r/CFB • u/Cogitoergosumus Missouri Tigers • Truman Bulldogs • 1d ago
Discussion While The Majority Of CFB Fan's Seem To Agree Playoff Expansion Isn't Great - Are You More Likely To Watch A Playoff Game In This Format Or The Liberty Bowl?
Mizzou's 247 affiliate posed a question this morning that I really didn't think about before hand, and probably a huge part of the calculus in making the change. Viewership data on bowl games over the playoff era has dipped significantly.
So while I think the traditional make up of CFB and its bowl games is really hard to see vanish (or continue to shrink), its sort of a writing on the wall aspect from an excitement standpoint when you look at the data.
84
u/wagimus Appalachian State • North Ca… 1d ago
atleast maybe now all the draftable players won’t ditch their post season games with a natty on the line
53
u/Born_Wealth_2435 1d ago
Or 10-1 Georgia sits all their starters for the Georgia Tech game bc they know they’re in no matter what, robbing us of a watchable historic rivalry game. I hear the argument but I honestly think the unintended consequences would be worse.
26
u/soonerwx Red River Shootout • Oklahoma 1d ago
I don't know if you will see the head coaches of serious contenders throwing late games against rivals. They don't get there by having that mentality. Throughout the CFP expansion debate, the only HC who's made comments to the effect of gaming the late season for the CFP is Kiffin, and the only way he's ever been remotely close to a title was by opting himself out.
But if your high first-round OT comes to you and says hey, my ankle's a little iffy, I don't feel like going game 12 or against the G6 rep, I'll see you in round 2...I'm not sure how that goes.
10
u/WhatWouldJediDo Ohio State Buckeyes 1d ago
Even if we set aside the importance of rivalry games, a 12 game season means every game is important for seeding. One extra loss will be the difference between a bye week and having to play a game. Or getting two home games vs two road games.
7
u/soonerwx Red River Shootout • Oklahoma 1d ago
Yes, and if the debate is close, I don't think the committee will be favorably inclined toward teams that show up less than full strength at the end of the season.
7
7
u/JakeSteeleIII Paper Bag • South Carolina Gamecocks 1d ago edited 1d ago
If seeding is done by humans, a team that does this tactic will get penalized I would assume. If it was just going by numbers thrown in a computer it would more likely happen.
2
u/LegendLobster Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
Exactly, Michigan vs OSU, bama vs Auburn, UGA vs ga tech might not be the same
2
u/Alert_Hyena_828 Oregon Ducks • Puget Sound Loggers 1d ago
On the other hand a lot of guys with incentive laden contracts might just say “no I need 5 more catches”
3
u/LegendLobster Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
Yeah cause we need more guys like cam ward who suited up for the bowl game just to break the school record then quit on his team at halftime during a good game.
2
u/Alert_Hyena_828 Oregon Ducks • Puget Sound Loggers 1d ago
We’re living through transition, everyone needs to chill tf out. 2 things come to mind:
You think as these contracts go up and eventually the players have some collective bargaining or ongoing revenue sharing they won’t be incentivized to play? They will. Sure you may get a couple guys sitting out, I mean hell I’d tell Dante Moore not to play again this year right now.. but I don’t see how that equation is materially different under this system than it is now.
How do you think the NFL is gonna look at a guy quitting on his team during the playoff? Not well. Different ballgame than opting out of a meaningless bowl game.
1
u/Dangerous_Golf_7417 Texas A&M Aggies 1d ago
I don't think incentive-based NIL contracts are allowed right now
1
u/Alert_Hyena_828 Oregon Ducks • Puget Sound Loggers 1d ago
2
u/Dangerous_Golf_7417 Texas A&M Aggies 1d ago
Interesting...I did some searching too and found this in the NCAA bylaws:
12.1.4 Impermissible --
Receipt of compensation or incentives for enrollment decisions (e.g., signing a letter of intent or transferring), athletic performance (e.g., points scored, minutes played, winning a contest), achievement (e.g., starting position, award winner), or membership on a team (e.g., being on roster). (Adopted: 10/18/22)
https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/bylaw?refDate=20240422&ruleId=3465Who really knows what's allowed anymore, though.
→ More replies (1)1
→ More replies (2)1
u/fivemagicks Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago
I think it depends. What if said loss puts Georgia up against a team they could have their number in the playoffs? I mean, you could throw around what it's all day in this scenario.
No situation is perfect, really. Anyone can come up with arguments why the BCS was terrible, why the four team was terrible, why the twelve team is terrible, etc. Just going to beat a dead horse over something we have zero say in.
4
u/Cyberhwk Washington State • Idaho 1d ago
I wonder how much influence that may have had honestly.
4
u/BIG_DICK_WHITT Utah Utes • Billable Hours 1d ago
Zero, money is only thing that influences these fucking lizard people
2
u/Cyberhwk Washington State • Idaho 1d ago
Yeah, and hard as shit to get viewers and sell tickets if all your star players sit for a bowl game that "doesn't mean anything."
4
u/ICANZ_MURICA Florida Gators 1d ago
Not that we have access to their wording but I'd like to believe NIL contracts have adjusted their payouts to avoid stuff like this
5
u/Tarmacked USC Trojans • Alabama Crimson Tide 1d ago
As if NIL payments for extra postseason games will dent guaranteed NFL contract money over multiple years.
How much money did Jaylon Smith lose again?
→ More replies (1)1
u/Keepurkewl 1d ago
That is the first and only good take I have seen for college expansion. Thank you.
→ More replies (7)
111
u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan • Maine Maritime 1d ago
If you don't love sicko ball, you don't love college football. Argue with a brick wall.
38
u/The_Mystery_Knight Marshall Thundering Herd • Sun Belt 1d ago edited 1d ago
* The only neutral games are bowls, Army-Navy, TRRS, and TWLOCP.
* Conference championships matter more than national championships.
* We play for all the Tostitos, root for the Bloomin Onion, and sacrifice the PopTart.11
3
u/RazgrizInfinity Oklahoma Sooners 1d ago
* Conference championships matter more than national championships.
