Seeing as bowl games are largely irrelevant (now, more than ever), and the genie is out of the bottle with inevitable further playoff expansion, wouldn't the mid-tier bowls be better if they were converted to the first couple of rounds of a 24 team playoff?

How many of the non-playoff bowls do people really watch anymore? I would guess that the ratings are probably pretty poor. However, a first and second round playoff bowl game would draw more national attention than a couple of barely .500 teams playing for nothing.

Since all that matters is money anyway, I'm struggling to see why this won't happen.

The primary casualty in this plan are the conference championship games. They will probably just have to do away with them and decide conference champions like the NFL decides division champions.

What say you, Zoo?

when they move to 24 teams (which will eventually happen), it will be with more home games. the aren't going to pass up the revenue for a home game compared to paying two teams to travel for a 24 seed playing the 9 seed game in Shreveport.

There is no reason to have bowls anywhere near the playoffs. And given the transfer portal, NIL, coaches leaving, and teams losing money, I'm not sure there is any reason to have them even as exhibition games for G5 schools.


Please stop trying to use bowl games in developing playoff formats.

I'm not talking about using bowls, I'm talking about replacing them with playoff games. The current sponsors for the mid-tier bowls can just become sponsors for the first and second round home playoff games. TV gets their money and the games are actually meaningful.

BMX Bandit said:

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when they move to 24 teams (which will eventually happen), it will be with more home games. the aren't going to pass up the revenue for a home game compared to paying two teams to travel for a 24 seed playing the 9 seed game in Shreveport.

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I don't disagree with this.

tsuag10 said:

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I'm not talking about using bowls, I'm talking about replacing them with playoff games. The current sponsors for the mid-tier bowls can just become sponsors for the first and second round home playoff games. TV gets their money and the games are actually meaningful.

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Bowl locations should not be used at all. The current sponsors of the college football playoffs pay much more money than a bowl sponsor.


Why use neutral sites when a team with a higher ranking has earned a home field advantage?

I'm completely OK with playoff home games. This is more about abolishing the current bowl system and transitioning to a larger playoff. Since we are already down this road of playoff expansion and teams opting out of bowl games, to me this is the only way to still have a full slate of meaningful games to take the place of the old bowl game system.

ETA: While I like the idea of home playoff games, I think the economic impact that a neutral site game brings to a city might end up being more valuable. And the TV product would still be very similar and probably generate the same ratings.

I don't know enough about how the current bowl system operates, but I would imagine that the host cities give quite a bit to be able to host these neutral site games

tsuag10 said:

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I'm completely OK with playoff home games. This is more about abolishing the current bowl system and transitioning to a larger playoff. Since we are already down this road of playoff expansion and teams opting out of bowl games, to me this is the only way to still have a full slate of meaningful games to take the place of the old bowl game system.

ETA: While I like the idea of home playoff games, I think the economic impact that a neutral site game brings to a city might end up being more valuable. And the TV product would still be very similar and probably generate the same ratings.

I don't know enough about how the current bowl system operates, but I would imagine that the host cities give quite a bit to be able to host these neutral site games

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I'm with you -- once bowls became opt-out exhibitions, the writing was on the wall. The only way to make them matter again is to fold them directly into the playoff structure. Let the bowls sponsor the playoff games, whether they're played at a neutral site or on a campus. That brings the bowls back to relevance without forcing fans to watch two 66 teams play for nothing.

The big question, then, is how to structure the playoff especially what to do with the Power 4 Championship Games.

My view is to keep the CCGs and make them meaningful by treating them as the first round of the playoff. That's why I think the top 8 seeds should be:

Power 4 Champions (Seeds 1 - 4)
Power 4 Runners-Up (Seeds 5 - 8)

Those eight teams get byes into the Sweet 16. That's their reward for playing their way into a CCG. Yes, occasionally a Duke or BYU gets in as a 7 or 8, but in the Sweet 16 they'd immediately run into an SEC or Big Ten Wild Card team and the bracket would sort itself out on the field, not in a committee room.

Then Seeds 9 - 24 play a Wild Card round, mid-tier bowls can host those games and instantly become nationally relevant again or the bowl sponsor can sponsor wild-card on campus games.

But that's just one way to configure it. There are plenty of paths to a functioning 24-team setup.

