What would you change about college football?
If you were in charge of college football what would you change?
I would start with scheduling. Each team must play the same amount of conference games; preferably 9.
All non-conference games must be played before conference play starts. No more Bama vs The Citadel in late November.
I would like to see the Playoff expanded to 8 teams. First round games should be played on campus of the teams ranked 1-4. Would make the regular season just as important and meaningful as it is now.
My teams would include the Power 5 conference champions, the highest rated group of 5 team and 2 at-large bids.
In non-playoff bowl games, I would make sure there are no rematches from at least 2-3 years. Nobody wants to see UM/UF for the 100th time. This would prevent the Bowls from getting stale and would guarantee new matchups every year.
Targeting needs revamped. I would say if you are called for targeting and the replay confirms it, there is just a 15 yard penalty. If you commit another targeting, then you will be ejected but not suspended for half of the next game. I would only suspend a player if they accumulate more than 3 targeting penalties.
Clock should not stop after a 1st down until the final 2 minutes of each half. A player should not be called down if he slips/falls unless he has been touched; like the NFL.
Referees need more accountability. I would like to see some sort of grading system made public and only the highest graded ones should ref the big games-playoff, NY6 Bowls, and rivalry games like Mich/OSU and Aub/Bama.
I know it’s all about money, but the amount of commercials is insane, especially on Fox.
Also, i would find a way to bring back the NCAA video game. This doesn’t have much to do with this post, but damnit, I miss the game and I am bored at work.
Im sure I missed some stuff, but just curious to see what your perfect college football world would like.
November 29th, 2018 at 9:55 AM ^
I like the OP's changes for the most part. Especially the bit about expanding to 8 teams in the playoffs and making 6 of those slots autobids, because that takes the committee out of the process. Although I'm not sure a G5 team should get a guaranteed spot. They really should be considered a separate division entirely.
Also, I'd like to see full-time officials and a centralized penalty review center. With better camera coverage.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:03 AM ^
So would you like a group of 5 playoff then? I don’t think that’d be a bad idea, but I would like to see a UCF or Boise St at least have a chance at the big boys.
I guess there has to be some sort of criteria to meet, but I would have no problem with an 11-2 Boise or an undefeated UCF being an 8 seed in my hypothetical scenario.
November 29th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
Maybe, I just think the gap between the P5 and G5 teams is so large that a G5 has no realistic shot of winning the playoffs, ever. I mean, UCF is good, but what would a team like Alabama do to them?
Then again, that happens to P5 teams every year too.
I do like the idea of the first round being on the campus of the 4 highest rated teams. I'd love to see how Clemson does in Ann Arbor. In January.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
eight team playoff is fine provided the first round is at the home of the higher seeded team
November 29th, 2018 at 9:55 AM ^
Get rid of or limit cheating. Just allow payment of players so there aren't advantages for one school over others or at least bigger advantages.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
Love it. Remove academic standards while we are at it. Open the floodgates.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
What do academics have to do with paying players? If the majority is not following that rule and the NCAA is only "enforcing" it, when they see fit...then why have it in place?
November 29th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
Just allow kids to go pro when they want and make money off their own likeness.
November 29th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
but what would you do with the imbalance or schools like Michigan who can PAY players really well vs the schools like UAB would could barley afford to keep their team afloat. how does that make things equal?
what about the paying players before they come to school? recruits get paid, parents/family gets paid, the players get the cars and gifts and things like that just to consider the school then they go somewhere else, then you have a kid who wants to transfer but he gets 100 dollars a day at school A but at school B he would only get 50 dollars a day. Does playing time overcome this, how about being closer to his family when his money goes back home to his family to begin with, how about the guys that have kids...do they get more?
November 29th, 2018 at 9:56 AM ^
Michigan would win more often.
November 29th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^
6 team playoff where the #1 and #2 teams get byes
November 29th, 2018 at 9:59 AM ^
Prohibit off the field media coverage.
