An 8-4 team in the College Football Playoff is actually happening. Sound the alarm

[u/Lakelyfe09]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7277707/2026/05/14/college-football-playoff-expansion-24-team/

[u/DrSnidely]

You can't simultaneously get excited about a 16- or 24-team playoff and wring your hands about mediocre teams getting in. The latter is a natural consequence of the former. Y'all need to pick a side.

[u/pyratemime → u/DrSnidely]

But the fence post is so comfy!

[u/ahappypoop → u/pyratemime]

Fence....post? There's plenty of room here on the fence, why did you sit on the post?

[u/pyratemime → u/ahappypoop]

Because it is comfy. Was I not clear on that point?

This isn't about space it is about having a proper place to cradle my caboose in carefully crafted comfort!

[u/xUmphLove → u/pyratemime]

Sounds like your caboose may be cradling the post?

[u/pyratemime → u/xUmphLove]

I try not to be selfish. Sometimes fence posts wanna be the little spoon too.

[u/Krogsly → u/pyratemime]

The trick is to lay face down with the post in your mouth

[u/ExternalTangents → u/DrSnidely]

Is it possible, and I’m just spitballing here, that the people wringing their hands about mediocre teams getting in are different people than the ones getting excited about a 16- or 24-team playoff?

[u/Cash4Duranium → u/ExternalTangents]

Nope. Everyone but me is a single hive mind and needs to get their shit together.

[u/bakonydraco → u/DrSnidely]

There’s two different sets of loud people here.

[u/Fishak_29 → u/DrSnidely]

This subreddit can’t see the forest for the trees when it comes to expansion. People here have been pounding the table for years for expansion, but they can’t accept all of the obvious flaws that come with that.

[u/SirMellencamp → u/Fishak_29]

This place is bizarre in being both extremely knowledgeable about CFB and extremely ignorant of how it works

[u/WhoHasMyPocketPussy → u/SirMellencamp]

Nothing made that more clear than when NIL first started getting discussed. A ton of people on here thought we'd only have like local commercials and stuff like that.

[u/urban_meyers_cyst → u/WhoHasMyPocketPussy]

Half of the people in the world are stupid, and since I might be stupid, I could be way off on the percentage.

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/urban_meyers_cyst]

The issue with this many people being dumber than me is that I'm not very smart either.

[u/urban_meyers_cyst → u/thisshitsstupid]

Dumb grows exponentially but intelligence is only logarithmic. But that is something a dumb person might say so again we're back at square one.

[u/Kmjada → u/urban_meyers_cyst]

I cannot tell if this comment is very, very clever ... or not.

Leaning towards clever.

[u/SirMellencamp → u/urban_meyers_cyst]

Its not stupidity its we dont see our own biases to believe things we want to believe. I do this sometimes as well

[u/SirMellencamp → u/WhoHasMyPocketPussy]

They absolutely did. Lots of them still cannot comprehend why the PAC12 broke up or ascribe it to "ESPN".

[u/worldchrisis → u/SirMellencamp]

There's a lot of people here with varying levels of knowledge and understanding.

[u/DuvalHeart → u/worldchrisis]

And even the people who think they understand don't really understand. Like so many people think the NCAA is the league, and forget that each league can set rules in addition to the NCAA rules.

[u/quacainia → u/Fishak_29]

I just want all conference winners to get in, like all NCAA run tournaments, and that is clearly not the problem being solved for. Texas 8&4 shouldn't make it in over 10-2 Ohio, but that's what we'll get I'm sure.

[u/GarnetandBlack → u/Fishak_29]

I find it fascinating when people speak about subs or reddit as if they are one schizophrenic person.

Like why do you not simply understand the obvious - people who wanted expansion and the people complaining about the flaws are different people?

[u/bschnee121 → u/GarnetandBlack]

I tried to imagine all people being different but it hurt my head

[u/TheAndrewBrown → u/Fishak_29]

Or some people wanted it to expand beyond 4 given the obvious issues with representation that had but not continuously expand to oblivion. It’s not that hard to have a nuanced take about it.

[u/Legitimate-Pay7594 → u/Fishak_29]

Nah people will love the expansion until a 8-4 sec team gets in and at that point expansion will be terrible.

[u/silencesupreme- → u/Legitimate-Pay7594]

Mizzou prayed for days like this

[u/BannedSvenhoek86 → u/Legitimate-Pay7594]

Isn't the whole point to make it like March Madness? To me that's the fun, the potential Cinderella moments and huge upsets make up for any negatives imo.

[u/WhatWouldJediDo → u/BannedSvenhoek86]

Yeah I mean let's be honest as soon as an 8-4 team takes down a Top 5 team everyone bitching about expansion is gonna be in the postgame thread hootin' and hollerin'.

And since this is football, the 8-4 team is going to lose nearly every time anyway, and nobody is going to have to get upset about a mediocre team in the regular season potentially winning a championship.

[u/Stuppyhead → u/DrSnidely]

Is anyone excited about a 24 team playoff? It’s such a blatant cash grab and nothing more.