So I'm genuinely curious how would you structure the seeding and the byes if you were in charge?

Would you keep CCGs? Scrap them? Use computers? A committee? A blended system?
Since the sport is already driven by TV money, NIL, and expansion, some form of a bowl-integrated 24-team playoff feels inevitable. The real question is what version so we want to see.
How would you build it?

Lominac 91

I haven't thought that far yet. That's why I posted it here for the Zoo hive mind to work out.

BMX Bandit said:

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when they move to 24 teams (which will eventually happen), it will be with more home games. the aren't going to pass up the revenue for a home game compared to paying two teams to travel for a 24 seed playing the 9 seed game in Shreveport.

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This
The Bowls currently involved in the playoff are not going anywhere.
I think it will Goto 2 rounds of home games but when it gets to quarterfinals we will keep the current system / bowls currently in place.

It all falls apart the first time ND lands on the wrong side of the bubble.

Iowaggie said:

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There is no reason to have bowls anywhere near the playoffs. And given the transfer portal, NIL, coaches leaving, and teams losing money, I'm not sure there is any reason to have them even as exhibition games for G5 schools.


Please stop trying to use bowl games in developing playoff formats.

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Yep

Playoffs should be home games until the semi finals or finals

tsuag10 said:

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I haven't thought that far yet. That's why I posted it here for the Zoo hive mind to work out.

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Since you invoked the Zoo hive mind, I'll go ahead and get the gears turning and throw out a full structure for how this could actually work.

If I Were King -- here's how I'd build the postseason so bowls matter again, conference championships matter again, and everything gets settled on the field, not in a committee room.

1. Power 4 Conference Championships = Automatic Byes (Seeds 1 - 8)

Each Power 4 conference determines its top two teams however it wants. Those teams play in the CCG.

• Winners: Seeds 1 - 4
• Runners-up: Seeds 5 - 8
• All eight teams earn byes into the Sweet 16.

This keeps CCGs meaningful and rewards teams that play (and survive) a 13th elite-level game.

However, although the conferences pick the teams, a committee/system seeds them using the same criteria applied to the 16 Wild Card teams discussed below. This is done one time only, right after the CCGs. From that point, everything is decided on the field.

2. Wild Card Teams (Seeds 9 - 24)

Sixteen additional teams are selected and seeded using:

• Strength of schedule
• Record
• Analytics
• Eye test

A single "Selection Sunday"-style bracket reveal happens after the CCGs.

3. Wild Card Round: 8 Games, 16 Teams (On Campus)
Matchups (higher seed hosts):

• 9 vs 24
• 10 vs 23
• …
• 16 vs 17

Eight games, sixteen teams, all on-campus huge environments, meaningful games, major TV value.
Winners advance to the Sweet 16.

4. Sweet 16: Eight On-Campus Games

The eight CCG teams now join the bracket and host the winners of the Wild Card round.

• Every team in the Sweet 16 has played exactly 13 games, keeping things balanced.
• CCG participants get the reward they deserve.

5. Elite Eight, Final Four, National Championship Hosted by Major Bowls

Once the playoff reaches 8 teams, it shifts to the bowls:

• Elite Eight: Rotating among the New Year's Six.
• Final Four: Also NY6 rotation.
• National Championship: Rotated among the NY6 or add a 7th major bowl if desired.

This keeps tradition intact while giving bowls real meaning again.

6. Structure Summary

• Wild Card Round: 8 on-campus games
• Sweet 16: 8 On campus
• Elite 8, Final 4, Championship: NY6 bowls
• Seeds 1 - 8: Power 4 CCG teams, Committee/system ranked after CCG
• Seeds 9 - 24: Committee/system ranked
• Only one ranking all year after the 4 CCGs
• Everything after that is settled on the field

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How many of the non-playoff bowls do people really watch anymore? I would guess that the ratings are probably pretty poor.

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Non CFP bowls last year had 5 and 10 year record highs in ratings. They are just as popular as ever.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2025/01/espns-college-football-bowl-viewership-reaches-record-highs-for-2024-25-season/amp/

Everyone plays in an elimination season. Lose and you're done. Last team standing wins. Just one giant playoff and your season length depends on your ability to keep winning. Eventually all the weak teams are killed and only the strong remain. The football version of Hunger Games.

