Reevaluating the 12-Team College Football Playoff Format

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00:00Joining us from Sporting News on Twitter at TSN Mike, Mike, happy holidays, happy early New Year. How are you?

00:06I'm very well. Happy New Year to you as well, Adam

00:10so just I appreciate that just before the holidays just before Christmas you wrote about how that just

00:17Disgusting I mean embarrassing first round of the college football playoff with blowout after blowout after blowout

00:23Like I was tweeting about it at the time

00:25like my god the first year of the new format how the committee must be feeling right now with all the judgment going in and

00:31Then Indiana with that stinker that it had until I guess, you know

00:35Put up some too little too late points toward the end of the game to make the score a little bit more respectable

00:40But it was bad

00:41the question is though because you know you wrote about how the maybe the format the 12 team format needs to be

00:47Reassessed and fixed and and just how ugly it was can all be forgiven now in this

00:54Quarterfinal round if we get four good games

00:57What what is it ultimately due to the committee and to the sport where we're at expanding from 4 to 12?

01:03Well, I think in some ways if we had four good games

01:06it would it would

01:08Affirm the decisions that the committee and and the college football playoff at large made

01:14Relative to the construction of the playoff and I know they have input from conference commissioners and such

01:19III love the conference college football playoff being 12 teams. I think that it absolutely is essential

01:27I don't think there's any other word

01:29Essential that there be automatic qualification for the five highest ranked conference champions

01:35It's not a real playoff without that

01:37But there's no rule that says and certainly this doesn't apply in the NCAA men's basketball tournament

01:43There's no rule

01:44It says you have to get an advantage seed because you want a conference

01:48Lots of teams get number one seeds in the NCAA tournament without winning their conferences either regular season or

01:55The the tournament that happened with Tennessee in 2019 Pitt in 2009 off the top my head examples

02:02One neither their regular season or conference championships, but we're judged to be one of the four best teams

02:07so I don't think that

02:09Seeding Boise State and Arizona State into the quarterfinals was the right call everything else they did was great

02:16But doing that

02:18disadvantaged the first round

02:20Made it made it so there were more mismatches

02:22I mean Indiana versus Boise State might have been a great game

02:25But we'll never know and you look in the quarterfinals and you've got Ohio State going in as a favorite

02:32Against the team that's with an undefeated record and was the number one overall seed in the tournament. That doesn't seem right

02:38That seems like there's a miss mismatch and seeding there and then you have a double-digit seed favorites

02:45That Kate that had to play in the in the first round and are now playing against quarterfinal opponents that got seeds

02:51So I think the same about the NFL

02:54I mean the fact that either the Vikings or the Lions are gonna have to go on the road and play against an eight or

03:00Nine win team in a couple of weeks is ridiculous

03:03But I think that the college football playoffs should have

03:06Followed the example of the superior postseason and that's the NCAA tournament not the NFL playoffs

03:13Do you think the expanded format?

03:16Really kind of further waters down these bowl games. It's like people should have been maybe people were but not to the degree that

03:23Ordinarily, they would be you should have been

03:26Elated tap like New Year's Eve and we've got Alabama against Michigan

03:30I know these two schools these programs weren't this year what they have been

03:34Historically, certainly it wasn't the Rose Bowl last year in seeing them this year and then you sprinkle, you know

03:39All around college football saying that all right. Well, how do I if I'm a better?

03:43How do I even wager on this game knowing that all the coach left or all the coordinators have left?