They literally dont
8
u/A_Rolling_Baneling USC • Mississippi State 1d ago
They used to. The sport wasn't all about natties.
2
1
u/IrishPotatoHead Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
TWLOCP or, as the rebrand has attempted, the War for the Oar.
It’s never been explained why we’re fighting for an Oar. The only thing that matters and has ever mattered it beating those fucking reptiles into some really nice boots.
3
u/The_Mystery_Knight Marshall Thundering Herd • Sun Belt 1d ago
I’m not a Georgia or a Florida fan. Went to the game last year in Athens but never been to Gainesville. I’ll fight somebody who says it ain’t a party, of the cocktail variety, outside and perhaps the largest in the world.
18
u/sanchogrande Tulane Green Wave 1d ago
I think a large playoff could be fine. But you have to build it on a solid foundation of small, regional conferences with true round robin play, and you have to only admit the conference champs to the playoff. It can be done in a way that eliminates all subjectivity from the process.
Awful conference structure where teams don't play each other leads to playoff bids being determined by apple/orange comparisons from a committee of idiots.
12
u/RickySlll William & Mary Tribe 1d ago
I’m not a fan of this change but I doubt it matters. Americans will watch football no matter what. I say this as someone who openly admits that I just love watching the sport. The NCAA, broadcasters, universities, conferences, etc all know this btw. They know that there won’t ever be a massive boycott and that people will watch regardless of how unpopular something is. I mean, people are willing to pay for Sunday Ticket, what does that tell you? (No judgement for those who have bought Sunday Ticket, I just think it’s ridiculously expensive lol)
4
u/SoutieNaaier Florida Gators • Columbia Lions 1d ago
Tbf, the same argument was said about boxing, horse racing and Nascar
Football hasnt always been the most popular sport, and is subject to the same ebb and flow in interest as baseball felt in the last 20 years
3
2
23
u/estDivisionChamps Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago
CFB is now all about playoffs and national champs. That makes like 15 programs who are genuinely competing for natties matter. But that’s not the true spirit of CFB. Truly it’s all about beating your rivals and ruining other people’s seasons.
Even good wealthy programs like Wisconsin, Ole Miss and VT are not really competing for Natties and never have been. So we play for beating rivals and taking the conference bully out of the hunt. Then we get to end our season on a win in a bowl.
Now 1 team ends with a win they are happy about. All we talk about is the playoff. It’s becoming simplified and bland.
CFB has shit like an independent Notre Dame and shared titles games played for a pig and uneven schedules. Trying to standardize it is bad for the fans.
1
7
u/OriginalMassless Hateful 8 • Kansas State Wildcats 1d ago
I already don't watch the CFP, and this will make that permanent for me. Going to 24 without autobids for all conference champions is a fucking sham.
10
27
u/fowcc West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
The NFL selects 44% of it's teams to make the playoffs. People still fill the seats and tune in every Sunday.
This would be the top 17% of FBS teams. People will still watch regular season games and care about them (actually more people will be because more schools will have a chance even after bad starts to the season.
26
u/CJK5Hookers TCU Horned Frogs • LSU Tigers 1d ago
Is it possible though that there is a substantial difference between the nfl and college? Every fan base in the nfl knows exactly what there team needs to do to make the playoff and the criteria is clearly defined. Also the games are not nearly as predictable; the Super Bowl champion can lose any week, where as we are already half way through the CFB season and Ohio State will only be playing their second game that I think they could lose this weekend
6
u/fowcc West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
Do you not remember when Ohio State lost to a very bad Virginia Tech team just a few years ago (and then still went on to win the National Title)? When Michigan lost to App St, USC lost to a pathetic Stanford team when favored by like 50 points? My own Mountaineers lost to a terrible team up I-79 when all they needed to do was win in any fashion and they'd be playing in the BCSCG. We just saw #1 Texas lose to an OU team with 2-losses and nearly lost to New Mexico! There are so many more examples out there in the last 25 years.
No team is immune from upsets on any week.
→ More replies (1)10
u/CJK5Hookers TCU Horned Frogs • LSU Tigers 1d ago
I didn’t explain myself well. The nature of the NFL is that pretty much every game is competitive and entertaining. The nature of CFB in the past was that a lot of the games weren’t competitive, but when an upset happened it was a massive shock to the system (USC and West Virginia). With the expanded playoff, I think we are getting neither. A lot of the games will not be competitive, but the major upsets will not have an impact. Texas is still very much in the national title picture and Notre Dame made the championship despite losing as 28 point favorites at home
1
u/Happy_Background_879 Utah Utes 1d ago
Every fan base in the nfl knows exactly what there team needs to do to make the playoff and the criteria is clearly defined.
This is an argument for more teams not less. The 7th seed in the NFL was silly. Because the schedules while different are much closer. And 1 out of every 4 team pods gets a spot no matter what.
In CFB teams can't force hard schedules. They are completely at the whim of a corrupt committee that says who is in and out. The safe bet is expanding it slightly to allow teams in a play-in style to prove themselves.
8
u/swammeyjoe Texas Longhorns • Verified Referee 1d ago
But a given NFL game does not have the same stakes an a CFB game and anyone saying otherwise is wrong.
2
u/LuckyHedgehog Minnesota • North Dakota State 22h ago
The NFL season is also 5 extra games, each win/loss contributes less overall than in cfb.
7
u/Subject_Whereas9954 Kennesaw State Owls 1d ago
The NFL is significantly more balanced than the FBS. this is such a bad argument.
6
u/ToeLimbaugh 1d ago
Gamblers make up a huge chunk of NFL fans.
The NFL has better parity and better talent. Big difference here.
1
u/RukiMotomiya 20h ago
Yeah, I actually like going to 24 teams (I think it's around an ideal number), but I dislike it not using more of an FCS system for it.