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Non CFP bowls last year had 5 and 10 year record highs in ratings. They are just as popular as ever.

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I'm convinced that most of the message board Playoff Architects are fantasy dorks who don't actually watch football outside of "big games," so they assume nobody else does either.

**** that. There are maybe 6 teams a year which have a legit shot at the natty. 24 teams, even 16 teams, waters the whole thing down. We should have an 8 team, max, playoff. Everyone else goes to some irrelevant bowl game. JFC, it isn't that hard. These people clamoring to expand the playoff are idiots.

Playoff Fix
1. 16 playoff teams

2. No automatic bids

3. No CFP spots for Group of 5 teams unless they are truly ranked as one of the top 16

4. No first-round byes

5. Home field advantage for seeds 1-8 in the first round

6. At least one Power 4 nonconference game for every Power 4 team

7. Strength of record and strength of schedule heavily weighted in ranking, not just wins and losses.

Iraq2xVeteran said:

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Playoff Fix
1. 16 playoff teams

2. No automatic bids

3. No CFP spots for Group of 5 teams unless they are truly ranked as one of the top 16

4. No first-round byes

5. Home field advantage for seeds 1-8 in the first round

6. At least one Power 4 nonconference game for every Power 4 team

7. Strength of record and strength of schedule heavily weighted in ranking, not just wins and losses.

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While the Top 16 ranked teams should be the way forward like you suggest, that is unrealistic and a waste of our time promoting it. The problem lies with the fact EVERY conference, P4 and G5 have to agree on the format. Hence why we have the auto bids and G5 inclusion now. Anything moving forward will also have to guarantee those conferences representation.

The way to resolve this is to adopt the 24 team FCS playoff format. 9 conference champions and 15 at large. The 15 at large will be the highest ranked teams outside conference champions. That's pretty much meets the top ranked 16 team playoff format getting the best teams included and also throws the G5 and weaker conferences like the ACC their bone to vote for it.

No way we need a 24 team playoff. 12 teams is fine…even #12 James Madison or #11 Tulane aren't going to win the football NC. So what makes you think anyone below that will be able to compete. No need to do it, just to do it. If they move to 24 teams, then it's basically 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality. So the teams at the bottom will them get to label their program as a Playoff team. So next year you'll have teams that were #24, #23, #22 and so on, saying, "we were in the playoffs last year!". Or if the team has finished down around #20-#24 for like 3 years, then they get to say "we have been in the playoffs the last three years!!". Woo hoo!!

I just hate the direction of everything with College Football is moving.

carl spacklers hat said:

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**** that. There are maybe 6 teams a year which have a legit shot at the natty. 24 teams, even 16 teams, waters the whole thing down. We should have an 8 team, max, playoff. Everyone else goes to some irrelevant bowl game. JFC, it isn't that hard. These people clamoring to expand the playoff are idiots.

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Here's the part you guys never seem to grasp: teams aren't static. They don't play in September the way they play in November. College football is the most developmental sport in America new quarterbacks settle in, schemes click, injuries heal, young guys grow up, momentum shifts.

If you need a real-world example, look at the 2012 Aggies.

A&M dropped two early games while Sumlin's system was still coming together and a freshman QB was still figuring out the speed of the SEC. By the end of the season?
They walked into Tuscaloosa and beat the team that went on to win the national championship.
Then destroyed Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

That team was playing national-championship football in November and January.

Under the old "only 4 teams allowed in" beauty-pageant model, they never even had a chance to prove it.

And that's exactly why expansion matters.

A 24-team playoff doesn't "reward mediocrity." It protects the sport from missing late-peaking teams that are actually among the best in the country. It recognizes that a stumble in Week 3 shouldn't permanently erase a team that becomes a monster by Week 11.

You don't get to claim "only 6 teams can win it" when the system is literally designed to prevent anyone outside the anointed few from even trying.

But hey, carry on pretending expansion is the downfall of Western civilization. Meanwhile, the rest of us would like to evolve past the four-team beauty-pageant era and actually crown champions based on, you know… football.

Go to 32. No Byes. First round at home. Second round at the Conference Championship Stadiums(and eliminate the conference championship games).