College football kinda sucks now
We’re stuck between a 4 team “playoff” (lol) and 38 other bowls that have been rendered meaningless to many.
These bowls feature watered down versions of teams that most likely won’t be motivated to play as the common theme in bowls is now having one team that doesn’t care.
The ticket prices for watered down teams and games certainly don’t reflect it.
We have Clemson-Alabama XLVII for the national title game with ticket prices
Conference title games are broken and just money grabs at this point to watch a superior team kill an inferior one because divisions are unbalanced.
Commercials.
How/will this be fixed or is the sport just gonna continue to get worse? Is the next step guys sitting out against WMU and SMU to avoid injury in a bodybag game?
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:52 AM ^
The Arby's turkey reuben is suprisingly good. I like to add their "three pepper" sauce. I'm weird that way. ;-)
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
I'm a classic roast beef guy myself. With a little bit of horsey souce and some Arby's sauce.
I must say, though, that sometimes the French Dip hits the spot.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
Beef and Cheddar with a double dose of Horsey Sauce makes for a fine and tasty mess
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:23 PM ^
Yeah there is something about the cheddar when it mixes with the horsey sauce that makes it slippery as hell. The bun always slides right off the meat and then you've got cheddar and horsey sauce all over your fingers. You lick them off but then they're sticky. There's always some dude in the men's room with the door locked so you can't just wash them off right away. And those brown paper napkins are useless. They just shred.
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:53 AM ^
I would bet not having a NCAA football game anymore has some to do with it
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
college video game scholarships have already started. who knows, in 50 years the big house may be filled watching students go at in fortnite.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:07 AM ^
I agree with this take. In fact with all data regarding CTE, I suspect a lot of football as we love and cherish is going to be watered down to boring scrimmage.
Enjoy while it lasts. I suspect my children won't be into it it when they are old (40-50 yrs).
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:17 AM ^
My kids - 16 and 12 - could not care less about football. I can't get them to watch even one quarter of a Michigan game, or even one quarter of the Super Bowl. Their friends are the same.
Meanwhile, at their age I knew every key player on every team.
Football as ingrained into the very culture of America is dying out.
It will become like boxing and horse racing and even baseball. Those sports still exist and are quite popular in pockets . . . but they don't define the country the way they used to.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
True, but this idiotic CFP set up is accelerating apathy in even OUR pocket of fandom. I mean players can't even get up for the meaningless bowl games, and fans would? attendance in bowl games dying in like 2 years unless playoffs expand. Also I expect MORE players to sit out bowl games.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:36 AM ^
this idiotic CFP set up is accelerating apathy in even OUR pocket of fandom
This was a predictable result of the playoff system. I hate the playoff for football.
The basketball playoff works because basketball is a different sport -- it takes far fewer good players to make a difference. With football, you must have a lot of very good players to make a difference.
Back when the playoff was established, my sense was there was a window of opportunity for teams to either get into the group of teams that can compete, or be shut out of entry to that group. That window is almost shut. I hope Michigan can be inside when it shuts.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:43 AM ^
It closed a good portion of the way in 2016, and nearly the rest of the way this year. There is a slim crack right now with a teeny bit of light still shining through. We have all three major rivals at home next year, and one of the best recruits we have ever signed coming in at our biggest position of need. It is literally basically now or never.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:59 AM ^
I endorse this take. Next year really is critical.
I'm not convinced it's a "championship or bust" season. But I do think it's imperative Michigan show that it can credibly compete for the B1G championship and entry to the playoff. For next year, that implies 11 wins going into the Ohio State game, and either a win against OSU or a game that's well-fought and narrowly decided. 11-1 with a blowout loss to OSU will not do the trick.
The very best football recruits are watching how this playoff team situation is coalescing. Eventually all the best recruits will go to a small handful of schools -- 6 or 8 or so. Teams outside that 6 or 8 will get players, but not enough great players to compete the big boys inside that group.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:53 AM ^
I’m sorry the CFP is not idiotic, and frankly it is what the sport needed. Gone are the days of multiple undefeated teams from Power 5 conferences(and ND) claiming to be national champs because the bowls they were tied to didn’t allow them to play each other. Frankly bowl games are equivalent to the youth league participation trophy. Teams that came up short just getting to play an extra game for what? In most other sports, if you don’t qualify for the postseason your season is over with and you go home and figure out how to improve and see if you can qualify the next season. Eliminate all the bowls and expand the playoff and leave it at that.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
"Gone are the days of multiple undefeated teams from Power 5 conferences(and ND) claiming to be national champs."