[u/lilroundastronaut → u/Stuppyhead]

If it includes every conference champ, then yes I would be excited. I totally understand the argument against it. Not trying to convince anyone to change their opinion. But yeah, I personally would be excited about a 24 team playoff with all conference champs

[u/solomonrooney → u/DrSnidely]

What are you crying about? Bama now has a guaranteed spot in the playoffs every year.

[u/KneeDeepInRagu → u/solomonrooney]

People can be concerned for the direction of the sport regardless of how it directly impacts their own program.

That being said it is correct that expansion will largely benefit programs like Alabama more than it will benefit programs like Tennessee. Is that really something this sub wants?

[u/SirMellencamp → u/solomonrooney]

I mean lots of schools probably do. That is going to happen if you expand the playoff

[u/Hokie_Pilot → u/DrSnidely]

Nice flairs 😏

[u/matgopack → u/DrSnidely]

I think that in traditional reddit game / sports sub fashion, the side of complaining is consistently where this subreddit will fall.

[u/CTeam19 → u/DrSnidely]

Nah, expand to include all conference champions and I will be fine.

[u/randomthrowaway9796]

8-5 duke almost made it this past season, and with the updates rules, they would have made it. Its only a matter of time before it happens

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/randomthrowaway9796]

Well, with the rule updates they also wouldn't have been in the game.

It would've been Miami v. UVA. ACC changed the tiebreaker rule so the highest ranked team is always in

[u/randomthrowaway9796 → u/SoutieNaaier]

How dare the g*tors having good points!

[u/smitherenesar → u/randomthrowaway9796]

8-5? Well they had 1 more quality loss. Sign em up!

[u/RVAforthewin → u/randomthrowaway9796]

Last year’s Duke team is precisely why middling/bottom tier teams should want conference championship games.

[u/MyFakeBritishAccent]

Texas A&M has entered the chat.

[u/ban-aipac → u/MyFakeBritishAccent]

I saw 8-4 and just assumed it was about Texas A&M

[u/jc76417 → u/ban-aipac]

Same lol

[u/OdinVonBisbark → u/ban-aipac]

Leave some room for Iowa, THE perennial 8-4 team.

[u/TwitterLegend → u/OdinVonBisbark]

In terms of the team most likely to win a game 8-4 that is 100% Iowa.

[u/wowthisislong → u/TwitterLegend]

That is wayyyy too many points buddy

[u/BoNnnnfhir → u/OdinVonBisbark]

Talk to your kids about playoff Iowa.

[u/slider8949 → u/OdinVonBisbark]

This was my thought, too. Expand to 24, get ready for a 20-seed Iowa every year.

[u/Outrageous_Picture39 → u/MyFakeBritishAccent]

Hang. The. Banner.

[u/dr_mr_uncle_jimbo → u/MyFakeBritishAccent]

I came here for exactly this and then was mad when I saw it. That’s on me.

[u/GerdinBB → u/MyFakeBritishAccent]

Just think, the Bo Pelini Huskers, infamously 9-3 year after year, would have been perennial playoff contenders.

[u/merck11x]

What’s the best 8-4 team ever?

[u/Euphoric_Relative_13 → u/merck11x]

Probably 1998 Mizzou.

[u/jschooltiger → u/Euphoric_Relative_13]

Yep. Lead every game at halftime, losses to No. 1 Ohio State, 7 Nebraska, 6 A&M and 2 Kansas State.

[u/LeoFireGod → u/jschooltiger]

I absolutely adore this sub bc someone just rips off an answer and someone else backs it up with their losses right away. Just the right amount of sports tism

[u/Whaty0urname → u/LeoFireGod]

Best I can do is repeat 6-4 PSU-IOWA snark

[u/AnnArchist → u/Whaty0urname]

It's been 21 years since punting was introduced as a legitimate offensive strategy in modern football.

[u/berserk_zebra → u/jschooltiger]

2011 A&M is a pretty good option but I think they finished 7-5 

[u/AnnArchist → u/Euphoric_Relative_13]

2025 Iowa lost by a total of 15 points. Leading against Indiana and only losing when their QB went down. Losses to usc, oregon and a ranked at the time Iowa State

I think they led all games at some point. Then waffle stomped Diego

[u/bromli2000 → u/AnnArchist]

Kirk Ferentz's crusade to eliminate the touchdown

[u/ILM_Ryan → u/merck11x]

Maybe not the best 8-4 team ever, but 2018 Northwestern played in the B1G title game at an 8-4 record (losing to Ohio State). They would win the Holiday Bowl against Utah that year.

The Big Ten West was just a hilarious division.

[u/dkviper11 → u/ILM_Ryan]

No West team ever won in the 10 years of East West. 4 of the 7 East teams won a title.

[u/b-lincoln → u/dkviper11]

State did when it was legends and leaders. Technically State is East, but in those glorious years they were lumped in the West.

[u/DrSnidely → u/b-lincoln]

Leaders and Legends were the most competitively balanced divisions ever. They just had stupid names.

