Category Archives: Scheduling

Georgia vs. Vandy or Virginia? What the 2025 CFP Would’ve Looked Like with 24 Teams

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This is interesting, if for nothing else, to see what might’ve been under the AFCA Board approved 24-team expansion.

Personally, I think the format shouldn’t have Tulane AND James Madison both in it, but it is what it is. I’d much rather see a first round Alabama vs. Texas and let JMU and Tulane slug it out against each other…but aside from that, most of those first round games seem quite entertaining.

We would’ve gotten some unappealing possible second round rematches, Alabama and Oklahoma, possibly Michigan vs. Ohio State, but a Texas-Texas Tech tilt would’ve been unique as would be a Notre Dame versus Ole Miss game…and I personally would’ve taken Virginia over Vandy and seen the Senator’s matchup of UGA-Virginia.

I’ll say that’s intriguing…but what would 2024 have looked like? Based on end of 2024 CFP Final Rankings, you’d have had this:

First Round:

#9 Boise State vs. #24 UNLV – Winner Plays #8 Indiana in Second Round; Third Round versus winner of #1 Oregon vs. Clemson/BYU

#10 SMU vs. #23 Colorado (!) – Winner Plays #7 Tennessee in Second Round; Third Round versus winner of #2 Georgia vs. South Carolina/Iowa State

Your number is retired! And YOUR number is retired! EVERYBODY’S number is getting retired! We made the expanded playoffs!

#11 Alabama vs. #22 Army – Winner Plays #6 Ohio State; Third Round versus winner of #3 Texas vs. Ole Miss/Mizzou

#12 Arizona State vs #21 Syracuse – Winner Plays #5 Notre Dame’ Third Round versus winner of #4 Penn State vs. Miami/Illinois

#13 Miami vs #20 Illinois – Winner Plays #4 Penn State

#14 Ole Miss vs #19 Missouri – Winner Plays #3 Texas

#15 South Carolina vs #18 Iowa State – Winner Plays #2 Georgia

#16 Clemson vs #17 BYU – Winner Plays #1 Oregon

First, for equity’s sake, you’ve got 3 G5 teams here, and I’m a fan of a Service Academy getting a shot at the tournament, for sure. By sheer accident, Indiana, as the lowest first round Bye seed, gets the easiest draw only because Boise State was gloriously overhyped and overranked for the purposes of sneaking them into the CFP12. If they knew if was going to be 24 instead of 12, maybe Boise State is ranked a touch lower. Who knows.

I still see a somewhat easier pathway here for eventual Championship game participants Ohio State and Notre Dame, especially since I think the 1-4 seeds would draw a potentially more challenging opponent in the second round than the 5-8 seeds. Alabama versus Ohio State would be an exception, but that’s Milroe’s Alabama and I think that Ohio State defense would’ve eaten Alabama alive. Just me thinking out loud.

Would Tennessee have beaten SMU or Colorado (yes) and see a rematch with Georgia? The only way to make it sweeter is to allow the third rounds to be played on campuses, make Tennessee head to Athens. YES. Some of the other potential matchups would’ve been unique…Clemson heading to Oregon, Iowa State in Athens…I was hoping there would be more mention of potentially more home contests in the expansion, but that doesn’t seem to be the appetite.

I’ll give it credit…it looks interesting, in both 2024 and 2025. I guess we’ll know soon enough, like it or not, if it’s this interesting when it gets played out…and also knowing that the Committee is really going to screw around with the 20th-30th ranked teams and will lilkely still screw someone in the process.

And if Notre Dame finishes 50th, do they still get in at the 24 seed?

Now, for further consideration…what if we dialed it back to 2018? What would that have included at the bottom half of the Top 24?

Let’s face it, there shouldn’t be a place where a 5 loss college football team is included in a Championship Tournament. Northwestern? And how the hell were they the 22nd ranked team in the nation at that point?

So it’s not perfect, maybe. We’ll find out soon enough.

It’s Come To This: Ransom Notes and Realignment

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Folks, this is wild. Utah Valley is currently the 1 seed in the upcoming WAC Basketball Conference Championship, but they have a little problem. Actually, one million problems.

While you might be thinking the same thing as I was – who the hell is Utah Valley? – to be clear, UVU is the biggest university in the state of Utah.

To state the issue simply, UVU is leaving the WAC, and, despite prior litigation, UVU’s response is “exit fee? We don’t need no stinkin’ exit fee”. They are leaving the WAC to join the Big West, which is a conference that contains most of the smaller Cal schools.

The WAC is instituting football programs for the 2026-2027 season, starting in July, and UVU had no desire to field a team, so there’s that. But have no fear, the money magically appeared.

Clemson and Florida State, take notes. In all seriousness, I doubt there’s a massive media contract to be bought out of for leaving the WAC, so that’s probably the key difference in UVU’s indifference.

Another Day, Another Dollar

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Bowl games are getting irrelevant? Too many? Well, not all of them…especially the ones we can wrap into a Power Four deal where rights are controlled by the conferences.

The leaders of the power conferences have been exploring proposals to dramatically change the financial structure and selection process of the non-CFP bowl games — at least those tied to the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten.