-osu, msu, psu
November 29th, 2018 at 10:00 AM ^
Either go with FCS style playoffs or go back to the old bowl system. This half-implemented 4 team playoff doesn't solve anything, especially if a 1 B1G or B12 champ is left out and ND doesn't even play a Championship game.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
Say what you will about those old-smoke filled rooms of old and the deals they cut, they put together some compelling matchups where all of the major bowls were relevant...
November 29th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
In another comment in this thread, I said that I liked everything about the OP's playoff system proposal, and that we should eliminate the bowls altogether. I am as old school and nostalgic as one can be, but with the playoff system in place, or any other, the bowls mean absolutely nothing.
But, Chitown Kev makes a great point. Dumping the playoffs altogether and going back to the old Bowl system, which would serve as a de facto playoffs, would be pretty awesome too. The only problem with this is that there is a possibility to lead to another 1997 split championship situation. Say Alabama runs the table and we run the table. They beat Clemson in their bowl and we beat Washington. Who's the NC? Also, while the playoffs need some adjustments, they have been very popular and generally well received. While the point about having a P5 conference champion left out is a fair one, don't think for a second that the NCAA doesn't like that situation - where there is controversy, there are ratings and dollars.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
I still want Michigan to be able to hook up with Alabama under that sceenario.
Then again, in the LSU-Oklahoma situation in 03, that Rose Bowl...where USC kicked our ass...was still a relevant game
November 29th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
The bowl game setup is the whole reason Division 1 college football never created a playoff format to crown its national champion. And until you systematize the playoff format to include more participation, you are left with pundits voting on whose best and qualified to play in championship playoffs instead of letting record and competition on the field do it for you like the NFL does.
Whether you integrate bowl games as sort of been the case with venue creation mixing our current method, you will continue to have these ranking discrepancies based on subjective criteria, which matters not when won-loss records decide the process and there is no real beauty contest aspect to it. The NFL never seems to have an issue with the way its playoff system is set up with four division winners and wild cards in each conference.
And at the lower level of college football, again rankings are less important because there is a playoff system that plays off the teams with the best record, not a perfect season barometer for matchups.
We've heard the mantra that every game counts in Division 1. But every game counts in every sport in terms of where you are perceived to be in any given season. Look at college basketball, rankings are a barometer of team ability, but they are always subjective and that is why the tournament at season's end sorts out the rankings in a winner-take-all process.
The bowls are a lifetime curse for college football in terms of deciding its Division 1 national champion, because you can't live with or without them, tradition is too strong. While college basketball uses a selection committee to weigh entry requirements into it's season-end tournament, like in football, it has at least acknowledged over time the need to encompass greater team particiipation in tournament selection with rankings playing a role but not the final word on any team's entry in the final competition.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:00 AM ^
Keep anything not directly needed for the game, THE FUCK OUT OF THE GAME.
I'm looking at you Media Timeout.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
Agree with the comment on accountability for refs. Come up with some system that allows teams to select or avoid certain crews. Michigan could auto veto O'neil and never be subjected to his crappy efforts again.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
- Fire Urban Meyer
- put sanctions on MSU that are rightly deserved after the Nassir debacle
- give James Franklin unlimited timeouts because he is an absolute moron
- allow Michigan to choose their refs for every game so we do not end up with a situation like we did in 2016 for the game
November 29th, 2018 at 10:07 AM ^
"fewer clients, less money." - Jerry Maguirre
personally i would like to see a purge of the recruiting services. I can't believe that kind of attention is good for an 18 year old kid. And it certainly isn't good for middle aged men who harass the poor kid on his college choice.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
- Let the players make money off their likeness so we can get a new NCAA Footballl video game.
- Let players get agents whenever they want to without affecting eligibility, which will help clear out all the weird "Uncles" and pastors who end up doing all the same work of an agent but who aren't people with reputations and track records of not completely screwing their clients. This is admittedly a bigger deal for sports like basketball/baseball/hockey, but there's a long list of guys screwed by "advisors" they had during their football career too.