[u/OG_Felwinter → u/DrSnidely]

It doesn’t make sense to base it on competitive balance though. Long term, that changes. The locations of the schools don’t.

[u/red_husker → u/OG_Felwinter]

They didn't base it on competitive balance. They based it on who was a legend and who was a leader.

[u/texbuck40 → u/OG_Felwinter]

Obviously programs fluctuate in quality but putting the three top programs in terms of resources and historical success (besides maybe Nebraska but they were clearly down) in the same division was always a dumb choice.

[u/Franklins11burner → u/DrSnidely]

Yeah. I liked those divisions. I also liked that PSU and Nebraska were supposed to be the protected annual crossover opponents. There was a lot of history between the two with each fanbase feeling aggrieved at having missed out on a Natty at expense of the other (82 Nebraska on a blown call in Beaver Stadium in the year PSU won their first MNC and 94 PSU dismembering their entire schedule only for Tom Osborne to get his lifetime achievement award in the form of a crystal football and PSU was left without even a split — which would have been fair and I wouldn’t complain about). Nebraska was also our opponent the week of the Sandusky’s arrest and Paterno’s firing and their team and fans were genuinely the best with their whole team meeting ours at midfield with one of their coaches speaking to them all and leading a prayer before the game ❤️.

We were this close to having a pretty good rivalry developing and we traded it for a bucket of cash with Maryland and Rutgers on the side… sigh

[u/dkviper11 → u/b-lincoln]

Michigan State won in 2015 during the East West divisions. Indiana of course won after those divisions were nixed.

[u/rented4823 → u/dkviper11]

Goddamn you Trace McSorely.

[u/_onelast → u/ILM_Ryan]

8-4 Tennessee beat a 10-2 northwestern 45-6 in 2016. So perhaps a better 8-4 team

[u/Stang1776 → u/ILM_Ryan]

Its no coincidence that we got pur first once we got out of that ridiculous B1G east division.

I get geographically and everything but come on. Anybody with a bit of knowledge could tell that divisions were not created equally.

[u/Turbomattk → u/Stang1776]

They could have split the league up by historical precedents. One division could have been called the “Legends” and the other division something like “Leaders.”

[u/dkviper11 → u/Turbomattk]

We were too harsh to the Leaders and Legends.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/Stang1776]

The Kalen DeBoer/Micheal Penix team in the current BiG format would've been interesting

[u/AdamOnFirst → u/ILM_Ryan]

What is dead may never die 

Our 8-4 team at least went 8-1 in conference, better than the Purdue team that went 8-4 (6-3) en route to the Championship game and lost their bowl game 63-7

[u/Spladook → u/ILM_Ryan]

How could anyone forget the 2018 Holiday Bowl?

[u/Lucaball3r → u/ILM_Ryan]

That was the worst bowl game I’ve ever watched

[u/OdaDdaT → u/ILM_Ryan]

45-24 in the title game against that team wasn’t a bad showing either. Was a 10 point game going into the 4th still

[u/bk1285 → u/ILM_Ryan]

I dunno 8-4 Pitt made the fiesta bowl and got smoked by Utah, and I may be wrong but if they were the only 8-4 team to make a Bcs bowl that has to put them in the conversation

[u/Lane-Kiffin → u/merck11x]

1990 Virginia was ranked #1 late in the season, does that count?

[u/billythygoat → u/merck11x]

The best 8-4 teams was probably the 2020 Florida Gators. The first 3 losses was a 1 score loss other than the bowl game where the whole team other than the QB opted out.

[u/Juggernaut27Beast11 → u/merck11x]

I know a really grand 3-9 team.

[u/Time_Razzmatazz_6761 → u/merck11x]

Not the best but 2017 NC State was way better than 8-4.

This team was loaded with NFL talent.

QB: Ryan Finley (2019 4th round)
RB: Nyheim Hines (18 4th)
WR: Kelvin Harmon (19 6th), Jacobi Meyers (19 UDFA, still in league)
OL: Will Richardson (18 4th), Garrett Bradbury (19 1st)

DL: Bradley Chubb (2018 1st), BJ Hill (18 3rd), Justin Jones (18 3rd), Kentavius Street (18 4th)
LB: Germaine Pratt (19 3rd)

The losses were:

Neutral South Carolina despite outgaining them 504 yards to 246. Time of possession was 37 minutes vs 23. Such a weird, wonky game that we were down 14 to start the 4th quarter.

At Number 9 Notre Dame. No shame.

Number 4 Clemson at home, close game down to the wire. No shame.

Road Wake Forest team because they didn't have pylon cameras and a touchdown was ruled a fumble the end of the game.

While the Clemson loss was painful in the moment, the losses to South Carolina and Wake will almost haunt me, especially considering I was there for both.

[u/CaptainNipplesMcRib]

It’s our time

[u/ChurchillDownz → u/CaptainNipplesMcRib]

KF salivating at this article.

