Is much better than auto byes or even auto invites.

"College Football Playoff leaders are inching closer to a 14-team playoff for the 2026 season, but sources have indicated that the proposed idea of the SEC and Big Ten champions receiving guaranteed byes is starting to lose some steam among conference commissioners following public backlash.

It's likely the details of the 14-team format aren't determined in advance of the TV contract, which sources said remains on target to be done in the coming weeks. CFP leaders want to ensure they are aligned on revenue distribution and CFP governance before signing the TV deal, and they have had multiple meetings and calls recently to make progress in both areas.

While there continues to be support for a 14-team field starting in 2026, discussions about how teams should qualify for the CFP remain a sticking point. Commissioners are still debating whether conferences should have automatic qualifiers and, if so, how many for each. ESPN recently reported that the Big Ten and SEC had asked that their respective conference champions receive the only two byes in a 14-team field -- an unpopular proposal that was met with significant pushback.

"Automatic first-round byes for the Big Ten and SEC is like the NFL saying the Cowboys get a first-round bye since they have more fans than the Bengals," TCU coach Sonny Dykes told ESPN last week. "How preposterous is that?"

Sources cautioned that as long as the format is up for debate, all options will be considered but that "some things will be punted" until after the TV deal is done. It's possible that CFP leaders will wait to see how the 12-team format unfolds this season, but sources have indicated they would like a resolution sooner than later."

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39684788/sources-cfp-reconsidering-auto-byes-14-team-format

TxAg76 said:

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greg.w.h said:

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Ugly said:

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14 is a stupid number

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12 seems oddly stupid, too…

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More like evenly stupid?

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Equally perhaps. But oddly in the sense that it stands out as nonsensical.

EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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The goal of 14 was to give the SEC and Big Ten conference champions auto byes…16 doesn't resolve with byes if you resolve naturally in four weeks…

I agree with Dykes

Quote:

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Big Ten and SEC had asked that their respective conference champions receive the only two byes in a 14-team field -- an unpopular proposal that was met with significant pushback.

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This is stupid as hell. No team or conference should be guaranteed byes in a playoff scenario. If they want to expand the playoff to make more money, they have to be prepared to play the games

EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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Why stop at 16 when we could go to 18?

This is just a negotiating tactic to quickly jump to 16 while there is money to be locked up.

Big Ten wants its media partners involved. SEC wants just ESPN. More likely poisoning the wel strat by Big Ten…

16 would be the best

wangus12 said:

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I agree with Dykes

Quote:

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Big Ten and SEC had asked that their respective conference champions receive the only two byes in a 14-team field -- an unpopular proposal that was met with significant pushback.

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This is stupid as hell. No team or conference should be guaranteed byes in a playoff scenario. If they want to expand the playoff to make more money, they have to be prepared to play the games

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Yep, if the SEC and Big 10 pushed for their champions getting a bye and others not, then that is arrogant as hell.

While 16 seems best since it's just like a basketball regional, the FCS I believe had or maybe still has a 20 team field with 8 byes, which is really similar to having 8 qualifiers and 8 play in games to get to 16. It adds a week to the. Schedule but gives room for 4 more teams and adds 4 more televised games. The smaller conferences should favor the 20 team format since they should get more spots.

Play 10 games, top 64 go into a double elimination tournament. So what if the season is long, they are professional athletes and classes matter less than ever.

Ag Tag said:

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EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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Why stop at 16 when we could go to 18?

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Because 16 means no one gets byes


I don't know why they seem intent on some teams having byes

Just go to 16 with top 5 conference champs getting suto qualifiers and the other 11 spots at large

Ugly said:

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14 is a stupid number

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They've never gotten it right. However, it is a lot better than the old bowl season.

wangus12 said:

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I agree with Dykes

Quote:

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Big Ten and SEC had asked that their respective conference champions receive the only two byes in a 14-team field -- an unpopular proposal that was met with significant pushback.