- 8 Team playoff with one spot guaranteed to the number one ranked G5
- Dump divisions for the Bill Connelly Pod System (TM)
- It'd be super nice if the FCC somehow capped the amount of time in an hour TV could run commercials without designating whatever is on as Paid Programming. And when TV stations run informercials, there should have to be a giant yellow PAID PROGRAMMING in the top of the screen the whole time.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
Totally agree. Can’t stand all the commercials. Fox is awful when it comes to that.
The video game issue is soooo stupid. Can’t believe there hasn’t been a resolution yet. It’s been 5 years. Makes me think we may never see another NCAA video game. What a shame.
November 29th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^
If you have XBOX360 or PS3, there are a group of fans that regularly update the rosters of NCAA14 and allow you to play with the current rosters in the game. Agreed it's not the same as a fully redone game, but it holds you over in the meantime.
November 29th, 2018 at 5:25 PM ^
This was the first year where it seemed like 1) my interest in the game is FINALLY waning and 2) the community doing rosters seems to be falling off. Usually they always had the rosters updated by the beginning of August, they didn't finish the rosters this year until like halfway through the season. And the game is just finally starting to show its age, with new things in the sport like RPO not really being there and making it feel old.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
Larger playoff 12-16 teams.
Kick Alabama out.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
Basically, make it just like DIII, which means make it pure and whole again:
1. 16 or 32 team playoff that starts right at end of season
2. no more TV time outs (damned commercials SUCK)
3. no more scholarships, strictly walk on ... or PAY them a very healthy stipend plus full ride
4. go back to the holding rules in the 80s (maybe, mixed feelings about this but probably, yes)
5. enforce true integrity again and hold high moral and academic standards for players, coaches and even administrators: goodbye MSU, Penn State, OSU, Baylor. I'm not referring to the bagman payola issues - that gets resolved by my #3
6. create some serious standards for refs, like make them professional, cannot have ref their hometown teams, and pay them good money like the NFL, do something, in other words
7. get rid of the stupid instant replay. It destroys flow and the refs get it right 90% of the time in the first place and hopefully with #6 above, that 10% is strictly random error, not hometown bias
November 29th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
Don't think either "no more scholarships, strictly walk on" or "PAY them a very healthy stipend plus full ride" resolves the bagman/payola issues. Even if you paid them $100k a year plus a full ride, the bagman could offer money on top of that. So, come to CheatinAss U and get another $50k on top of the $100k a year plus a full ride you'll get at StraightLaced U.
November 29th, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^
The difference between getting paid nothing to go to Michigan, or getting paid $50,000 to go to Clemson is a hell of a lot different than getting paid $100,000 to go to Michigan and getting $150,000 to go to Clemson.
Zero versus something isn't the same as X versus something + X.
November 29th, 2018 at 1:21 PM ^
I agree with that notion, but my point was, while it closes the gap $150k/$100k instead of $50k/$0 there is still a difference and paying players will not resolve the bagman issue.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
(1) The top level of CFB has 128 teams. Kick out the worst teams to the second level.
(2) Eliminate all conferences. Each team keeps 3 protected "rivalry" games to play as part of a 10-game regular season. Michigan can keep Ohio State, Michigan State and, of course, Illinois as rivalry games.
(3) Every preseason, teams are separated into 8 pools of 16 teams, based on their prior season computer rankings. From those pools, teams are given 7 games by a computer. Not by their checkbook, not by a conference. Example: Alabama would play 7 of the other top teams in the country chosen by computer and then Auburn, LSU and Tennessee.
(4) At the end of each season, the top 4 teams in each pool are "promoted" to the higher pool, and the bottom 4 teams are "relegated" to a lower pool. The bottom 4 teams in the FBS are relegated to the FCS, with 4 FCS teams taking their place and playing in the lowest FCS pool of 16 teams.