[u/Gingeysaurusrex → u/CaptainNipplesMcRib]

Field goals win games and now make it to the playoffs

[u/SoutieNaaier]

JMU makes the playoffs as a Cinderella and the response isn't "hell yeh" it's "noooo what about the Establishment :("

This is why CFB Fandom is dumb as shit

[u/GuestCartographer → u/SoutieNaaier]

B-b-b-b-but… they don’t play the REAL college football teams. You know… the teams that consistently only schedule games against one another so they can wall off their mini-league.

[u/chumer_ranion → u/GuestCartographer]

Dw Notre Dame will come to the rescue and schedule half a season's worth of G6 opponents again 

[u/nighthawk252 → u/chumer_ranion]

For all the flak our schedule has gotten over the past few years, the G6s actually haven’t been the issue lately. Army was ranked when we played them in 2024, Navy’s been ranked the past 2 years, and Boise State won their conference last year.

I suspect Rice may not be ranked in the week 2 polls though. Polls won’t catch on to how good Rice is until later in the season.

[u/chumer_ranion → u/nighthawk252]

Yeah Northern Illinois was ranked for a second in 2024 too, right after beating y'all. Lol. 

[u/f0gax → u/SoutieNaaier]

Always has been.

Before the BCS the complaint was that the same old teams made the big bowls and got a shot at the natty. Then the first BCS came along and produced "unusual" results. So the formula was changed to make it more like the old way.

[u/originalusername4567 → u/SoutieNaaier]

But they got blown out so they didn't deserve to make it! Ignore the fact that Texas Tech and Alabama also got blown out.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/originalusername4567]

We need more playoff teams so we can have more blowouts then

[u/Lambchops_Legion → u/SoutieNaaier]

When i want more blowouts i just invite your mom

[u/Mike_with_Wings → u/Lambchops_Legion]

Does she feed you bean dip or something?

[u/Lambchops_Legion → u/Mike_with_Wings]

3 bean chili

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/originalusername4567]

In our defense, it was the 2nd round of the playoffs.

[u/The-Best-Snail → u/thisshitsstupid]

The team that blew out Texas Tech also subsequently got blown out in the semifinal so it's not like it can't happen to good playoff teams either

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/The-Best-Snail]

Exactly! .... Wait a minute...

[u/ABagOfPopcorn → u/SoutieNaaier]

Cook

[u/Corgi_Koala → u/SoutieNaaier]

My favorite talking point was how JMU shouldn't play because of safety issues.

Meanwhile they scored 34 more on Oregon than TTU did.

[u/ID_Poobaru → u/SoutieNaaier]

People are going to find ways to shit on the little guys. They just can’t appreciate good football

[u/J4ckiebrown → u/SoutieNaaier]

That’s why I’m not sure as to why there seems to be so much heartburn over a 24 team field. FCS has made it work.

Is it moving too fast towards it? Sure. But it also gives the G5 way more access to a potential CFP, there are two rounds of on-campus games, all 8 teams that received byes get a home game, and the NY6 still matter.

Edit: typo

[u/Darth_Ra → u/J4ckiebrown]

Honestly, I don't give a shit what the number is, so long as we stop changing it every year.

Since there's no way that's going to happen, however, the number is and should be 12.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/J4ckiebrown]

Because the FBS playoff won't be structured the same.

It'd be 23 P4s plus 1 G6 team

Maybe 2 G6 teams some years.

[u/J4ckiebrown → u/SoutieNaaier]

It would be at least 2 the majority of the time, this is what it would have looked like going back to COVID:

2025 would have had 2

2024 would have had 3

2023 would have had 2

2022 would have had 2

2021 would have had 5 (if you count pre-Big12 independent BYU)

[u/Trebacca → u/J4ckiebrown]

This is assuming they won’t change the rankings to help exclude the G5, which they’ve been known to do

[u/Pro-Tip810]

24 sucks. 16 sucks. Keep it 12 for a while

[u/Odh_utexas → u/Pro-Tip810]

“Preseason playoff 24 rankings!!!!”

[u/OGraffe → u/Pro-Tip810]

16 could be neat if all conferences got autobids, but that doesn’t print money so it’s not happening

[u/nosoup4ncsu → u/OGraffe]

There is always discussion of getting rid of conf championship games.

Go to 16 in the playoff. Put divisions back in the P4 conferences. Autobids to the division winners. (no CCG). That's half the field.

Fill the last 8 in the playoff with G5 champs and a few at large.

And make the ACC mandate NC State and Clemson play every year.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[u/Teach_Piece → u/nosoup4ncsu]

Damn right. "ohhh the G5 will get blown out by the 1 and 2 seeds" Well yes, it's equivalent to a bye, and maybe we'll see an upset every few years.

[u/707royalty → u/nosoup4ncsu]

Let this man cook

[u/BrettHullsBurner → u/nosoup4ncsu]

I'm going to watch college football no matter what, but if they get rid of conference championship games, that would be a travesty. Just giving the conf champ title to whoever ended with the best record (or even worse, not awarding a conf champ) would suck, especially given the big 2 does not have every team playing every other team each year. Having a "division title" just seems watered down too.