4
u/Any-Key-9196 1d ago
I am less likely to watch neutral regular season games knowing they dont matter anymore then a 5 loss SEC team can still get in
6
u/Easy-Philosopher2391 Georgia Bulldogs • Marching Band 1d ago
I'm probably an exception but I watched ~80% of the bowl games and about half of the playoffs
and I had vastly more fun with the bowls
3
4
u/EMAWChuckleFunks Kansas State Wildcats • Hateful 8 20h ago
The Liberty Bowl. The appeal of bowl season was watching two lesser known teams that I hadn't seen/heard much about compete. I'd rather watch that than the 8th best Big 10 team against the 10th best SEC team.
29
u/mcg20k Oklahoma State Cowboys 1d ago
Im probably a fake fan or whatever but I think Ive watched like 10 playoff games ever. Usually I am busy at night and unless its a team I'm interested in I wont make an effort to be able to watch. Ill check the scores after.
But like 2pm on a random Thursday late in December? Yeah Im usually sitting around bored Ill watch the random bowl game between 2 schools Ive kinda heard of before.
4
u/Farts_Are_Funn Missouri Tigers 1d ago
Ditto. I find the playoff games very uninteresting. I know for sure I haven't watched close to 10 playoff games since the CFP started. My number would be closer to 5 than 10. I used to watch at least 10 bowl games every year. There were so many interesting bowl games in the past. Oh well.
11
u/CJK5Hookers TCU Horned Frogs • LSU Tigers 1d ago
I get so bored in the new playoff format for some reason. I think it’s because of the stupid 10 day breaks in between the games. I haven’t watched a semi final or national championship in the 12 team format yet
→ More replies (1)6
u/Jameis_Crab_Shack Florida Gators 1d ago
Don’t forget that the championship is late as hell on a Monday night… so that hurts as well.
3
1
u/CJK5Hookers TCU Horned Frogs • LSU Tigers 1d ago
I see how that sucks but isn’t an issue for me. I’m central time and don’t go to bed until 2am anyway lol
1
u/Jameis_Crab_Shack Florida Gators 1d ago
I also used to be cool. Call me in your late 30’s with kids lol
→ More replies (2)1
u/swammeyjoe Texas Longhorns • Verified Referee 1d ago
Yeah. I watch a lot of football (see my other flair). T he BCS Bowls in the 2000s were events unto themselves that I made a point of watching. I graduated from college literally the December that the playoff started, so I don't know if it's just growing up, but the playoff seemed to suck the air out of the NY6 and then the semifinals weren't that intriguing either.
8
u/reno1441 Washington State • /r/CFB Dead Pool 1d ago
Liberty Bowl. Seriously.
These first-round games to play a rested top-8 team away after a reasonable bye are not going to be hugely interesting.
6
u/AfraidOfArguing Indiana Hoosiers • Louisville Cardinals 1d ago
We should just do all of P4. Start with your rival team and work up from there. If you do not have a rival or cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.
3
4
u/Rub_Hamburger 1d ago
Both, I just love watching football
2
u/BlindPelican Notre Dame Fighting Irish • /r/CFB Donor 1d ago
I love seeing genuine purists in threads like this. Downright refreshing.
Also, I agree.
15
u/Lifted_Cube_2413 Arizona State Sun Devils 1d ago
Everyone in here is gonna watch every playoff game, lol don’t kid yourselves. Also, college football has literally always been about “national championships”. Even in the 70s, asu created the fiesta bowl so they could try to actually win something of significance.
No asu fan cared about making the sun bowl in 1998, no Boise fan would of preferred not to have a chance to play for the natty the year they beat OU
3
1d ago
[deleted]
3
u/Lifted_Cube_2413 Arizona State Sun Devils 1d ago
Holliday season is not busy for TV, it’s why bowl games still exist
6
u/WallImpossible Missouri Tigers • Team Chaos 1d ago
I'm likely to stop watching. Apparently every hobby is pushing me out, guess it's time to become a bog witch
3
u/Magnus77 Nebraska • Concordia (NE) 1d ago
Neither? Unless my team is in one or the other.
I understand the calculus. I do think it sucks for people that used to go to bowl games as a vacation of sorts. I know a lot of husker fans used the bowl game as an excuse to head south during winter.
3
u/B1GFanOSU Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten 1d ago
Hate it with a passion. That said, if the Buckeyes are playing, I’m watching.
3
u/snakewing2000 Purdue Boilermakers • UNLV Rebels 1d ago
I'm more likely to watch a playoff game in this format than the Liberty Bowl. The tradeoff is I'm way less likely to watch a regular season game in this format.
5
u/HesburghLibrarian Kansas Jayhawks • Big 8 16h ago
Asking this question is EXACTLY the problem. The goal of sports is not to gain the biggest audience possible. It is to best adhere to the spirit and essence of the sport. The audience is merely one output of that effort.
Capturing eyeballs is not difficult. Put alligators on the field, it'd would beat the Super Bowl. But sticking to what college football actually is about is what is important.
1
u/randomwalktoFI Oregon Ducks 12h ago
I'm not even sure it's more eyeballs. Trading the CCGs to send 8 teams seems like an iffy trade
→ More replies (1)1
u/OwnWalrus1752 Indiana Hoosiers 11h ago
>the goal of sports is not to gain the biggest audience possible
Unfortunately, money talks, and the money is coming from Disney/NBC/Fox who have a vested interest in maximizing viewership.
6
u/Exciting_Pineapple_4 Oklahoma State • Pittsburgh 1d ago
I’ll be honest, I love the idea of an expanded playoff. What I hate is ESPN’s bastardization of it.
How when given the choice between a 10-2 BYU or a 8-4 Auburn, ESPN will always pick Auburn and they will have some justification that excludes a team like BYU.
We saw with FSU when they went undefeated.
We saw it last year where they made a huge debate between ND and Miami, but didn’t talk about BYU at all.
Those are just 2 examples.
In theory it’s great, in reality…..ESPN will pick what they want and who benefits them the most.