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This is stupid as hell. No team or conference should be guaranteed byes in a playoff scenario. If they want to expand the playoff to make more money, they have to be prepared to play the games

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Agree. 16 with no byes. Top 8 get home field in the first round. In the following rounds the highest ranked teams get choice of venue just like they do in the semis of the 4 team playoff now. Championship game at predetermined location.

Easy solution do away with conference championship game and got 16

NyAggie said:

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Ag Tag said:

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EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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Why stop at 16 when we could go to 18?

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Because 16 means no one gets byes


I don't know why they seem intent on some teams having byes

Just go to 16 with top 5 conference champs getting suto qualifiers and the other 11 spots at large

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Sounds like sips already pushing behind the scenes, auto bye, esipn only, arrogance involved!

EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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Or 32 or 48 or 64+4

NyAggie said:

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Ag Tag said:

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EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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Why stop at 16 when we could go to 18?

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Because 16 means no one gets byes


I don't know why they seem intent on some teams having byes

Just go to 16 with top 5 conference champs getting suto qualifiers and the other 11 spots at large

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If you don't get a bye what is the reward for winning the CCG
As I said earlier do away with the CCG of course the B1G & SEC want that one extra game that the revenue is not shared

Sq 17 said:

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NyAggie said:

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Ag Tag said:

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EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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Why stop at 16 when we could go to 18?

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Because 16 means no one gets byes


I don't know why they seem intent on some teams having byes

Just go to 16 with top 5 conference champs getting suto qualifiers and the other 11 spots at large

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If you don't get a bye what is the reward for winning the CCG
As I said earlier do away with the CCG of course the B1G & SEC want that one extra game that the revenue is not shared

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Reward is you get a higher seed and a first round home game against a much lower seed tgst is a much more winnable game

Even the loser of the sEC championship probably has a home game round one
And the teams that are in the playoffs but not in a CCG game which would be the 3rd place teams from the SEC and B1G would get week off during the CCG week

The Big Ten and SEC can dictate how they want to structure the playoff. For example, if they want to have first round byes and 4 AQ's (8 total AQ's) for their own two conferences, they can tell the other conferences that is what we want and that is final and there is nothing the other conferences can do to stop it now since the P2 have the authority.

Inside the college football TV contract with the CFP and ESPN

The Big Ten and SEC have AUTHORITY to determine the structure of the playoff moving forward.

The P2 flexed their muscles during the CFP negotiations and came out on the other side essentially now in control of the…

— Big Ten information. College football fan (@Genetics56) March 19, 2024

greg.w.h said:

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EllisCoAg said:

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if you do 14, might as well go to 16

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The goal of 14 was to give the SEC and Big Ten conference champions auto byes…16 doesn't resolve with byes if you resolve naturally in four weeks…

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Yes but starting with byes is dumb so the correct number should be 16, but 14 is better than 12 so that's good I guess. A better question is we are trusting that the same people who originally thought 12 was a good number are running the show.

just get rid of all automatic qualifiers -- no auto bids

the top 12 or 14 or 16

You are all wrong. Here is the solution:

It takes 7 weeks to play a 128 team single elimination tournament if you have exactly 128 Div 1 teams:
128-64-32-16-8-4-2.
Do this twice.

Split the college football season into a first and second half tournament separated by a week off.
First half and Second half Tournament Champions play each other for the title.
If the same team wins both halves, they are automatically the champion. The runner up teams from both halves of the season play a game to see who gets to play the already crowned champion in a shameles just for the advertising, Exhibition "bowl game."

Conferences can schedule as they like after their teams lose in each half. Pre-arranged matchups or just freelance it completely like an independent team. Complete Chaos for 15 weeks, but you get a "real" champion, every year.

It's Vanilla Ice Tuesday - "if there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it."
You're all welcome.

no byes

16 or 8 teams. 16 is better.

TyperWoods said:

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no byes

16 or 8 teams. 16 is better.

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Sure…but why? Why does the SEC pursue guaranteed access and the SEC and Big Ten pursue control over the format? Just saying you don't like this is typical nonsense.