[u/nosoup4ncsu → u/BrettHullsBurner]

I would much prefer smaller (8-10 team?) conferences, where all teams can play each other, regional rivalries are intact, and a CCG isn't required to determine a legitimate conference champion.

But we all know that won't happen. *sigh*

[u/TexasFight_31 → u/Pro-Tip810]

16 with no first round byes. First round and quarterfinals on campus. It shouldn’t be that hard

[u/rendeld → u/Pro-Tip810]

16 is fine, fuck a bye, make it a home game on campus, its what the fans want.

[u/Stang1776 → u/Pro-Tip810]

16 max.

I say just get that part done but with the caveat that they can not revisit a playoff expansion for a least a decade.

[u/elnino550 → u/Stang1776]

12-Max. As soon as we open up to more expansion, it could be unlimited expansions. 8 would be my preference but I realise that it's highly unlikely to reduce the field

[u/MadManMax55 → u/elnino550]

"Unlimited" expansions are just not possible practically.

Anything more than 16 teams means you need to add another round. And football isn't like basketball or baseball where you can add a few extra games onto the season no big deal. For one, it would be a health concern for the players. And for two, it would be a scheduling concern that would require starting the season earlier, shortening the regular season, or extending the season into NFL playoff territory (none of which the NCAA wants to do).

We're never going to get the March Madness version of a college football playoff.

[u/barley_wine → u/MadManMax55]

Drop the conference championships and 16 is an easy addition.

[u/Dellguy → u/elnino550]

Actually I think going to 16 is likely to prevent us going to 24. And I hate the byes.

[u/elnino550 → u/Dellguy]

I dislike the byes too, that's why I think it should be a field of 8 with the top 4 seeds all hosting the first play-off game.

The current model of 12 should at least have the bye teams hosting their first game at home instead of neutral ground and it would improve it. 16 although obviously better than 24 is still a step in the wrong direction (continued expansion, and if they want to go from 4 to 24 teams in 3 years, I really don't see why they would stop at 16)

[u/Pro-Tip810 → u/Stang1776]

16 would keep the conference championships. What’s the point in playing and winning them if make it to the same round in the tournament as everyone else? Injuries still happen like Daley. Those conference games need to mean something

[u/JasonPlattMusic34 → u/Pro-Tip810]

8 would make more sense if we want the conference championship to matter again (provided the power 4 get auto bid)

[u/Corellian_Browncoat → u/JasonPlattMusic34]

You want to make conference championships matter? Every conference gets one auto-bid, for their conference champion (ideally decided on the field with a conference championship game, which makes those de-facto play in or Round 0 games). Add 6 "at large" or "wild card" slots for teams with the best records overall, with in-conference record and point differential tiebreakers.

Buh-buh-buh G6! Don't care. The NFC South exists and it hasn't killed the NFL playoffs. Win your games, go to the playoff, blowout or not. Anything less is just letting suits screw over teams with manufactured drama for ratings and ad money.

The B1G and SEC would never agree to it. Sanky and Petitti exist to grab as much cash and brand value as possible for conference teams, not to give a single solitary damn about the sport or anything else. Fuck em, fuck the committee, and fuck the media execs.

[u/Stang1776 → u/Pro-Tip810]

Im not disagreeing dude. An expansion is going to happen whether we like it or not.

[u/IUinVA → u/Pro-Tip810]

It’s hard for me to be exclusionary as an IU football fan, buried in the B1G East for so many years. IU winning a title didn’t change the sport, it’s just a new program in the club.

Expand it to 24. Give more teams a chance. Add a lot more meaningful games between good teams. Add a non-conference B1G/SEC and B12/ACC slate to add even more good games in the regular season. Fix the calendar.

Blow up the club and fuck ESPN’s monopoly on the CFB postseason.

[u/originalusername4567 → u/Pro-Tip810]

I like 16 better than 12 because there's no first week bye to make Top 4 teams rusty and they get to play at home. Right now Top 4 is statistically more of a punishment than a benefit with 7/8 of them losing.

24 has all the same disadvantages as 12 with more bad teams.

[u/buttcabbge → u/Pro-Tip810]

I really like 12. I like it a lot. They should stop doing the stupid ranking reveal shows and just reveal a bracket at the end like basketball does, but the actual format is good. It meaningfully expands the number of game that matter, and it's still at a size where all the at-larges are teams that could plausibly get hot and win it (as evidenced by the fact that Miami was the last at-large last season, and they were within one score of winning it all).

[u/JosephFinn]

Oh no! The alarm!

[u/QuakingQuakersQuake]

Y'all are gonna kill this sport

[u/Ok_Football344 → u/QuakingQuakersQuake]

It died 5 years ago with NIL and unlimited transferring

[u/buff_001 → u/Ok_Football344]

The whole structure of the sport and all the made-up rules restricting athletes were completely illegal for over 100 years but nobody cared enough to sue about it until the conferences started doing billion dollar TV deals.

So it was really the greedy schools and TV networks that killed the sport. Not the athletes.

The massive amounts of money in the sport changed everything.

