Another round of expansion coming

[g0d0fm15ch13f]

Sources: SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams

I for one hate this. It sounds like the SEC (and B1G) are dictating that they want more autobids as the serious power hitters. And that should be good for the vols, I think we are in a good position to perennially be a top 4 SEC squad. But I hate this continued march towards watering down the regular season. Already this past year bummer had lost to both TN schools and the narrative was still "If they win out they can get into the tournament" I hope the world enjoyed a 9 seed osu win the nc, because that's going to be the norm.

 

[woodpusher]

Sources: SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams

I for one hate this. It sounds like the SEC (and B1G) are dictating that they want more autobids as the serious power hitters. And that should be good for the vols, I think we are in a good position to perennially be a top 4 SEC squad. But I hate this continued march towards watering down the regular season. Already this past year bummer had lost to both TN schools and the narrative was still "If they win out they can get into the tournament" I hope the world enjoyed a 9 seed osu win the nc, because that's going to be the norm.

If they want 2 or more bids they should cancel the conference championship game.

 

[bpalmer28]

Yeah I'm not a fan... 12 worked well. Who was left out that could have won a natty? They are going to make losing an early season game irrelevant.

 

[farmdogvol]

Yeah I'm not a fan... 12 worked well. Who was left out that could have won a natty? They are going to make losing an early season game irrelevant.

Bama of course, just ask them. Give them the 3 forfeit wins for fans rushing the field and they would have won it all.

 

[jackaro]

The outright greed in college sports is getting to me. I know that it has been there for decades but it is so blatant now. This is not good for the sport and I hate it. One or two teams any given year is capable of winning the playoff, we are only going to get more blowouts and a longer season for no other reason than more money for conferences. Conference championships no longer matter, the regular season only matters for playoff seedings, players are free agents every year chasing a bigger payout and the PAC 12 disintegrated. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. Go vols, I guess.

 

[Hulavol]

Reality is there doesn’t need to be more than eight teams. There are usually only two or three that can realistically win the whole thing - ever since the CFP started. There sure as hell aren’t twelve teams with any kind of real shot.
It’s all about money and as others have said, I hate that it cheapens the regular season.

I keep wondering if they are going to accidentally nascar this thing and fonzi the shark tank.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

My enthusiasm for the sport is not even a third of what it was 5 years ago.

 

[VOLfrombama]

They are proposing to expand to 14 or 16 teams. They are also proposing to expand the SEC regular season to 9 games to match what the Big10 is already doing. In addition they're proposing to do a SEC/Big10 challenge, which would generate a ton more money for each conference. The auto bids only protect those teams on the fringe. This year it would have been Bama or Ole Miss, depending on rankings. You can't tell me that Boise or SMU deserved getting in more more than Bama or Ole Miss. Hate them as much as you want, but I think they play better games than both did.

If they go to 14 there would only be two teams get a bye. If they go to 16 then nobody gets a bye.

I like the idea of play-in/wildcard games in leiu of a league championship game too. That game is silly anyway and can result in derailing a contender's season with injuries and fatigue. However, I would have loved to see Bama and Ole Miss in a play-in game instead.

I think there's some really good ideas there.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

They are proposing to expand to 14 or 16 teams. They are also proposing to expand the SEC regular season to 9 games to match what the Big10 is already doing. In addition they're proposing to do a SEC/Big10 challenge, which would generate a ton more money for each conference. The auto bids only protect those teams on the fringe. This year it would have been Bama or Ole Miss, depending on rankings. You can't tell me that Boise or SMU deserved getting in more more than Bama or Ole Miss. Hate them as much as you want, but I think they play better games than both did.

If they go to 14 there would only be two teams get a bye. If they go to 16 then nobody gets a bye.

I like the idea of play-in/wildcard games in leiu of a league championship game too. That game is silly anyway and can result in derailing a contender's season with injuries and fatigue. However, I would have loved to see Bama and Ole Miss in a play-in game instead.

I think there's some really good ideas there.