(5) The season ends with a playoff involving all 128 FBS teams. First round games are played at the visiting teams' campus to raise interest. Double elimination so each team plays at least 12 games. Rounds of 8 onward are played at neutral sites.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
You misspelled our third rival - it is spelled "Rutgers," not "Illinois." show the garden state some respekt.
November 29th, 2018 at 6:18 PM ^
It's actually spelled Rutger
November 29th, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
"(5) The season ends with a playoff involving all 128 FBS teams. First round games are played at the visiting teams' campus to raise interest."
Playing at the visiting teams' campus would certainly raise confusion, if not interest.
November 29th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
Wouldn't Alabama at Rice in the first round of the playoffs be an interesting event?
November 29th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
Yeah, I was just giving you a hard time over the "play at the visiting team's campus" instead of "play at the lower seed's campus." But yes--very interesting. Michigan at Eastern Michigan would be...odd, but interesting.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
This is close to what I've been saying for a couple of years now.
This was my version:
Get rid of the B12. Condense the best 64 teams into 4 conferences, each with two divisions (yes, ND has to join a conference...or they can go fuck themselves). Teams 65 and below never had a chance anyway.
This gives you 8 division champions (or playoff teams).
Conference championships are the first round.
After that, you can take the conference championships and draw 'em out of a hat for all I care. That's your semi-final matchup, etc.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
I sometimes miss the days before the CFP... too much "CFP or bust" like talk these days
November 29th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Back in the "old days" we'd play the various bowls, they'd come out with a final poll, and then we'd have a grand time arguing about stuff until March. Half the fun of sports is debating stuff.
I hate the playoff system. As you say, "CFP or bust." It's creating an environment where teams will do almost anything to get into the playoffs. It's triggered an arms race for the top, and only a very small handful of teams can sustain that. We're already seeing the same small handful of teams in the CFP each year. It'll coalesce around perhaps six or eight teams year after year after year. The top talent will naturally go to those six or eight teams, further cementing the disparity of talent.
The jeannie is out of the bottle, though ... there's too much money in it, and there's no going back. So they'll just ride this money-machine into the ground.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
#1. 8 team playoff. Power 5 conference champs get an auto bid. 3 at large bids. First round of the playoffs is at the higher seeds home field.
#2. Require all Power 5 conferences to have an 8 game conference schedule while at the same time only allowing each individual team to schedule only 1 non Power 5 opponent.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
I would make it not exist. Go back in time and make it so it never happened. Fuck all of the things.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
I like every single suggestion proposed by the OP. If the NCAA did EXACTLY that, the game would improve dramatically. I particularly like the scheduling suggestions, and the structure of the playoffs. Having everyone play the same number of non-conference / conference games, and moving he out of conference cupcake games to the beginning of the season cuts down on the game playing.
I would also eliminate, or limit to one every 2 or 3 years, games against 1AA (or whatever they are now called) schools.
Finally, with the introduction of the playoffs, what is the relevance of the bowls? I know - $$$, but putting that aside, what is their place in college football? Back in the day, Bowls were a chance for the top teams in each conference to go head to head, and often had national title implications (see 1997 for us, but also many prior years). Now, with the playoffs being outside of the Bowls, the games have no meaning at all. Say we go the the Peach Bowl and beat UCF (yuck), so what? Even the once mighty Rose Bowl has lost pretty much all relevance because it is no longer the best Big10 and Pac10 teams going head to head with National Championship implications. Winner gets . . . what . . a t-shirt that says "Rose Bowl Champions"?
November 29th, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
Basically revert everything to where it was in 1997. No attempts at a real national championship, conferences of an adequate size organized along geographic lines. The only changes I would allow are the adding of Notre Dame to the Big Ten to give us a conference championship game and putting Utah and Colorado in the Pac-12 while TCU replaces Colorado in the Big 12.
That is the perfect college football universe
November 29th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
We would win more .
