5:16
Heather Dinich covers college football and has certainly had a lot to cover with the expansion of the playoffs. Who was the driving force behind all of this, Heather? It was Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. This is something that emerged from the Big Ten office around last February and spread throughout the Big Ten. And Dan, if you recall the reaction, people made fun of this, including people in the college football playoff leadership. And then, slowly, Petitti sent the message behind closed doors and suddenly the Big 12 likes it, the ACC likes it, Notre Dame likes it and, suddenly, the lone wolf is the SEC. Now everyone agrees, their discussions continue, and
the sport is on the verge of a radical historical change. What still needs to be resolved? Well, those are the essential details, and look, there are two parallel money trails involved. One is the price of conference championship games, because they will disappear in this model, and the other is the final price of this agreement with ESPN. And ESPN has something of a credit, for lack of a better way to describe it, because of these conference championship games. So, what is the true value of revenue? How is that decided? And there are also things like the SEC's stance of wanting each "Power Four" conference to play against 10 FBS opponents. And in theory, that's easy, everyone agrees, they want to do it. But here's
the thing: you have off-conference game contracts that are scheduled years in advance. So part of the conversation is: do we approve a vested rights clause, implement it gradually, or do a total cleanup? And if so, going back to the money, how does getting out of those contracts affect all of this, and when is draft day? Do the G6 conferences want to play their championship games? Because the P4s have to get rid of their own. The G6 no. So, all those "devil in the details" things are still developing. Okay, with 24 teams, how will this affect the schedule going forward? Okay, going back to that point about programming outside of the conference.
The hope and intention is that it will be strengthened. I hope you see more matchups like Texas vs. Ohio State. Athletic directors should be less afraid of losing a game because if you 're in the top 24, you're in the college football playoffs. But you're also competing for a better position. So, several sources have told me they believe the long-term schedule will likely consist of 10 opponents from FBS and/or Notre Dame, right? A team from the FCS, a team from the group of six. I think that will be the magic formula from now on Uh, Notre Dame enters the scene. They are already insured by contract if they have a certain rating, I think. But what does this mean for their future programming?
Well, for Notre Dame, I think it will be easier. There are two answers to that question. First, there will be no guarantee for Notre Dame in a 24-team playoff as there is now. Either you're one of the top 24 teams or good luck next year, Irish, right? So yes, there are no guarantees there. But in terms of scheduling, you'd think it's easier because the teams have to face another P4-level opponent. Therefore, there should be teams looking to program someone of that caliber. Notre Dame is certainly included in that conversation. And it will give us the format, direct passes in the first round, uh home games and then we get to the bowl games, uh
advancing towards a national championship. Yes, let's look at the big picture, from a panoramic view. It won't look that different from how it is today in terms of the season window, other than it officially starts in week zero and ends on Thanksgiving weekend , which is rivalry weekend. In theory, you have the selection day right around there, either that Sunday or close to it. The first Sunday in December, then, would be a week off for the teams that are in the college football playoffs. You have some time, you have a weekend to rest. That is a separate window available to the Army-Navy. The Heisman Trophy ceremony could be after the Army-Navy game, as it is now.
Um, the national championship is still at the end of January. We continue to have the same problems with the coach carousel and the transfer portal as we do now. That's not going away, but the top eight seeds would get a bye and then have a second-round match at home. So you have two rounds of games on campus, something that CFP leaders thought fans would enjoy. And I know I wasn't a big fan of the expansion, but I remember when it was one against two and I said if we could double this to four in my lifetime, I'd be delighted. And then we expand now, and then we'll expand again, and probably expand yet again, but how many games will the players play? What's the maximum number of games they'll play in a season?
17, and that doesn't change what you have now. So, if you follow me on this, with the current system we have, let's take Ohio State as an example. Ohio State plays in the Big Ten championship. They lose. They win all their games in the college football playoffs at all stages. That adds up to 17 games at this point. If you eliminate that conference championship game. You don't get a direct pass to the second round. You play first round, second round, quarterfinals, semifinals, national championship, it's still a maximum of 17 games, same count. Furthermore, players are more likely to stay with their teams because these are now playoff games, not the pool bowl or lawnmower bowl, and we've seen even stars,
key players, decide to stay. I can't guarantee that the coaches will stay, but it seems that the more playoff games there are, the harder it may be for players to say they're retiring and ending their college careers. In theory, right? I mean, it's such an individual decision, and again, it would still coincide with the transfer window and the coaches' carousel. I've spoken to people who say, "I hope to God that what happened at Lane Kiffin was a one- off." Leaving Ole Miss and going to LSU while you have a playoff team in contention to win a national title. But others have said: look, when you go down to 24 teams, you might have more guys like John Sumrall, who are in the mix for the playoffs from 20th to 24th, being courted by Power
Four teams higher up. So, that's going to continue, I think. But as for players quitting, you know, for one reason or another, there is an incentive, and some have said, look, this is basically replacing part of the bowl system from below in some of those early games. But the difference is that the incentive is that you can play another game. If you win that kind of bowl game, right? Will there ever be a central programming czar? You know, I met with NCAA President Charlie Baker earlier this week, and we talked about the separation between college football and the NCAA in terms of organizing the championship, and I don't believe it,
simply because it's a very separate entity from it. The NCAA takes the brunt of everything that's wrong with college football. Lawsuits, rules, arbitration, all claims go here in Indianapolis, and the national title, that's contested here in college football. And I just don't think there will be, I think this is the closest we'll ever get to uniformity, because you can't even achieve uniformity in conference schedules, right? They don't even play everyone against everyone. So that's how things stand. Uh, excellent information, Heather. Thank you and, uh, we'll have you back soon. Thank you. That seems very good to me.
She is Heather Dinich from The Mothership covering the expansion of college football.