Exactly. People are just seeing expansion w/o seeing what’s coming with it. I’ve been clamoring for an SEC/Big 10 style challenge for a long time . I think it’s a great idea, that will create great OOC games during the season. Even if you lose, the focus is on your conference record because you’re not allowing a bunch of clowns in a boardroom in Grape Vine, Texas, tell you that “we value wins.” Add a 9th game of SEC play with a rotating B1G team and that’s 10 big time football games. I think the most intriguing idea is that conference title game could be replaced by play in games played at home stadiums . The 1 and 2 seeds are not punished for playing in the title game, but 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 on Championship Saturday.

I get that there will be pushback, but this pretty much guarantees more good football.

 

[g0d0fm15ch13f]

They are proposing to expand to 14 or 16 teams. They are also proposing to expand the SEC regular season to 9 games to match what the Big10 is already doing. In addition they're proposing to do a SEC/Big10 challenge, which would generate a ton more money for each conference. The auto bids only protect those teams on the fringe. This year it would have been Bama or Ole Miss, depending on rankings. You can't tell me that Boise or SMU deserved getting in more more than Bama or Ole Miss. Hate them as much as you want, but I think they play better games than both did.

If they go to 14 there would only be two teams get a bye. If they go to 16 then nobody gets a bye.

I like the idea of play-in/wildcard games in leiu of a league championship game too. That game is silly anyway and can result in derailing a contender's season with injuries and fatigue. However, I would have loved to see Bama and Ole Miss in a play-in game instead.

I think there's some really good ideas there.

They can do whatever they want with scheduling so long as we play bama, fLorida, kentucky and vandy every year

 

[volbound1700]

I am mixed on it.

A lot of the NCAA Tournament in Basketball is more than about determining the National Champion. Teams brag about Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final 4 appearances. It gives teams something to play for that can't.

This is why I hate Tennessee's seeding this year. I didn't think Tennessee was a true contender to win it all but it would have been nice to advance a game or two into the tournament. Teams will start tracking Final 4s, Elite 8s, etc. in this Tournament like other sports.

That being said, I feel like it is too quick of a change.

 

[deezvols]

Easy fix, just stop watching.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Yeah I'm not a fan... 12 worked well. Who was left out that could have won a natty? They are going to make losing an early season game irrelevant.

It's about money, not who has a chance to win. Only about 6 or 8 teams any given year have a shot at the football Natty, truthfully even less than that most years.

It's the same with March Madness, it's all about TV viewers and contracts and not about who might win the Natty. Sure, there's a few exciting upsets every year but in the end one of 6-8 highest seeds will win it.

They could cut all of this down to an 8 team playoff for football and basketball every year and still get the best team in the country.

The vast majority of all "playoffs" in all sports are about money and drumming up a little drama for the viewers. It's entertainment, after all.

 

[njvols]

Exactly. People are just seeing expansion w/o seeing what’s coming with it. I’ve been clamoring for an SEC/Big 10 style challenge for a long time . I think it’s a great idea, that will create great OOC games during the season. Even if you lose, the focus is on your conference record because you’re not allowing a bunch of clowns in a boardroom in Grape Vine, Texas, tell you that “we value wins.” Add a 9th game of SEC play with a rotating B1G team and that’s 10 big time football games. I think the most intriguing idea is that conference title game could be replaced by play in games played at home stadiums . The 1 and 2 seeds are not punished for playing in the title game, but 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 on Championship Saturday.

I get that there will be pushback, but this pretty much guarantees more good football.

I get the logic...if concessions made to play more conf games and SEC/Big 10 matchups, you need guardrails to make sure conference properly represented. Big difference w/ FB to the BB logic of more games/more good, is the injury factor...more games = greater chance your best players get injured...but guess that's part of it. Most years, in reality, there's 4-6 teams who could win it all, but b/c of auto bids from lesser conferences, you need higher number of teams in the pool to make sure all of the teams who could win it are in the 12 or 14 or 16 team playoff.

 

[#1fulmerite]

Bowls are worthless now. Fixing to be absolutely worthless unless your team is a basement team and had a breakout year.

This and all the defections to the NFL or transfers has made the postseason almost worthless.