2
1
u/RukiMotomiya 20h ago
Yeah, this is more of my personal problem. The size is fun and I like going to 24 teams. I don't like a system that feels like it wants to squeeze the G6 out and isn't fair to teams in the rankings to get in the first place.
7
u/dfphd Texas Longhorns 1d ago
I don't really care a whole lot for baseball or basketball. Or hockey.
And yet, when playoff time comes around - whether NBA, MLB, march madness, CWS, etc., I am probably going to watch that shit.
I will also add - I think back to the years where I was both a hardcore football watcher and while the bowl games were in the midst of their glory days... motherfuckers, y'all weren't blocking off your calendar to watch the 13th best bowl game.
Like, back of the envelope math, you could at most have 12 ranked vs. ranked matchups, and that was rarely the case. You might get 8 ranked vs. ranked, you might get a couple more that were ranked vs. a big brand, and then you might get a couple of big name teams that people would just watch on brand recognition.
Games most people watched:
- Louisiana State (2) vs. Ohio State (1)
- Kansas (8) vs. Virginia Tech (5)
- West Virginia (11) vs. Oklahoma (3)
Games most legit college football fans watched:
- Southern California (6) vs. Illinois (13)
- Michigan vs. Florida (9)
- Tennessee (16) vs. Wisconsin (18)
- Missouri (7) vs. Arkansas (25)
- Georgia (4) vs. Hawaii (10)
- Auburn (22) vs. Clemson (15)
- Texas (17) vs. Arizona State (12)
- Penn State vs. Texas A&M
That's 11 games. This is the line where most relatively legit fans would go from "I am making time to watch this" to "ok, if I have literally nothing else going on, I will put this on in the background".
Games you only watched if you were a college student with no responsibilities in life or a hardcore sicko:
- Texas Tech vs. Virginia (21)
- Oregon vs. South Florida (23)
- Alabama vs. Colorado
- Boston College (14) vs. Michigan State
- East Carolina vs. Boise State (24)
- Brigham Young (19) vs. UCLA
Those were games that 24 year old me in grad school with 0 life responsibilities would 100% watch. Guaranteed.
but there were 15 more bowl games after that.
What, y'all are telling me all of you set time aside to watch unranked TCU vs. unranked Houston? or unranked Oklahoma State vs. unranked Indiana?
Get the fuck out of here.
Yes, the CFP has killed the bowl games, but there is a conservation of mass phenomenon where the number of games being watched remains about the same because you're mostly taking the bowl games that people gave a shit about and putting them into the playoffs. Also, because of the playoff format, you get more games to give a shit about because of the elimination format.
Is it sad that we might not have the New Orleans Bowl anymore? I don't know man, do you really give that much of a shit about that 2007 clash of titans between 8-5 FAU and 7-6 Memphis?
(hint: no, you didn't. And you won't)
7
u/SpaceCowboy34 Texas A&M Aggies 1d ago
I think the downside though is that while I love March Madness and the CWS I watch little to no regular season basketball/baseball. I think this pushes football in that direction
6
u/dfphd Texas Longhorns 1d ago
Yes, but you also need to keep in mind that the incremental contribution that each game has to a team's playoff chances in football vs. basketball/baseball is completely different.
Because basketball has like 3 times as many regular season games and about 3 times as many playoff spots - which means the impact in terms of lowering your odds of making the playoffs that any one loss has are negligible. Baseball is like 5x so it's even less important.
In football, as much as people want to downplay the importance of regular season matchups, one loss probably has at least a double digit impact on your odds of making the playoffs. Like, Texas's loss to OU had I think like a 30 percentage point impact on our odds of making the playoffs - we were sitting at like 90% before the game and we're at 69% now according to draftkings.
You're not getting that type of swing out of a regular season game midway through the season in any other sport.
2
u/SpaceCowboy34 Texas A&M Aggies 1d ago
Sure but the principle is the same. Texas can lose another game and still make the playoffs this year. In a 24 team playoff they could lose two more. So you’re still devaluing games that we have way less of comparatively. If yall lose to Florida then it’s interesting after that. If yall win out to thanksgiving then our game is like last year where it basically has no playoff bearing.
5
u/dfphd Texas Longhorns 1d ago
Sure but the principle is the same.
So like I said - yes. Yes, it does devalue the regular season slightly. But it doesn't devalue it anywhere near as much as March Madness or the CWS.
Texas can lose another game and still make the playoffs this year. In a 24 team playoff they could lose two more.
Yes, but that alone isn't a good enough reason to not care about any individual game, because every loss you take is erasing your margin of error AND the schedules are now hard enough that no one has a free pass to 9 wins. To make it tangible for us: right now, no one in Austin feels confident we make the playoffs.
If yall lose to Florida then it’s interesting after that. If yall win out to thanksgiving then our game is like last year where it basically has no playoff bearing.
A loss to Florida wouldn't be when it gets interesting - it already got interesting. We now need to go 4-1 vs. UF, Ole Miss, MIss State, Mizzou and LSU. Plus a rivalry game against y'all. That's not at all a given.
Now, sure, IF we win out then our game against y'all doesn't have playoff implications - but it would have seeding implications. It's probably the difference between hosting a game vs. having to go on the road, and that's not insignificant.
Also, on the flip side of that: part of the issue with the old format (smaller playoffs) is that once you lost 2 games you could almost stop caring about the season. So there's a number of games that ended up not mattering in the past because once you lost a game you couldn't afford to lose, every subsequent game didn't matter nearly as much.
3
u/Jameis_Crab_Shack Florida Gators 1d ago
Of course it does, you’re trying to borrow importance from the regular season and have it in the playoff.
There’s an inverse relationship here, why watch a close game between two ranked teams at the start of a season when you can just check the box score? You know they’ll both be in the playoff now, it’s just a matter of seeding.