If you're speaking of literally undefeated teams—as opposed to teams with one loss—the number of seasons with multiple undefeated major teams from major conferences was very rare.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
Whatever it may have been...3 teams with 1-loss gets settled on the field now. Instead of in the SID’s office.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:29 AM ^
You and I are old enough to remember the pre-playoff, pre-BCS setup where the bowls would be played and there'd be three or four teams that would argue for their place as "champion." It would be the topic of endless debates on sports talk radio. Fan bases would shake clenched fists at each other all the way to start of the next season.
I miss those days. ;-)
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
Same. Arguing about which team was the real NC was like 25% of what I used to love about CFB.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:42 AM ^
I think we would have beat Nebraska in '97
January 2nd, 2019 at 11:14 AM ^
" I know we would have beaten Nebraska in '97" FIFY
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
I would be interested to see what the 4 team CFP format would be like if the NCAA actually enforced any rules.
Many years ago my college roommate and I won a particular euchre tourney. After we won, the losing team made a snide comment that our use of signals must have been better than their setting the deck. As we walked away we said "no, our setting the deck and use of signals was better than your setting the deck".
This is how I feel college football is now. Some teams use steroids, some teams pay players to sign and play, some teams process guys to get a roster numbers advantage. And there are a couple teams that do all three. Those teams are always in the playoff. Everyone else is trying not to get caught for the one thing they are doing and wondering why they can't compete with those teams.
I still contend, if you asked every football player not at Alabama, OSU & Clemson what they want most? I bet the majority would answer a level playing field to compete.
January 3rd, 2019 at 1:48 AM ^
LOL. Back when I was pretty small, like maybe 10, maybe younger, I played in a Euchre tournament with a guy that was CLEARLY stacking the deck. It was a rotating partner tournament, and when he was my partner, he dealt me a lay-down loner hand.
I knew he was cheating, and he was kind of pissing me off, because even back then I didn't like cheaters. But I also knew he had REALLY stacked the deck and given me the only trump cards. So I played the hand entirely backwards, leading out with the lowest trump and finishing up with the right-bower. Of course, I took every trick because I had the only trump cards.
He gave me the strangest looks while I was playing. I just looked at him with no expression on my face while I played. Dunno if I got my point across or not. He probably just thought I was an idiot kid.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
I would love to see an 8 team playoff for this and other reasons. That will be a big deal and players won't sit that out.
But that only addresses 8 schools.
All of the rest of the bowls will become even more irrelevant. They will become the NIT with a chance of serious injury.
The traditional Rose Bowl / Orange Bowl / Sugar Bowl will retain some luster, but everything else will essentially become the NFL Pro Bowl - a meaningless exhibition that is sparsely attended by fans and players, and is played very poorly.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
I'd like to disagree, but can't. My daughter (8) watches a quarter with me because it's something to do with dad. Then she gets bored and goes to play a game on her ipad or play with her dolls or whatever. When I was a kid I loved Baseball, till the strike. Then I lost all interest and it's never come back.
My personal opinion, physical sports like Football are going to dwindle in popularity. E-Sports are the next big thing. I'm a gamer and I can't stand watching those matches, but my kids and my friends kids eat that shit up. Watching someone make a million playing Fortnite is a great way to spend time now. Not sure if this is a problem and if it is, who is to blame, but Physical sports are on their way down in popularity.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
Boy did you nail it. My 14 year old could give two shits about football and I dont know even one of his friends that cares. We basically force him to go the Browns games with us (I know...I know) but this year was pretty damn fun there. We have fantastic seats and are members of the high-end clubs so it's a great game day experience IF you like football.....and he clearly doesnt. His comment when we told him he was going to the Atlanta game with us was the following:
"Oh goodie. I get to go watch a bunch of colored jerseys for 3.5 hours run around"
Back in 1969 when I was 10 I remember fucking CRYING when Michigan lost in the Rose Bowl. Every game through the 70s I either went to, listened to or watched (when we could) and I couldnt sleep before the really big games and was miserable for days afterwards if we lost.