In one proposal shared with high-level administrators, a consortium of 10 bowl games — each pitting power conference programs — would be created and potentially sold on the open market, with its television rights controlled by the conferences themselves instead of the bowls. Presumably, these games will be played in existing bowls, but their participants would vary as the bowl system untethers from its traditional conference affiliations.

Could this mean an SEC team in the Alamo or Holiday Bowl? What about a Big 12 team at the Citrus or Gator?

What’s not to like? Five teams from each power league get tossed into a bucket, paired together based on attractive matchups, meet in interesting, new cities and make more cash than they currently generate.

ORLANDO , FL - DECEMBER 27: Pop-Tarts mascots perform for fans before the Pop-Tarts Bowl between BYU Cougars and the and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, December 27, 2025 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Pop-Tarts Bowl between BYU and Georgia Tech had the second-most viewers in non-CFP bowls this past postseason, just behind the Texas vs. Michigan Citrus Bowl. (Peter Joneleit/Getty Images) (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After all, the top-10 most-watched non-CFP bowls last year averaged a rating of 5.8 million viewers, per Bowl Season. That’s more than the average rating in the NBA’s Western Conference finals last year, which produced the champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The consortium plan provides flexibility in matchups, potentially incorporates new television partners (Apple, Amazon, Fox?) and, at least for the power leagues, limits the amount of bowl options at a time of opt-outs (perhaps not all bowl-eligible conference teams participate in a bowl?).

They could’ve just said “the deal would translate to more cash” and left it at that. The details would be pointless beyond that.

Also, something tells me that interesting new cities doesn’t include Birmingham or Shreveport. At least, it shouldn’t.

What it does likely translate to, if I’m reading the tea leaves correctly, is that some of the newer satellite bowls that don’t draw the desired ratings will start going the way of the dodo, while the corporate “P4 Bowls” will get increased ad space and hype from Mickey’s Money Making Machine until the viewership goes over what was communicated above in the piece.

Also it could translate to bowl games being streamed on whatever partner the conferences select, like Amazon or Apple TV, so I’d be interested to see how ESPN would capitalize if they didn’t have it on their own network.

If so, please know there’s something called Streameast out there. I won’t provide more details than that, but now you know.

Double Standards

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Posting without commentary:

Quality Losses

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Shot:

Chaser:

Nine conference games plus a triad of cupcakes. Fun stuff.

As a reminder, Georgia won National Championships playing 10 P4 opponents in both years, opening against #3 Clemson in 2021 and #11 Oregon in 2022. It can be done.

Or, it could be done. Now, if you’re having to play upwards of three more games at season’s end, I guess you want to have a few games to rest your players to make sure they can compete for a Natty.

When you’re in the B1G, you can rest them during most of your conference games, too.

To G Day, or Not to G Day

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That is the question.

They have a scheduled day, but this makes it sound like it is still on the chopping block.

What say you? Do you care about G Day, or is it a lost tradition like everything else in the game nowadays?

Thursday Thought Provoker: The Suckeyes Finally Drew the Short Straw

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Looks like Ohio State’s actually going to have to play teams with a pulse in 2026. Below is a graphic that shows how many AP Top 25 P4 teams each team will face in the coming football season. Ohio State stands alone with half their schedule being formerly ranked teams.

Not surprisingly, the ACC is represented largely in the lower part of the graphic, with Virginia scheduled to face 0 Top 25 opponents on their 2026 slate.

That bears the question…is the SEC overrated nowadays, and is the ACC underrated? Given what happened in the postseason, with the ACC having the best win percentage among bowl games, is this a fair representation of their season ahead?

The Mendoza Line

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The bowl season is churning along, and there’s much ado about nothing. Particularly this upcoming game:

I once had a colleague who switched schools as a principal and I asked him how he liked it, and he responded “a toilet is a toilet”. Such is life.

The debate on whether the SEC is overrated or the B1G is overrated might be as debatable as “less filling, tastes great”.

In other words, it’s a matter of perception. The SEC is propped up by an indescribable run by Saban in the 2010s, and B1G is propped up by tradition, “blue bloods” and media money. Not Mickey, but damned Yankee journalism that makes Paul Finebaum look unbiased by the most innocent of observers.

The B1G is undefeated this bowl season. The ACC sucks, but we didn’t need stats for that. The debate will rage on, but at what point does the scoreboard count? Forget the record, look at the opponents…and the SEC is eating its own this bowl season, with two matchups being SEC vs SEC. Stats don’t matter, but perception does…amirite?

So what’s the common denominator? Championships? Records? Does bowl season even matter?

And what point do Oklahoma and Texas even count as SEC teams?

Shuck of the Irish

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Just when you thought the Notre Dame noise had queited…BUT WAIT…there’s more!

Now that’s the way to lower the SOS and SOR needed for Notre Dame to not get in to the Top 12 of the CFP…relegate them to a G5 schedule (not that it’s much different right now). When schools hear that the most privileged team on earth gets preferential treatment in future polls, they’ll find a way to take away the credibility of your schedule.

I gotta say…I kinda like it.

And, thus concludes my series on the Irish this week. I hope.