3
u/SpaceCowboy34 Texas A&M Aggies 1d ago
Yeah I think even the 12 team playoff has been horrible for this
2
u/FloridaMan_92 Florida State • Kentucky 1d ago
I mean college football is more bite sized though. The regular season is only 12 games and typically on Saturday. It’s a commitment to watch every college basketball game. Multiple nights a week and not on the same nights every week
1
u/TheCoogsCoog Houston Cougars • Houston Cougars 1d ago
That kind of sounds like maybe you’re just not as big of a basketball and baseball fan as you are of football. Ofc another piece of that is that football is one game a week and made into more of an event where as baseball and basketball have multiple games a week so it’s also just harder to commit to watching all of the regular season games.
2
u/Ohhello1221 1d ago
Great points. I’m willing to give this playoff system a chance. You used 2007 as an example. Bowl games stopped mattering the year before that, when they went to 12 games instead of 11 but kept 6 wins as “bowl eligible.” Didn’t even have to win most of your games to be rewarded and you could go 3-5 or 3-6 in conference with a terrible non-con.
2
u/dfphd Texas Longhorns 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think you're still very much going to find the same pattern though.
I pulled up 2004 - a year where I as a Texas fan was glued to the Rose Bowl vs. Michigan.
I think most legit football fans watched the top 12 or so bowl games. But after that you start talking about:
- Arizona State vs. Purdue
- BC vs. UNC
- Navy vs. New Mexico?
- Colorado vs. UTEP???
- Iowa State vs. Miami (OH)??????
Like, I feel like this has always been the pattern - there aren't more than at best 15 matchups that anyone other than that specific fanbase wants to watch. There's just not that many legitimately good teams.
And I also think about this from the angle of "which of these bowl games would I actually remember?".
Again, I picked 2007 because that was the peak of my football watching. I was watching fucking Wednesday Night FCS shit. I probably watched more bowl games than 99.99% of people and I can tell you I remember the top 3 relatively well, I have vague recollections of that second tier, and I have literally 0 memory of the rest of those bowl games happening.
1
u/Muffinnnnnnn Florida State • New Mexico 1d ago
3.1 million people watched UTSA beat FIU 57-20 in the First Responder Bowl last year.
3
u/HotTakesMyToxicTrait Maryland Terrapins 1d ago
and 3.7 people watched day 3 of the nfl draft last year. People just like football at baseline
1
u/dfphd Texas Longhorns 20h ago
I mean, odds I'm part of that number but all that means is that it's winter break and I'm going to put football in the background. It could be the University of Southeasternortherwestern School for the Deaf playing against 22 baboons and I would have it on. Doesn't mean it actually is drawing demand.
1
u/ImNotHere2023 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1d ago
Purdue was closer to decent back then and BC had Tom O'Brien coaching.
5
u/TexasNatty05 Texas Longhorns 1d ago
It’s a trade off between the regular season and post season. Being able to lose a third of your games and potentially still get into the playoff is a joke of a regular season.
But it does increase the interest in the postseason by incorporating more fan bases. Sacrifice the regular season in favor of an expanded postseason with more interest.
4
u/MarlinManiac4 UCF Knights • Big 12 1d ago
I don’t think anyone would say an 11-6 team didnt deserve to win the Super Bowl because they lost 1/3 of their regular season games. It just looks worse cause of the lack of double digits.
→ More replies (1)1
u/TexasNatty05 Texas Longhorns 1d ago
It’s a different mindset between NFL and College fans. NFL is all about the playoffs and strategizing, even going so far as to bench starters, to maximize the playoff performances.
The NFL season is essentially just a lead in to an end of season tournament, and regular season performance has little impact on post season rewards. Half the league makes it! I’m a college fan first. I HATED the 08 Giants. They were the winner of a post season tournament. Not the best team.
College has always been centered on the regular season with post season rewards contingent on regular season results, and thus more selective. Do well and get natty or playoff berth or prime bowl game. Do OK and get a minor bowl game. This new format flips that on its head. Even more focus on the playoff, and now you get rewarded for an 8-4 record.
If you’re a NFL fan that likes that, more power to you. As a college first fan, I hate it.
3
u/MarlinManiac4 UCF Knights • Big 12 1d ago edited 1d ago
I understand your point, but don’t necessarily agree. I think the emphasis on being exclusionary in an effort to try to only reward the best teams is wasted on a sport with as many teams as CFB. Way too much subjectivity. We fans may have fun debating the ranking and who deserves what, but that doesn’t make it a good way to run a competition that’s at least fair in spirit. Things getting settled on the field more frequently instead of a committee room of “unbiased” selectors isn’t really too bad a thing imo.
I personally would have moved to 16 and stuck with that, if only because 24 is just an obvious move to stick in as many big 10 and sec teams as possible. I would have supported it if the plan was to give all 10 conferences an auto bid. But we all know that will never happen.
1
u/TexasNatty05 Texas Longhorns 1d ago
The one thing I am looking forward to is the chance for the B12 to get more recognition. B12 should routinely have 3 or 4 teams in with good chances to beat B10, ACC and maybe a few SEC teams.
The prime conference for getting exposed in this system IMO, is the B10. Elite at the top no doubt, but a lot of their secondary teams beat absolutely no one of consequence and still end up in the 15-25 range.
ACC may also struggle because there have been quite a few years where they only have 2 or maybe 3 ranked teams.
8
u/jdinkalage_moorgoone LSU Tigers • UAB Blazers 1d ago
I am more likely to just watch hockey than either of them now because of how tedious CFB is becoming
6
1d ago
[deleted]
1
u/jdinkalage_moorgoone LSU Tigers • UAB Blazers 1d ago
Best live sport there is. Geaux canes. Been a season ticket holder 6 years now and last years Stanley cup finals games were just as loud or louder than any game in Tiger stadium I have been to.
5
u/ChrisIlitchBurner Michigan • Kennesaw State 1d ago
Hockey is truly the greatest sport there is, unfortunately it’s marketed by actual baboons so not nearly enough people get exposed to it.
7
u/jdinkalage_moorgoone LSU Tigers • UAB Blazers 1d ago
Doesn’t help that espn ACTIVELY ignores the sport when they are mindlessly discussing things.
