RIP College Football Regular Season: 1869-2023
College football has managed to have the best regular season in all of the sports for as long as it’s been around. In no American sport does the regular season mean so much. Literally, every Saturday counts as the championship favorite could be upset and fall out of contention at the snap of your fingers.
Friends, I hate to inform you but we only have one more season of that left. It became official Thursday morning that the College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams starting in 2024. That might mean an easier path to the playoff for your favorite team but it also means the thing that made college football the most unique is taking a massive hit.
Instead of “The Game” between Michigan and Ohio State deciding a playoff berth last week, that’s just a game to determine seeding in 2024. That Alabama loss to LSU in overtime this year? Yeah, the Tide are still rolling to the Playoff with it in 2024. And if Utah beats USC this weekend in the Pac-12 championship game then guess what – USC is still in the playoff.
Had Notre Dame upset USC last week, should the Irish, who lost to Marshall and Stanford both, have had the chance to play for a championship?
TV and media folks have taken over the game and have done not what’s in the best interest of the sport but instead the best interest of their companies. It might sound great on paper but expansion to this extent makes college football simply just NFL-light. More playoff games just mean its easier for casual fans to know when to tune into important games. The most passionate college football fans should consider this a sad day for the sport.
Unfortunately, the toothpaste is out of the tube and it’ll never be put back in.
See the full College Football Playoff Press Release by Clicking Ahead
IRVING, Texas – Members of the College Football Playoff (CFP) Board of Managers have agreed to begin the newly-expanded 12-team playoff during the 2024-2025 season.
“We’re delighted to be moving forward,” said Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff. “When the board expanded the playoff beginning in 2026 and asked the CFP Management Committee to examine the feasibility of starting the new format earlier, the Management Committee went right to work. More teams and more access mean more excitement for fans, alumni, students and student-athletes. We appreciate the leaders of the six bowl games and the two future national championship game host cities for their cooperation. Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen.”
The first round of the playoff in 2024 will take place the week ending Saturday, December 21, at either the home field of the higher-seeded team or at another site designated by the higher-seeded institution. (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7, and No. 9 at No. 8.) The specific game dates, likely late in that week, will be announced later.
For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the four quarterfinal games and two Playoff Semifinal games will be played in bowls on a rotating basis. The 2024 quarterfinals will take place in the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the Playoff Semifinals. The 2025 quarterfinals will take place in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl will host the Playoff Semifinals. Specific dates for all quarterfinal and semifinal games will be announced at a later time.
The national championship games will be played January 20, 2025, in Atlanta, and January 19, 2026, in Miami.
“On behalf of the Management Committee and the Board of Managers, this is thrilling,” Hancock added. “It’s been a long process, but we are pleased that more teams and more students will have the opportunity to compete for the national championship beginning in the 2024 season. A new era of college football is about to begin. I look forward to it.”
“This is a great day for college football,” said Mark Keenum, President of Mississippi State University and chairman of the CFP Board of Managers. “I’m glad we are able to follow through and launch the expanded playoff early. It’s very exciting for schools, alumni and everyone involved.”
Members of the CFP Board of Managers include Tim Caboni – Conference USA (President, Western Kentucky); Jim Clements – Atlantic Coast Conference (President, Clemson); Gordon Gee – Big 12 Conference (President, West Virginia); Jack Hawkins – Sun Belt Conference (President, Troy); Rev. John Jenkins – President, Notre Dame (Independent); Kristina Johnson – Big Ten Conference (President, Ohio State); Mark Keenum (chair) – Southeastern Conference (President, Mississippi State); Kirk Schulz – Pacific-12 Conference (President, Washington State); Satish Tripathi – Mid-American Conference (President, Buffalo); Gerald Turner – American Athletic Conference (President, SMU); Keith Whitfield – Mountain West Conference (President, UNLV).
List
Notre Dame Football 2022: 5 Big Picture Takeaways