Your example of baseball, boxing & horse racing are perfect too as those were the #1, 2 & 3 sports in America back in 1950. Sort of like football, basketball and i guess hockey would be today. But times change, people change and there's no freaking way football is going to be as popular nationally in 25-30 years as it is today.
We can argue the "why" forever (CTE, cost of attendance, video games, etc) but make no mistake the giant is slowly dying.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
We are obsolete, my friend.
I recommend the French Dip at Arby's if you are in the mood for something different.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
French Dip is the best sandwich at Arbys. I like to get it when IM on my way home so I can have it with real horseradish, but the Horsey sauce will do in a pinch. The real star of the show is the au jus. Im sure it's super bad for my blood pressure and has eleventy bajillion mg of sodium, but damn if it isnt tasty
#2 at Arbys is the Chicken,Bacon and Swiss
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
The au jus is surprisingly good. I expected it to be really salty but it's not at all. Most au jus is really salty at other places.
The swiss could be better though, IMO.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:45 AM ^
Pace of play. Ticket prices. HD Television.
We are losing a generation. We can already see it in the half-full student sections in otherwise-full stadiums across the country, and it's going to come into clearer focus in a decade or two. There's no incentive for the next generation to actually become football fans. The stadiums are going to empty out over the next half century unless something changes.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
"Those in charge of all this don't care about the long-term health of college football. They are focusing on near-term revenue maximization"
That's a disease infecting our entire economy and society.
Who cares if this action will kill the company eventually, we're making a ton of money right now! Who cares if I end up divorced, talking to my ex on social media makes me feel good!
No one in this country thinks long-term about anything.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:54 AM ^
I think this is the correct take regarding the economic state of CFB (and our society more generally). More money in the equation isn't going to fix this.
In many ways I think the old system, prior to the BCS, was the better way. Yes, arguments over team positioning in the polls happened every year, and yes there was a lot of subjectivity and bias, but let's not ignore that the same subjectivity and bias still exists and a 4-team playoff continually reinforces it (see: two-loss Alabama getting into the CFP).
Once we collectively decided that the National Champion was the only thing worth caring about a whole lot of meaning went out the window. There is some vestigial meaning in the spectacle and grandeur of some of the bowl games (the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Rotating Corporate Sponsor being the most obvious) but even that is gradually disappearing. In the old system, the bowls themselves were the point, and fewer of them meant more value. Not a perfect system, by any means, but I can't be the only one who looks at all of these smarmy corporate execs (see: Allstate CEO) during bowl game commercials telling us how great this all is and wants to throw up.
I don't know if it's possible to turn this ship around.
January 2nd, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
I agree completely. The conference scheme for football is going away. I think the super conferences will be somewhat larger than 12-16 and will probably end up as East and West - maybe 10-12 teams each. Bowl games will decrease to about half of what they are now. Declining attendance is just the harbinger for overall ratings declines that ultimately will start to impinge on the money flow and it will dawn on the schools like Alabama, Clemson, OSU, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Penn State, and others that THEY are what is responsible for the football money-cannon, not Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Arizona, Rutgers, etc. While the conferences have kept the tension in check so far, it won't last forever and conferences for football will be radically restructured as in-person attendance erodes at many schools and TV ratings eventually follow suit. Non-super conference teams will actually be the keeper of the flame for the true "student-athlete" model as the super conference becomes purely minor league football.
January 3rd, 2019 at 12:15 AM ^
The present format sucks and I predict it will change very soon. The Bama Clemson three-peat and the plethora of shitty bowls with impact players opting out almost assures it.