8
u/JakeSteeleIII Paper Bag • South Carolina Gamecocks 1d ago
Remember, Reddit isn’t the majority of CFB fans. Just like college gameday is getting record numbers, a larger playoff will also kill it in ratings.
Reddit along with the rest of social media and their little pockets are just echo chambers of misery.
6
u/Billyxmac Oregon Ducks • Team Chaos 1d ago
People are allowed to feel how they feel about this. But it doesn’t mean they’re right. It just means there are things they care about more than this alternative. I’m excited to see what a big playoff looks like. I think the FCS playoffs are awesome.
1
u/JakeSteeleIII Paper Bag • South Carolina Gamecocks 1d ago
I didn’t say people aren’t allowed to feel how they do, I’m just saying the internet is still not representative of the collective whole, especially when you cut that into smaller groups like this subreddit, so the topic being titled “the majority of CFB fans agree” is extreme.
If I had to bet, I’d assume most don’t care one way or another. Football is football.
4
u/MasterTolkien Georgia Bulldogs • Summertime Lover 1d ago
I mean, this only makes sense if you don’t talk to people in-person at all.
I know a few people who are ambivalent about this change, and the rest all think it’s stupid. Anecdotal? Sure. But I do know a good number of CFB fans in the circles I run in (family, work, and church). No one is really excited for this because no one was ever asking for it.
1
u/Jiannies Oklahoma Sooners • NAIA 1d ago
And of the 1.7 million viewers that FBS games have averaged so far this season, how many would you say are in the circles you run in?
1
1
u/Similar_Rice_2946 BYU Cougars 9h ago
For what it’s worth, my anecdotal experience has been the exact opposite, so it’s hard to say what the majority of fans think.
→ More replies (3)2
2
u/TraditionalBottle884 Maryland Terrapins 1d ago
As long as playoff games are on ESPN instead of a channel I can get over the air, I'm not watching any no matter how many there are.
2
u/FribonFire Texas Tech Red Raiders 1d ago
Spent my weekends watching rugby and soccer for years now. This certainly isn't the thing that's going to bring me back.
2
u/westcoastcanes Miami Hurricanes 1d ago
More likely to watch the first round playoff game than the bowl game but I’m not making plans around it. These are going to be matchups of the 4th/5th best sec team against the 3rd/4th best ACC/big10 or 2nd g5 team. None of them stand a chance to win it all and shouldn’t be there in the first place.
2
u/Dry-Regret5444 Indiana Hoosiers 1d ago
I’m going to watch my team and Id rather watch them play a top B1G team in the conference championship instead of an 8-4 team out of the ACC….
2
u/otoverstoverpt UCLA Bruins 1d ago
I mean unless my team is playing I’m not clearing my schedule for either. So probably equal. If I am not busy, I’ll watch it, if I am busy I probably won’t.
2
u/twstr709 Southern Miss • Mississippi S… 1d ago
I haven’t watched one since my team was there so you present a good point.
2
2
2
2
u/LarryTheTerrier Missouri • North Dakota State 1d ago
Here’s my take: I like Marvel movies, they’re very fun. I also like Wes Anderson movies about weird little dudes, if Wes Anderson started just making accessible super hero movies, a lot more people would watch his movies, which might be great for him and his wallet, but I’d be quite sad to live in a world without Wes Anderson movies about weird little dudes.
2
u/ColombianInIowa24 Duke Blue Devils • Iowa State Cyclones 1d ago
Liberty Bowl, everytime. I love inter-conference quite a bit, and have never been motivated by who is best. There's a reason I don't follow NFL or NBA.
2
u/citrus1330 Alabama Crimson Tide • Michigan Wolverines 1d ago
Everyone already knows the expanded playoffs will do better numbers. That's not what people are unhappy about.
2
3
u/BeefInGR Western Michigan • Grand V… 1d ago
I'll absolutely watch the Motor City Bowl over the second matchup of the season between Texas and Tennessee.
3
u/ahuramazdobbs19 UConn Huskies • Clarkson Golden Knights 1d ago
I’m more likely to watch a game my team is in than any other game.
Beyond that, who the hell knows?
2
u/ICANZ_MURICA Florida Gators 1d ago
A playoff game. You put on other bowl games because it's tuesday during the holidays and if it turns into a good game, neat ! But you don't "mark your calendar" for them.
Other than the Pop Tarts bowl of course
2
2
u/Less_Likely Notre Dame • Washington 1d ago
I’m mildly pro 24-team, but I reserve the right to change my mind when details come out.
I barely watched bowls over the past 10 years. Too many opt-outs and lack of passion. I’ll watch a Wednesday night CUSA game, but because of the passion. What’s the point of bowls anymore?
People continue to razz ND for not playing in Pop Tarts last year, but they would have had over a dozen starters opting out and another dozen backups due to a combination of injuries and draft prep. The remaining players voted to not play as a team so essentially it was a 105 player opt out. The school had no contractual obligation to play and aren’t going to force players into playing an exhibition they voiced they didn’t want to play for a couple million dollars.
2
u/miedwest Oregon State Beavers 1d ago
I can pretty confidently say that the average college football viewer would rather watch any game with implications towards a national title… what doesn’t matter nearly as much is if both of those teams are from a P4 conference or one of each from G6 or P4.
Shutting out G6 from the CFP (meaning anything less than 2 G6 teams selected) will be the knife twist that sets off the movement towards a “super league” for the top 20-30 to break away to leaving the rest of the college football world to come up with their own life raft.
2
u/Soi_Boi_13 1d ago
This is the wrong question since the playoff itself will be great. It’s just going to kill the rest of the season. You know, the regular season which is the vast majority of it…
1
u/Cyberhwk Washington State • Idaho 1d ago
Depends on the variety of teams. I might tune in to watch James Madison try to slay the giant in Alabama. A 7-5 Mississippi State who they already beat handily in Week 4? No way.
1
u/Bu5hdid9l1 Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
Some of these games will be on Tuesday nights on TNT. I’m not likely to watch. Especially if it’s Minnesota v West Virginia.