November 29th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
Let the kids get paid or take the dark money out of the game. Hold coaches and administrators accountable for the actions of their teams at some level. Create mechanisms that reinforce good citizenship vs winning at all costs. our colleges, institutes that ought to stand for something noble, lie, cheat, and otherwise act immorally for profit from a child’s game. It’s a farce.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
9 game conference schedules and each conference has two divisions of 10 teams. End the season the week before Thanksgiving and have the CCGs that weekend after. Expand the playoff to 8 teams and have the first round two weeks after the CCGs then the rest of the games like they have them now.
I would also end all games against FCS teams and limit the number of FBS teams to 120 to keep the conferences all equal in terms of size. If a team doesn't feel like it has the resources to stay FBS then allow them to move down and accept applications from FCS schools to move up.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
Ah, commercials. The rules committee needs to get a grip on this before pace-of-play issues start driving fans away. The OP should note, though, that FOX doesn't have any more commercials than ABC or ESPN or even BTN. FOX just chooses to bunch the commercials more than ABC/ESPN/BTN are willing to.
Right now: 4 commercials per quarter of 2.5 minutes each (40 minutes), 2 "quarter break" commercials of 2.5 minutes (5 minutes) plus halftime has been lengthened from 15 to 20 minutes (5 minutes). That's 50 minutes of commercials.
My proposal: Limit of 4 minutes of commercials per quarter that a network can distribute however they want (4 commercials of 1 minute, 2 of 2, whatever). Quarter breaks of 2 minutes each, and halftime can stay at 20 minutes. That's 25 minutes of commercials instead of 50.
Also, the FOX rule: no commercial breaks will be permitted unless 1 minute of playing time has elapsed since the last commercial break.
So now games are 3 hours 20 minutes--2:30 of game and 50 minutes of commercials. That's 15 minutes of commercials per hour. My proposal takes it to 2 hours 55 minutes per game--2:30 of game still and 25 minutes of commercials. That's still over 8.5 minutes of commercials per hour, which should be perfectly acceptable for any network. Yes, there will be a little less money in college football, but that's not really a problem, is it?
Huge advantage: the conference could move their timeslots from 3.5 hours to 3 hours. Have games at 1:00, 4:00, or 7:00 instead of noon, 3:30, or 7:00.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:27 AM ^
Eliminate OT
Real punishment for cheaters
Limited TV timeouts
Fewer bowl games
I think the playoff is fine as is. If we expand to > teams we should have a prohibition on 2 loss teams (unless scheduling gets tougher). Maybe go to 6 - all P5 plus one indy / Group of 5. Eight seems too many - like rewarding mediocrity.
No games against FCS teams allowed
P5 teams only allowed 1 non-P5 non conference game and all must play 1 road P5 non conference game (yes - I am looking at you Bama)
5th year eligibility for grad students only
MSU out of the B1G (note that Michigan has won a grand total of ONE natty since Sparty joined the conference - there isn't enough talent in the state to support two B1G programs so they have to go)
All games played on real grass
November 29th, 2018 at 10:27 AM ^
The only thing I see an issue with is this...
My teams would include the Power 5 conference champions, the highest rated group of 5 team and 2 at-large bids.
You could then have northwestern in the playoff. I think this idea would work but all the conferences should really run their championship game like the big 12. Granted, this could create a michigan/osu rematch the next week....it would have been the case this year and nobody wants that. But the only way to find the true champ of these conferences is to take the two best teams and have them face off at the end. For instance, regardless of what UT is ranked I'd be ok with them in as they are/would be the true champ of the big 12. The top two teams from the entire year duke it out.
November 29th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
Agreed.
When designing a playoff system, remember the basic fact: for every "rule" you add, you are replacing a better team with a worse team. Autobids are fine once they are 50% or less of the field (like in basketball, with 32 automatic and 36 at large). They are counter-productive if they are more than half the field, though.
Want the top 8? Fine.
Want 6 automatic bids and 2 at large bids? Well, you might be leaving out the #5 team in the nation just so you can include #18. Or worse.