 

[volbound1700]

Bowls are worthless now. Fixing to be absolutely worthless unless your team is a basement team and had a breakout year.

This and all the defections to the NFL or transfers has made the postseason almost worthless.

Sadly, Bowl Games have been pretty much worthless throughout most of CFB existence though. BCS era kind of made them a little important for a while.

Go back and look at our AP 1951 team, they won the National Title but lost the bowl game. That was pretty common and frankly, teams often didn't even take the bowl games seriously.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I get the logic...if concessions made to play more conf games and SEC/Big 10 matchups, you need guardrails to make sure conference properly represented. Big difference w/ FB to the BB logic of more games/more good, is the injury factor...more games = greater chance your best players get injured...but guess that's part of it. Most years, in reality, there's 4-6 teams who could win it all, but b/c of auto bids from lesser conferences, you need higher number of teams in the pool to make sure all of the teams who could win it are in the 12 or 14 or 16 team playoff.

I see what you’re saying, but I think part of what’s being done to counter that is an increase in roster size and scholarships. The part that makes the most sense to me is that even w/ a small expansion it keeps the regular season relevant. I like the idea of every conference playing the same # of conference games. More games will continue to matter later in the season. The best part of the sport is the regular season. It’s probably the best regular season of any sport .

OTOH, college football has had the worst postseason of any sport its entire life span. It’s always been pretty bad and I think it’s trying to evolve, but this year definitely showed it still needs some corrections. I love the irony of people calling a playoff a $ grab, yet the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and others have kept the college football postseason archaic for decades and decades so their executives could go on retreats to Palm Springs and figure out how to keep their sponsorships for the parade that they have to have and for the sunset to be just right in the 4th quarter.

 

[tn4elvis]

If they want 2 or more bids they should cancel the conference championship game.

I hate those games. If we are having a playoff. Do away with them.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

I've been saying for a while that 16 was the end goal. I know all the arguments being made for why it's too many, but the way I see it, increasing the total number of playoff spots only increases Tennessee's chances of getting one of them and I will never be opposed to that.

 

[tennesseekilt]

I've been saying for a while that 16 was the end goal. I know all the arguments being made for why it's too many, but the way I see it, increasing the total number of playoff spots only increases Tennessee's chances of getting one of them and I will never be opposed to that.

I mean yeah, at the end of the day this right here says it all I think.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

And the clown show continues

 

[Adam Sandler]

Sources: SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams

I for one hate this. It sounds like the SEC (and B1G) are dictating that they want more autobids as the serious power hitters. And that should be good for the vols, I think we are in a good position to perennially be a top 4 SEC squad. But I hate this continued march towards watering down the regular season. Already this past year bummer had lost to both TN schools and the narrative was still "If they win out they can get into the tournament" I hope the world enjoyed a 9 seed osu win the nc, because that's going to be the norm.

It was the auto-seeding that led to that, not the auto bids. They need to never do auto seeding again. Should be top to bottom best to worst. Might not get them the matchups and outcomes they want but it’s the only way that’s “fair” (quotes for subjectivity of the word - but think we can all agree as long as everyone that should make it does, that the difference between 8 and 9 is not concerning so long as it doesn’t mean playing a 7 or 8 that should be a 3 or 4, so a true 11/12 can have an undeserved bye).

 

[b_gann]

Reality is there doesn’t need to be more than eight teams. There are usually only two or three that can realistically win the whole thing - ever since the CFP started. There sure as hell aren’t twelve teams with any kind of real shot.
It’s all about money and as others have said, I hate that it cheapens the regular season.

I keep wondering if they are going to accidentally nascar this thing and fonzi the shark tank.

I've been making a similar comparison since all this started. NASCAR lost it's core fan base. College football seems determined to do the same.

The only thing that could potentially make this all interesting again is just a straight two power conference system where things are geographically aligned again.

 

[vols 30]

I think 4 is too many. Free the BCS .

The playoff games sucked. I watched the 1st half of our game and that was it

 

[Zues1]

If they want 2 or more bids they should cancel the conference championship game.

That's probably being discussed