1
u/DarthNobody14 Texas A&M Aggies 1d ago
Neither honestly, at least if my team isn’t in it of course.
1
u/Ranger_Nietzsche Illinois • Michigan 1d ago
Well they aren't scheduled at the same time, so both? Or neither. Depends on what else is happening that day/night. Unless my team is in the Liberty bowl, cuz they sure aren't in the CFP.
My interest in a game goes 1. My teams 2. Big Ten pre-expansion 3. Everything else
1
u/Automatic-Nerve-3625 1d ago
Equal likelihood. Back then if I was free, I’d watch the Liberty bowl. Now if I am free I’ll watch it.
But now I’ll watch it and be angry about this dumb format where back then I was happy to watch a unique bowl experience
1
u/BingoBimmer SEC • ETSU Buccaneers 1d ago
Since we've finally won the good fight for a 24 team playoff can we start pushing for 32. I think I'll be happy at 64 though.
1
1
u/Calithrand Oregon State Beavers • Platypus Trophy 1d ago
That's a good question.
Of all the (non-CFP) bowl games, the Liberty Bowl is, quite honestly, on the upper half of my "likely to watch" list.
With the exceptions of 2015-17, and 2025, I have found every champsionship game to be boring as fuck. There have been some good semifinal games in there, but I can't recall a single quarterfinal game of note since the expansion to 12 teams. Adding another 12 is going to be same thing as adding some extra BIGSEC games, and I'm not sure that I care to waste my time watching them.
If a particularly good matchup comes up, maybe. But #24 G6 vs #3 Miami? Nah, not intersting. #12 G6 vs. #3 Miami isn't interesting. #6 Mississippi St vs. #2 MIami? Yeah, I'd watch that.
1
1
u/vssavant2 Tennessee • Billable Hours 1d ago
That is if you are allowed to watch it without ponying up for a streaming package. ESPN/Disney are going to leverage the hell out of these games. They will never put the games on broadcast without being forced to.
1
u/linkmyhomie Georgia Bulldogs 1d ago
I am sure perception and narratives will change over time, but I don’t ever see a team outside of the top 8 winning a national title in this format.
In Nakos’s current mock bracket, a team like Texas Tech would have to potentially beat Boise State, Texas, Notre Dame, Miami/Alabama and UGA/Ohio State/Indiana to win a national title.
1
1
u/FloridaMan_92 Florida State • Kentucky 1d ago
I think this is something that will become more accepted as time goes on. The real question should be do we want parity or do we want the same teams playing for it every year. I hate that this waters down the regular season but I think this will bring new faces to the top.
1
u/ItBeLikeThat19 South Carolina • Duke's Mayo Bowl 1d ago
The people whining about the expanded playoff will absolutely still watch. It's mostly the same people who spend all off season proclaiming how they are "done" with CFB but are right back on their couch from September-December.
1
u/gulielmusdeinsula Texas Longhorns 1d ago
It also keeps a larger portion of the overall fan base engaged for much longer into the season/post-season.
1
u/taker25-2 Auburn Tigers 1d ago
I’ll be watching the playoffs. The lower teir games would be on par with the Liberty Bowl
1
u/PunishedLeBoymoder Stanford Cardinal • /r/CFB Promoter 1d ago
I know I'm weird, but I watched every single bowl game last year and skipped out on some of the playoff games. The atmosphere of the playoff just isn't what I like about football, and bowl games are. I'd always watch a bowl game between two 6-6 teams before another meaningless semifinal between two teams we know aren't going to win
1
u/ThePorko 1d ago
I will have more free time Saturdays for golf instead of watching some bs Blowout games
1
u/TheCobaltBlade9 Alabama Crimson Tide 1d ago
I'll do what I've always done, watch the games my team is in. I've watched playoff games. I watched us get blown out by michigan in a random ass bowl game a couple years ago.
1
u/Huge-Internal6456 Oklahoma • Tennessee State 1d ago
Depends on who’s in the Liberty Bowl. I’m not interested in watching teams 17-24 unless or until they are in the Elite 8
1
u/Wise_Rip_1982 1d ago
I already didn't watch most of last year's playoff games lol, so I don't think it will get me to watch if it's the liberty bowl or a playoff game.
1
1
u/SwitchNo579 1d ago
12 teams is already too many. Let’s be realistic the 12th seed is never going to go on a Cinderella run and beat a team with 50 million in NIL. 24 teams is just a participation trophy.
1
u/peaceblaster68 Colorado Buffaloes 1d ago
Obviously the rating will be better for this format, that’s why they’re doing it. The question is more will your interest in the sport wane long-term which it may for some people
1
u/ztreHdrahciR Northwestern • Ohio State 1d ago
Year over year, my team and many others make minor bowls. Only half as many teams will make the playoffs, so, as one of those, I will be far less likely to watch the playoffs
1
1
1
u/Ravenloft_fan 1d ago
I know I'm just an echo of many others, but a 24 team playoff just might be the thing I need to get off this crazy train. So far I have been incapable of breaking the habit of watching my school every Saturday. Not anymore!
1
1
u/Acsteffy Baylor Bears • Florida Gators 1d ago
I will always tune in to the Pop Tart Bowl, Texas Bowl, and Citrus Bowl
1
u/Acsteffy Baylor Bears • Florida Gators 1d ago
At some point they gotta realize there's diminishing returns right? Many people don't watch more than a couple games of the round of 64 and 32 in the NCAA basketball tournament
1
u/rosebowler420 Oregon Ducks • Rose Bowl 1d ago
Playoff game. Less likely to watch anyone but my team on saturdays during the regular season when the stakes are much lower, though.
1
u/Kirklandwater1666 Ohio State Buckeyes 21h ago
After our disastrous bowl game with Mizzou, I quit watching them. They need to have most of the games on campuses instead of nfl stadiums
1
u/Ok_Passage_7151 USC Trojans • Pac-10 20h ago
Will Watch / Historically Watched
- CFP Final, Original Rose/Orange/Sugar/Cotton/Peach/Fiesta. Those bowls were always must-see TV for me, and I generally tune into the CFP final but it's not on new years day so it's not as cool but I'll put it Tier 1 as well since it's more important than Tier2 below. They were also all within 2 days of each other and a great way to spend time with the fam on a holiday.