I'd love to see a compilation of the balance sheets for the 2018-19 bowl season. I think you'd see dwindling profits vs previous years.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:02 AM ^
Why not just go to the NFL playoff format? 12 teams, top 4 gets first round byes.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
Football is too physical to provide the advantage of a bye week to one school over another.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
Because IMO then non-deserving teams will be in the playoffs. GTFO if you lost 3 games during the regular season. You don't deserve a chance in the playoffs. And a side benefit of that attitude is that it means the regular season is hugely important. Right now if you have a good team and you lose a single game the fans and players are devastated. That's a good thing because it ensures full focus and importance of each game. Take this year for example: Bama and Clemson are the two best teams, no question whatsoever. The current format ensures that the two best teams likely play for the NC. In a 12 team format there's a chance that a 2-3 loss team upsets an undefeated Clemson in an early round game. Contrary to majority option that would NOT be a fair result. I would hate to see that happen, because the current system, says the most deserving teams over 12 games are in--not a team that gets hot at seasons's end.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:54 AM ^
"Right now if you have a good team and you lose a single game the fans the players are devastated."
That is a good thing, to a point. Really, it was always like that in the college football since I have been watching it (mid-80s). I do think there is a limit to it though before it reached diminishing returns.
I would argue that college football is in some ways too serious and self-important to its participants right now. It does not look enjoyable for the players and coaches, and is really not particularly so for even the fans anymore. It is, in a word, very grim.
It has reached the point at some times to be that there is actually too much pressure on individual plays and games, and when teams fail in those circumstances, they are then asked to return to the field to play the remainder of their schedule after their only real goal has been taken away, sometimes very early in the season. In that way, there is a real unevenness to the season and I think the narrow focus of the Playoff plays a big part in that.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:05 AM ^
You make a great point ijohnb, in today’s game you almost pray that you don’t lose more than you hope to win. And really to me it seems like you are competing for two spots in the playoff every year, because it seems like a given that Bama and Clemson will be in it every year for the foreseeable future. One loss shouldn’t derail a season and make the rest of the games meaningless. With only 4 teams you are making the whole system extremely top heavy, and you will greatly diminish the overall product of anything besides the 3 CFP games.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
LSU won the title with 2 losses back when there was only a BCS title game. But ya, i am all for an 8 team playoff. And I don't get the bitching about all the bowls. If they make money and teams want to go, they should go. Don't watch! When they start losing tons of money, they will drop off and the 6-6 teams won't get invited anymore.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:05 AM ^
Maybe i'm just getting older and just don't care anymore. I really haven't had much interest in watching any of the bowl games the last few years. Haven't watched much football in general other than Michigan games.
My recommendation would be to either eliminate the bowls and go to a playoff format similar to FCS/Div II, or end the playoff, just have the bowl games and pick a mythical champion.
My vote would be for the latter.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:26 AM ^
I agree. I would have zero issue whatsoever with returning to the old bowl system.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:06 AM ^
I agree that the CFP needs to be expanded, but I doubt anyone is complaining if Michigan had stomped OSU and then won their first round CFP game.
A 12 team playoff is excessive. They're going to do a 1 versus 12 setup and the 12th best team most years would get run off the field in that game.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
Plus the #1 team risks injury, so it would be tough to know if you should sit out the first round.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
D2 and D3 are 16 teams with byes included. Have to adjust regular season but format is already there
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
Your numbers are off. D2 and D3 are not 16 team playoffs.
FCS is a 24 team playoff.
D2 is a 28 team playoff.
D3 is a 32 team playoff.
The FCS has all games except for the championship game at the home stadium of the higher seed.
I find it odd that these schools can manage it, but if we want to go to 8 teams people scream school.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:29 AM ^
Oh shit I don’t go down the bracket. Lol
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:15 AM ^
You would not have wrote this if Michigan made the playoff. Get over it. It is what it is. This year it is very clear that there were two teams and everyone else. Nobody wants to see Alabama Clemson anymore except their fans other schools have to change that and get better. Alabama and Clemson can’t do this forever although it feels like forever it’s inevitable.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
I want to see Alabama v Clemson.
Anybody who watches more than the Big10 saw that these are the two best and IMO entertaining teams this year.
January 2nd, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
They are the best two teams but to me as a college football fan it’s getting boring seeing the same 2-4 teams always in the mix. I used to like them both, but now All year I rooted for them to lose because this game is exactly what I did not want to see again. Just like Michigan vs Florida 3 times in a short period of time.....yawn
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
I, too, will be watching the game. Now I know how all NBA fans outside of Oakland and Cleveland felt during the last four seasons, seeing the Cavs and Warriors four times in the finals.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
That's different. That was wonderful....especially in 2016 when it was absolutely wonderful.