about the number of schools that have a legitimate chance to get to the CFP in any given year and the glossing over of the other 120 remaining college football programs that will NEVER make it to the CFP.
My question would be, does a CFP make college football more exciting or does the CFP narrow the focus so small that everything else is rendered irrelevant? Yes, I am an old-timer and way back in the day the college bowl season was a reward to teams that had a great year. The most popular bowls were throughout the South and were represented by most selective of bowl committees. The players preferred southern bowls because of the warm weather and prestige.
For the longest time, the only conference affiliations to a bowl game was the Rose Bowl, an annual game pitting the Big 10 versus PAC 8-10-12 Conference Champions ... a little later, the Orange Bowl was affiliated with the Big 8 Champion and the best at-large team available. Similarly, the Sugar Bowl was reserved for the SEC Champion and an at-large opponent.
Then came the BCS and now the CFP. These ranking systems were developed because of the popular cry from the public wanting a 'true champion'. Well, we now have a true champion every year, but at what price? The college bowl season is a joke, even formerly 'prestigious' bowls suffer for lack of game day attendance because that particular bowl may not in the playoff rotation for that given year.
The Cotton Bowl was home to a semifinal game this year and drew a crowd of 72,183 in a stadium that seats 105,000 ... do you think that the game next year, as a 'regular' bowl game, will sell out. Refer to the Jim Mora quote in the thread title.
Many pundits, including Gabe are getting a bit tired of Alabama and Clemson being in the Football Final Four. Gabe resently wrote "college football is a regular season sport. The postseason is flawed. Until and unless you go to a full 16-team playoff that truly gives that many teams a chance, then the rest of the options are all the same to me." Other than the idea of 'giving many teams a chance' what else does expanding the field offer? The CFP could expand to 8 or 16 teams, heck ... even 32 teams if you want.
To expand the field to 16 as Gabe suggests, the two teams that go to the Championship Game will be required to play 17 games for the regular and playoff season. Really? Then what? The Championship game will probably still feature Clemson versus Alabama.
I say abolish the entire playoff system, support conference affiliated bowl games and then ... just like the good old days, after all the bowl dust has settled, all us fans can argue and complain about who is the deserving National Champion. I always did like the debate that occurred when a college football season would end with a split, National Champion.
If returning to the antiquated system still leaves everyone feeling a bit empty, try this ... keep and develop more conference related bowl games. After these are completed, the CFP Committee could then review all the games and pick what they feel is the top two and play a neutral site for the National Championship. They could even pick four and have a semi-final round ... hey, wait, isn't that where we are at right now? Forgetaboutid ... go straight to 16.
My question would be, does a CFP make college football more exciting or does the CFP narrow the focus so small that everything else is rendered irrelevant? Yes, I am an old-timer and way back in the day the college bowl season was a reward to teams that had a great year. The most popular bowls were throughout the South and were represented by most selective of bowl committees. The players preferred southern bowls because of the warm weather and prestige.
For the longest time, the only conference affiliations to a bowl game was the Rose Bowl, an annual game pitting the Big 10 versus PAC 8-10-12 Conference Champions ... a little later, the Orange Bowl was affiliated with the Big 8 Champion and the best at-large team available. Similarly, the Sugar Bowl was reserved for the SEC Champion and an at-large opponent.
Then came the BCS and now the CFP. These ranking systems were developed because of the popular cry from the public wanting a 'true champion'. Well, we now have a true champion every year, but at what price? The college bowl season is a joke, even formerly 'prestigious' bowls suffer for lack of game day attendance because that particular bowl may not in the playoff rotation for that given year.
The Cotton Bowl was home to a semifinal game this year and drew a crowd of 72,183 in a stadium that seats 105,000 ... do you think that the game next year, as a 'regular' bowl game, will sell out. Refer to the Jim Mora quote in the thread title.
Many pundits, including Gabe are getting a bit tired of Alabama and Clemson being in the Football Final Four. Gabe resently wrote "college football is a regular season sport. The postseason is flawed. Until and unless you go to a full 16-team playoff that truly gives that many teams a chance, then the rest of the options are all the same to me." Other than the idea of 'giving many teams a chance' what else does expanding the field offer? The CFP could expand to 8 or 16 teams, heck ... even 32 teams if you want.
To expand the field to 16 as Gabe suggests, the two teams that go to the Championship Game will be required to play 17 games for the regular and playoff season. Really? Then what? The Championship game will probably still feature Clemson versus Alabama.
I say abolish the entire playoff system, support conference affiliated bowl games and then ... just like the good old days, after all the bowl dust has settled, all us fans can argue and complain about who is the deserving National Champion. I always did like the debate that occurred when a college football season would end with a split, National Champion.
If returning to the antiquated system still leaves everyone feeling a bit empty, try this ... keep and develop more conference related bowl games. After these are completed, the CFP Committee could then review all the games and pick what they feel is the top two and play a neutral site for the National Championship. They could even pick four and have a semi-final round ... hey, wait, isn't that where we are at right now? Forgetaboutid ... go straight to 16.
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