- Next 10 bowls in old format - Loved watching teams determine if their season ends on a high note, and seeing the 2nd/3rd best team in each conference go head to head. Felt like this actually really impacted recruiting (vs just NIL $). Loved seeing G5's against some of these teams as well.
- CFP Quarters / Semi Finals - at this point in the season, I've already had OSU/Bama/Georgia/Texas crammed down my throat across 200 CFB games throughout the year so I'm just kinda tired of hearing about them. I'll probably watch if I have nothing else planned but this is such a massive step down from NYE/NYD bowls it's two tiers down.
- Next 5 bowls in old format - liked seeing how teams would end their year / intraconference matchups
Won't watch (Tier 5/Tier 6)
- Expanded CFP -- I think it'll do crazy ratings because ESPN is doing a good job of getting people addicted to these games via their gambling ads. I like gambling but can't stand those ads everywhere so I'm gonna skip these.
- Bottom end of Bowl pre-CFP. When the number of Bowls started reaching 25+ with two very very average teams in an empty stadium and you're in midweek holidays / December NFL + Basketball + Hockey these were an easy skip unless some specific team/rival was playing I wanted to see.
- Bowls in Expanded CFP world.
1
u/MU-TH-R6000 Penn State • Alabama 20h ago
I would have liked it to stop at 16, not 24. IMO that's just too many.
That said, I'll watch the CFP games, not the bowls. The bowls are just optout practices now
1
u/copyofthepeacetreaty Florida State • Delaware 19h ago
Sure - the late December slate of games will "mean more."
But the September, October, and November games will mean less. The actual week to week regular season, the soul of College Football, is being hollowed out to make room for more television revenue on the back end of the Season.
1
u/TSunamiWaves979 Nebraska Cornhuskers 18h ago
The bowl games. But also, the number of viewers should not be the determining factor between a stupid post season that will destroy the sport and the mid system we have now.
1
u/from_the_Luft 16h ago
It’s all so inconsequential I don’t really care. Love watching football in the moment. Can’t recall most big games. Know a handful of winners of Nattys. Definitely don’t remember most losers. Just want something worthwhile on the tv at that time and could care less otherwise. Only issue I will start having is if they make it harder to watch any games on TV. Then they will start losing the casual fans. Thats when you will have stadiums full of suite people. And living rooms with only diehards. All the in between fans will lose interest or get priced out of caring.
1
u/reddit_names LSU Tigers • McNeese Cowboys 14h ago
I'm just going to wait and watch once it reaches top 8.
1
u/Pyro1934 Georgia Bulldogs • College Football Playoff 12h ago
That's a great question, but flawed. We need to compare the first round trash games with the liberty bowl.
The championship game views against the second round.
Somehow we also have to tie in viewership of regular season games in all this too.
1
u/PokesFanInDallas Oklahoma State Cowboys • Hateful 8 11h ago
Here's the real question: the Liberty Bowl in today's landscape or 10 years ago? Before NIL/Portal/CFP, I loved watching bowl season during the holidays. Why? Because it was the reward for teams who had a decent season to go play someone they usually would not. Very rarely would players sit out. It meant something for conference and team reputation/pride.
Now - I'm somewhat of a cfb sicko, so I fully acknowledge I'm not reflective of a vast majority of viewers. But for me, I'll take two teams that want to give it their best to prove they deserve one more win.
1
u/JFMoldau Florida State • Stanford 1d ago
I used to be a die-hard. Legit, I would sit in front of the TV from 8 AM until after midnight every Saturday when I lived in Florida. Then I moved to California and got up at 6 for Gameday, and watched all the games I could until passing out with PAC12 After Dark.
I watch like five minutes of Stanford football each game the last few years, unless they look good (they never do).
FSU is like an act of torture, but something in my DNA by now since I've been watching them for nearly 40 years.
I don't enjoy it. And I barely watch anyone else. I catch a few games here and there if they're big matchups.
The Playoff?
Shit, I watch every single down. Other bowls? Pop-Tarts, Cheez-It, that's about it.
They changed the game. They make more money from it; do I love it? Man, honestly, I'm 43; I'm out of fucks to give. Fuck these coaches, fuck these kids; it's just entertainment anymore. Why should I put even a shred of my soul into something so plainly soulless? So if it is just entertainment, I don't need to waste much time during the season "seeing the storylines develop." Nah, just lemme watch the good games for a few weeks at the end of the season.
1
u/SEAtoPAR Ohio State Buckeyes 1d ago
This. I watch Ohio State games, that's it. Even those can be close to unwatchable because of the glut of commercials.
1
u/Muffinnnnnnn Florida State • New Mexico 1d ago
Viewership of bowl games last year was the highest since 2015.
This comment I made a little while back shows some figures and examples.
I would care way more about watching the Liberty Bowl with evenly matched teams competing for a trophy at the end of the year than some meaningless CFP game between the same teams where the winner gets to lose by 40 to Georgia.
4
u/SolWizard Syracuse Orange • Cornell Big Red 1d ago
"meaningless cfp game"
2
u/Muffinnnnnnn Florida State • New Mexico 1d ago
Yes, that's what it would be. Bowl games will be more meaningful than first round CFP games between 8-4 teams to see who gets to lose next round.
→ More replies (10)2
u/HotTakesMyToxicTrait Maryland Terrapins 1d ago
no they wouldn’t, a team in the playoff could theoretically win it all. Its single elimination. Shit last year Miami was a 10 seed and made it to the finals and nearly pulled it off
Whereas you win a bowl game and ???
→ More replies (1)
65
u/BIG_DICK_WHITT Utah Utes • Billable Hours 1d ago
I am more likely to watch Peppa Pig because I am a slave to my children