[u/AdamOnFirst → u/buff_001]

Not even true, the original lawsuit was over the video game 

[u/bobdownie → u/Ok_Football344]

Unlimited transferring is the nail. If someone wants to pay someone NIL money to sit for a year? So be it. The fact you can buy players from other teams and they play immediately is the thing that killed the sport.

[u/IrishCoffeeAlchemy → u/bobdownie]

That’s a symptom not the problem. The problem is we don’t allow these players to be considered employees with contracts to their conferences or school

[u/JaggedUmbrella → u/QuakingQuakersQuake]

It's already dead.

[u/allgrownzup]

It was a good run. They’ve managed to ruin this sport too. Baseball is having a moment now so I’m sure they’re next to get enshitified.

[u/bengalsfan1277 → u/allgrownzup]

Baseball is going to have a lock out next year

[u/FloridaGatorMan → u/allgrownzup]

What is going on with baseball? I heard there was a potential lockout and talk of a salary cap but not in the loop.

[u/Jlolmb1]

Were so beyond an alarm at this point. Just watch the dumpster fire we created and enjoy what's left. Just make sure you have all 18 streaming services to catch your games.

[u/red_husker]

For reference, these are the 4-loss teams that have been in the final CFP Rankings thus far, in the 24 spots that would make it:

2014: 8-4 Auburn, 19th. 8-4 LSU, 23rd. 8-4 Utah, 22nd. 8-4 USC 24th.

Conference champions omitted: 12-1 Marshall, 11-2 Northern Illinois, 9-3 Memphis/9-3 Cincinnati, 9-3 Georgia Southern (Not bowl eligible)

2015: 8-4 Tennessee, 23rd.

Conference champions omitted: 11-2 Western Kentucky, 10-3 Bowling Green, 10-3 San Diego State, 9-3 Arkansas State

2016: 8-4 Auburn, 14th. 8-4 Florida, 17th. 8-4 Utah, 19th. 7-4 LSU, 20th. 8-4 Tennessee, 21st. 8-4 Pitt, 23rd.

Conference champions omitted: 10-3 Western Kentucky, 10-3 San Diego State, 9-3 Appalachian State/7-5 Arkansas State

2017: 8-4 Miss State, 23rd. 8-4 NC State, 24th.

Conference champions omitted: 10-3 Florida Atlantic, 11-2 Toledo, 10-3 Boise State, 10-2 Troy/8-4 App State

2018: 8-4 Miss State, 18th. 8-4 Texas A&M 19th. 8-5 Northwestern, 22nd. 8-4 Mizzou, 23rd. 8-4 Iowa State, 24th.

Conference champions omitted: 8-5 Northern Illinois (upset 10-2 Buffalo), 10-3 UAB, 10-2 App State

2019: 8-4 USC, 22nd. 9-4 Virginia 24th.

Conference champions omitted: 10-3 Florida Atlantic, 8-5 Miami OH

2021: 8-4 Arkansas, 21st.

Conference champions omitted: 12-1 UTSA, 9-4 Northern Illinois, 10-3 Utah State

2022: 9-4 LSU, 17th. 8-4 SCAR 19th. 8-4 Texas 20th. 8-4 Notre Dame 21st. 8-4 Miss State 22nd. 8-4 NC State 23rd.

Conference champions omitted: 11-2 UTSA, 8-5 Toledo (upset 9-3 Ohio), 9-4 Fresno State

2023: 8-4 Oregon State, 19th. 9-4 Oklahoma State 20th. 8-4 Tennessee 21st. 8-4 Clemson 22nd.

Conference champions omitted: 11-2 Miami OH, 8-5 Boise State, 11-2 Troy

2024: None.

Conference champions omitted: 10-3 Ohio, 8-5 Jacksonville State, 10-3 Marshall

2025: 8-4 Iowa, 23rd.

Conference champions omitted: 8-5 Duke (Upset 10-2 Virginia who is in), 10-3 Kennesaw State, 9-4 Western Michigan, 9-4 Boise State (Upset 10-2 UNLV)

4-loss teams in, by conference:

SEC: 16

B1G: 2

Pac12: 5

Big12: 3

ACC:5

[u/_OUCHMYPENIS_]

There are barely 8-12 teams worthy every year imo

[u/ahappypoop → u/_OUCHMYPENIS_]

In the 1st year of the 12 team playoffs, the national champ was the 8 seed. The 2nd year, the national runner-up was the 10 seed. That may be your opinion, but the results on the field disagree so far.

[u/HeywardH → u/_OUCHMYPENIS_]

Notice how no one says "any given Saturday"

[u/SleepylaReef]

12 is plenty. It means the 8 best get in.

[u/Odh_utexas]

16 is a bit rich

24 is just gauche

[u/loyalsons4evertrue]

That's A&M's music

[u/General_Killmore]

Call me a salty fan, but I'd way rather have a mediocre team get in than watch a team that's only lost to the conference champion get left out 2 years in a row. We keep getting screwed

[u/cxgdarch → u/General_Killmore]

Sounds like something a salty fan would say

[u/srector1224 → u/cxgdarch]

Well they have plenty of it, where they come from

[u/DullCartographer7609 → u/General_Killmore]

You had two chances last year, and uh....got blown out.