03:47Oh the the best players have sat out because they've declared for the NFL drafter

03:51Oh, look how many guys aren't playing because they're in the transfer portal to where it's like it feels like you have JV teams out

03:57There high school teams out there. I know that wasn't the case specifically with Alabama, Michigan

04:02But do these games just feel that much less important? I think I think that's fair to say they're important to the schools

04:10that

04:12That that have the teams in the games

04:14If you're a pit fan, you wanted to see them beat Toledo or you're a Alabama fan

04:19You wanted to see them beat, Michigan. I think it matters to them and it gives

04:23Networks good programming that people watch because they like football and it is something to wager on

04:30Although it is a challenge to figure out how teams are going to perform

04:35When they are not whole and we but that's been a problem really in college football

04:41Starting probably 20 years ago when coaches started taking jobs and leaving before the bowl games. That's probably when it began

04:48I remember specifically when Brian Kelly left Cincinnati

04:52With an undefeated team to go take the Notre Dame job

04:55That was sort of the apotheosis of that particular practice and then you started to see players opt-out and then you started to see the transfer

05:02Portal have an impact as well. So all of that has watered the ball games down a bit

05:08but I've always said Adam that the reality is that the people who

05:13Claim that the Bulls have been good for college football

05:16Aren't telling the truth. The Bulls have always been good for the Bulls and that's really all that's all the further it goes

05:22If you're a player in one of those games, you got a nice trip and maybe a good swag bag

05:27But the games never were consequential beyond whatever game was designated as the national championship game in that particular year

05:36You mentioned before the Lions and the Vikings and of course, they have such an important week 18

05:41Matchup coming up to determine not only who wins the NFC North

05:44but who gets that first round by that number one overall seed in the NFC going into the postseason and

05:50I've been saying for months, you know Bill's Lions Bill's Lions. That's the Super Bowl. I believe we will get

05:56It's the Super Bowl that I certainly want as a fan. I think it'd be wildly entertaining

06:01But what I'm wondering is, you know that by week it does matter

06:04If somehow and I don't believe this will happen

06:06But it could if somehow Minnesota does win this week 18 matchup and we see Detroit

06:11Have to play in the opening round. They don't get that rest already dealing with a bunch of injuries the Lions

06:17Does the possibility of Dan Campbell's squad advancing all the way?

06:22Become just a little bit more unrealistic. Do you look at the Lions differently than if they get the one seed?

06:29Well, it becomes a much greater challenge

06:31When the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 05

06:34They were the first team that was seated at the bottom of the bracket

06:38They were a six at that at that they were the sixth seed even though they were a double digit win team

06:43Because again the nature of the playoff seating

06:47They were they were the lowest team in the bracket and they had to win at Cincinnati

06:51at

06:53Indianapolis and then at Denver in order to advance to the Super Bowl

06:56So it is a daunting challenge and it does make it more difficult and it kind of makes it more annoying

07:02When you're a team like Minnesota, excuse me or Detroit we're talking about

07:06Your team like Detroit that's been fantastic all year and they make you go on the road

07:11It's it's ridiculous. And it's so I think I think there's a little bit of annoyance at that as well

07:16That you have to go prove it against the team that clearly isn't as accomplished as you are

07:22And because of the playoff format still existing as it does you have to do that so it would be

07:28Whoever has to take that that lesser seat in this case

07:32Is at a significant disadvantage without a doubt. There's a lot to play for in that lions vikings game

07:39So in that this week you wrote about

07:42A vote against as you put it nick saban being the commissioner of college football

07:46I think we we need mike to talk about that because I think it's a it's a it's a it's a

07:51We need mike decorcy to be the commissioner of some of these sports whether it's college football or the nfl

07:56We need you to come in and rewrite some of this stuff and make it make more sense

08:00I I would I would love that, uh, especially because uh, roger goodell gets paid north of 30 million dollars

08:06Uh, so if I could come in and do it for a year and rewrite some of that stuff

08:10Uh, and then retire on that 30 mil, I think that would be a nice deal

08:13So I don't know if you have any influence on that i'm all for it

08:16Not that I don't love the jobs I have now but heck

08:19Yeah, I mean that one I guess it feels a little thankless

08:23But there are a lot of thankless jobs that you could have that don't pay you north of 30 million dollars a year

08:27So, you know, i'll i'll take that one. That sounds pretty good. Mike decorcy again over at uh, sporting news and calmness

08:33He's based out of pittsburgh. Uh, we really appreciate you hopping on with us here for all coast to coast. Happy new year to you, man

08:39Happy new year adam and everybody listening as well

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