Just a smattering of thoughts after having a couple months to digest the announcement of the combination of conference realignment and the expansion of the playoffs from 4 teams to 12 teams.
When the 4 team playoff was started in 2014, it's purpose was to get the right teams in the championship game. Its predecessor, the BCS system, often missed the mark....or at least left out a team who had a legitimate claim as a top 2 team.
Since moving to the 4 team playoff, there has not been one deserving team who could gripe they didn't get their chance. Frankly, most of the #1 v #4 and #2 v #3 games have been snoozefest blowouts. Of the 16 first round games played in, only 3 results have been within one touchdown.
[there are always "first team left out" situations with the playoff as a whole, but there has not been one where they truly deserved to be in the national championship conversation - they just got screwed out of a playoff spot]
There is no need to expand it further. It's strictly a dilution of the sport for a money grab for the TV networks.
Piggybacking on the theme of money grabbing, the current round of conference expansion [OU/t.u. to SEC and USC/UCLA to Big 10], at the behest of the TV networks, is another money grab.
This is the root of what is going to ruin college football.
College football games shouldnt be thought of as "inventory". The desire (and push) to feature as many big matchups as possible is what is fueling any further conference realignment. Further conference alignment is going to further the rich getting richer, and when it's all said and done the only two conferences that will matter will be the SEC and the Big 10 (officially - its close to that as is). The rest will be an afterthought...and over time the difference in money will continue to widen the gap. That's bad for college football.
I don't want another NFL. I want the pageantry, the history, the rivalries, the scheduling, the upsets, and the other nuances that seperate college football from the NFL. College football shouldn't be played for the TV networks. It should be played for the student athletes, current students, and former students. If I just wanted to watch the best of the best, at the highest level, I would just watch the NFL.
There was an excellent podcast episode of The Soild Verbal (July 21, 2022), where they had Dan Carlin on as a guest and he smashed the nail on the head much more eloquently and with better detail than I can.
As much as I love weekends where there are top 5 matchups on, I also love weekends where there aren't. In those weeks, I find myself watching games I otherwise wouldn't if it was the 3rd or 4th "best" game of the weekend. I learn a bit about those schools, their history, their traditions, their players....and that isn't bad for college football.
You hear media folks say things like, "When Notre Dame is good, it's good for college football." That's bull*****. When Notre Dame is good, it's good for sports writers and TV ratings because Notre Dame makes them more money. College football is great with or without Notre Dame having 10 wins.
Before you jump to the response, "Oh, you hypocrite! A&M left the Big 12 for money!", there is a difference from A&M, Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado all leaving the big 12. None of those teams left FOR more money. They left because they didn't like the way texas was trying to control the conference. The bump in money was a nice perk but it was not the driving reason.
In this round of realignment, everyone is moving simply for the sake of money. There is no way that ESPN isn't in Sankey's ear telling him we'll bump your contract but we need you to be able to provide us with more big matchups. That's why OU and t.u. got invited....it isn't because they improve the conference. The conference was already the best with them still rotting in the big 12.