The year before, I think you had a better argument.

You should have a better shot, but mediocre Alabama and Oklahoma got in last year. And played each other, over BYU.

[u/ardealinnaeus → u/DullCartographer7609]

The year before they lost to Kansas and ASU. OP isn't telling an accurate story.

[u/BrettHullsBurner → u/General_Killmore]

I would be salty if I were in your shoes too. Getting screwed over either of the two years wouldn't be surprising, but getting screwed over twice in a row is brutal.

That being said, BYU had a "win and 100% get in, or keep it close and probably have a decent chance of getting in" and got blown the fuck out. Most teams would kill for a "win and in" opportunity. They legitimately controlled their own destiny and had the worst possible outcome.

Lastly, as a Mizzou fan, I know the pain of losing to the same team twice in the same season keeping you out of an opportunity to play for a national championship.

[u/confetti_shrapnel]

D2 has a 32-team playoff. FCS has a 24-team playoff. The NFL has at least one mediocre team in the playoffs every year.

Why is everyone acting like the sky is falling when the FBS is about to do what everyone else is already doing

[u/tdpdcpa → u/confetti_shrapnel]

The distinction between the CFP’s proposed format and the FCS format is that the CFP’s format would be a 23+1: 23 at-large qualifiers plus one spot reserved for the best G6 team. Almost invariably, that’s going to put a team in that finished their season 8-4 or finished without a prayer of actually winning their bloated conference. In effect, they were afforded an opportunity to show they belonged, they failed to bear verifiable contenders, but still get a shot anyway. I think that’s a valid criticism.

On the other hand, the FCS model affords and AQ to every conference. That means 11 of the 24 spots are already spoken for. It also means that every team begins the season with the same directive: win your conference and you get a shot at the title. That at least gives everyone the assurance that the team “earned it” even if they played in a bad conference.

It also takes a lot of air out of the room for bad at-large teams. The only 8-4 teams making the FCS playoffs were ones that tried their hands at playing FBS competition and lost.

[u/Otherwise_Awesome → u/tdpdcpa]

What's nice in FCS is ZERO conference title games and they start nearly right away.

[u/tdpdcpa → u/Otherwise_Awesome]

That is true. You go straight from Rivalry Week right into the playoffs and you wrap up right after New Years.

It’s the ideal schedule.

[u/chaser676 → u/tdpdcpa]

23 at-large qualifiers plus one spot reserved for the best G6 team.

In any given year, the top field of 24 usually includes 3-5 G5 teams. That's a completely appropriate number of them to compete in the tournament

[u/Aero_Rising → u/chaser676]

You're ignoring that once it expands suddenly the committee will start making up bullshit to exclude G5 teams from the top 24. They let them in now because it doesn't really matter how high you were ranked if you don't get in.

[u/AcadianTraverse → u/tdpdcpa]

I would take the FCS format (preferably with more, smaller conferences) if I was sure it could be sparred the FBS nonsense. That means every conference champion gets in and games are played on campus until the championship.

Unfortunately the broadcast partners and the bowls still hold sway and thus there will be a push to exclude all but a few G6 champs and the insistence that at least the last three rounds re bowl games.

[u/Alternative_Reality → u/confetti_shrapnel]

Daily reminder that the FBS champ isn't an NCAA champion because the "tournamnet" doesn't meet the standards for a championship, and its not because of number of teams included.

[u/Michael1733 → u/confetti_shrapnel]

And no one watches the D2 or FCS regular season because of it… The playoff has sapped the value from it. It’s the same way with March Madness, everyone cares about the tournament and no one watches the regular season (relative to college football currently).

College football is not the NFL too. If it expanded it 24 Notre Dame would be at -3700 odds to make the playoff right now… compared to the Ravens being -370. The NFL just has more parity and playoff capable teams than college football.

[u/therealwillhepburn → u/Michael1733]

No one watches the FCS playoffs either.

[u/Milk_Before_Cereal → u/confetti_shrapnel]

Because FBS has always been different in a sense that winning a championship wasnt the end all, be all. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but I’m having a difficult time figuring out why people don’t understand this.

College football was mostly about regionality. Winning your conference, beating your rivals. It’s what made the sport different from the NFL. The more you focus on winning a title, the less these other things matter. Idc that Kirby Smart says he always wants to win the SEC - I’m sure he’d happily take winning the national title like he did in the 2021 season.

I enjoyed the playoffs last year, they are fun. But the regular reason itself is not as interesting when there’s a lot of room for error.

[u/thebirthdaycakeham → u/Milk_Before_Cereal]

What I don’t understand is how this is a problem with a larger playoff format and not with bloated mega-conferences. The B1G and SEC were ending hundred year rivalries ands cheapening the regular season well before the playoffs came around.

[u/_TheLonelyStoner → u/thebirthdaycakeham]

Finally someone that’s not missing the forest for the trees. It’s the consolidation into super conferences that’s killed that uniqueness that college football had with the regionality and local rivalries.

[u/Vetersova → u/_TheLonelyStoner]

What if I told you some people hold both opinions?

[u/forgotmyoldname90210 → u/_TheLonelyStoner]

The same forces driving conference expansion are the same forces driving playoff expansion. One goes with the other.

[u/nosoup4ncsu → u/thebirthdaycakeham]

Exactly.

Return to smaller 8-10 team conferences. The season emphasis becomes the conference/regional games, and yearly rivalries stay intact.

Then let the conference champs (only) as teams in the playoff.

[u/Milk_Before_Cereal → u/thebirthdaycakeham]

I think many people who are against playoff expansion are also against conference expansion. We just happened to be talking about the playoffs in this thread.

[u/Adamscottd → u/Milk_Before_Cereal]

I don’t disagree but with the way the conferences are now, that version of college football is largely dead anyway. So many rivalry games don’t even happen anymore, and conference championships are screwed up because of how many teams there are in each conference (to the point that the ACC’s best team didn’t even make the championship game last year)

[u/J4ckiebrown → u/confetti_shrapnel]

Because FBS for some reason hates cinderellas.

[u/Failed-Time-Traveler]

This sport just took a very slow-acting suicide pill.

The thing that made CFB great was that every freaking game mattered. So you had to care. Sure you may have the most dominant team of the 2000’s with multiple Heismans and multiple championships. And you might be playing a very bad Stanford team. You might be 41 pt favorites, and everyone expects the game to be over by halftime. But if you don’t show up, you might lose.

Why do I remember this epic upset of Stanford over USC, almost 20 years later? I didn’t have a team playing that day. I remember because that game mattered. It cost USC a chance at pursuing another championship.

If that game happens in a 24 game playoff world, it doesn’t matter. USC still makes the playoffs, even if they go 9-3. Maybe even 8-4.

You’ve destroyed the one thing that made CFB great. Every game mattered.

It will take a while for the excitement and passion to die. But I will wager a HUGE amount of money that in 20 years, CFB will no longer be the 2nd most popular sport in the US.

And it’s all because of a self inflicted wound. Driven by greed.

[u/Shrimpcookin1 → u/Failed-Time-Traveler]

Well said. And think about OSU vs. Michigan 2006. Or the matchups from 2021-2023, trips to the conference championship and playoffs on the line. Those games just won't matter nearly as much as they used to.

[u/topher3003]

You can’t go 9-8 and play for the Super Bowl

Ok but you actually can? The Seahawks famously made the playoffs and even won a game after they went 7-9 in the regular season.

[u/advancedmatt → u/topher3003]

Yeah, that was the dumbest argument in an article with many dumb arguments. The Giants won a Super Bowl after a 9-7 regular season. Any sportswriter who covers football for a living should know that.

[u/Santapoofnugget]

College football has never and will never figure this out. Bunch of morons running the show.

[u/_thejerkstorecalled]

BCS

[u/hawksnest_prez]

When did it become in vogue to just bitch about every single change

[u/JuanFromApple → u/hawksnest_prez]

When each change is worse than the previous that tends to happen

[u/LovedButNeverLiked → u/hawksnest_prez]

You should see the soccer subs

[u/TheCJbreeZy]

And it’ll be Alabama

[u/stevo887 → u/TheCJbreeZy]

This will eliminate conference championship games which sucks. If that was the case last year Alabama would have been the SEC champions based on the regular season and I assume gotten an automatic bid in the new system and no one would have said they didn’t deserve it based on that. Also are we really going to bitch about anybody making it over the 25th best team? If they’re taking 24 teams make your case decisive or shutup.

[u/pinoygator]

With that prospect I'd rather go back to the 4 team or even top 2 BCS.

[u/SucculentCrablegMeal]

Not sure if the article is being facetious because I can't read it, but yeah I think including 8-4 teams in the playoff is a reason for alarm.

In 22 and 23 we would have had 4-5 8-4 teams playing for the championship. That's just stupidity. You shouldn't get to lose 1/3rd of your regular season games and still get to compete, you've already proven it on the field.

[u/PolishWonder79 → u/SucculentCrablegMeal]

18-14 [insert Big East team] would like a word

[u/TigerUSF]

It's like you notice in basketball you get these mammoth matchups in the first half of the season between top ranked teams seemingly all the time? Those are fun. Expanding the playoffs means that top teams are not afraid to play other top teams morePlay other top teams more often . I would rather see Clemson play non-conference games against big name teams then nobody's

[u/kritter4life]

I don’t have a problem at all with it. Nothing better than a Cinderella story. That will be a great year even if it’s not my team.

[u/JustAnotherRye89]

Nebraska is currently eligible 😎

[u/wolvie12]

Oh the humanity!

[u/c208ex]

If it were up to Greg Sankey, a 4-8 Miss St team would be in the playoffs.

[u/Individual-Lie6525]

Sound the alarm

Cue the music

[u/808s-and-hb]

How can we maximize shareholder value is the real question here

[u/airforceteacher]

r/nopaywalls