College Football Is Stale and Boring

[mdleast 8,262]

This thread reminds me (and forgive if already covered above as I haven’t gone back through all prior posts) how the ESPN talking heads on air and in podcasts in particular said at the beginning of the season that they were going to make an effort on not focusing on the playoffs and which teams were contenders for it so as to make all teams’ fans feel more engaged and relevant throughout the season. I felt like that thinking lasted for maybe 3-4 weeks before being abandoned (with no mention of its abandonment).

[Surly Bevo 24,696]

6 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

While we are on the topic of ESPN, they absolutely played a role in this. Big time CFB was a glorious and fun sport for about 100 years and none of us realized we were not having fun by hoping for a conference title and a big bowl win.  At most, we’d get a few regional sports columnists sniping at each other over who was the “real national champion” and then we’d all move on.

And then comes ESPN and sports talk radio. Talking sports men in suits— who had to fill up hours and hours of air time— began arguing for WEEKS about this shit and then also set about convincing us that we didn’t really enjoy the sport because a “true champion” wasn’t crowned. And we bought this bulllshit even though anyone can tell you that going undefeated and winning the Cotton Bowl was glorious and perfect and in no way tainted by the fact that maybe some Yankee school also won all their games.

A case study in creating a market then finding a product for it. 

 

There is a ton of truth in this.  Goal used to be win your conference by dominating your geographic neighbors and hearing the lamentations of their women.  Then some pollsters would figure out who did that the best and crown an MNC.  It was a very flawed system for determining a national champion but a lot more teams started a season with an achievable ultimate goal.

I mentioned this in Orange Bowl thread but you only have to look at how OU fans talk shit about Riley (and realize fresh butthurt there)or talk about how it was "time for Stoops to move on" when all those two did was run roughshod over the Big 12 on the reg.  You hear all that and understand how much that achievement is diminished in the current culture.   

[Bevo&Pevo 5,031]

I always enjoy watching all the UT athletic programs performing well. The current state of college football is why I enjoy college baseball more. 47 days until it starts.

[Pig Bellmont 8,691]

The playoffs must expand. 

[Tex-19 2,869]

Agree that the sport is going down the drain and the portal plus NIL will make it worse. There are no enforceable rules and now everyone is a free agent every year.

There’s a reason no other sport in the world operates with all 1-year contracts, no salary cap, and no draft. It’s fucking dumb.

And making it even worse is that this is all still technically cheating fueled by third-party boosters, so while everyone does it to a certain extent, the winners are just whoever’s boosters are willing to cheat more than the rest under the table. 

[Tex-19 2,869]

What’s really killing bowl games is the total acceptance of opt-outs. I remember it was a huge deal when Christian Mccaffrey opted out of whatever random bowl game. Now you have guys like the stud Pitt QB opting out of his school’s first modern NY6 bowl and no one blinks an eye. Wtf!

It actually seems more common now for NFL-bound guys to opt out than play (other than playoffs of course). So yeah, of course no one cares about even the NY6 bowls because the best players sit out. 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

1 hour ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Yeah, we should definitely look forward to Utah and Pitt in the playoffs while the second best team in the country sits at home. 

Second best team in the country - whether it is Bama or Georgia - already played the best team in the country - whether it is Bama or Georgia - and Bama won.

End of debate. Good luck next year, Georgia. 

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

2 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

i happen to think that it should be impossible for two teams from the same conference to meet in the championship game. it completely skews the balance of power, and provides much needed hype for recruiting. the committee did this on purpose, and it stinks to high heaven. sec! sec! sec!

in what other conference sport is that even fucking possible? why even have conferences if that can happen? we will never ever in our lives see a cowboys - eagles super bowl, and you know what? that's fine with me.

It is possible in just about every other sport, but just about every other sport also plays at least 2x as many games as football, so it is more noticeable in football. There are also at least 16x as many teams in the baseball and basketball tournaments, so it's much less contrived.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,151]

7 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

Second best team in the country - whether it is Bama or Georgia - already played the best team in the country - whether it is Bama or Georgia - and Bama won.

End of debate. Good luck next year, Georgia. 

What a stupid fucking post.

[Surly Bevo 24,696]

8 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

What’s really killing bowl games is the total acceptance of opt-outs. I remember it was a huge deal when Christian Mccaffrey opted out of whatever random bowl game. Now you have guys like the stud Pitt QB opting out of his school’s first modern NY6 bowl and no one blinks an eye. Wtf!

It actually seems more common now for NFL-bound guys to opt out than play (other than playoffs of course). So yeah, of course no one cares about even the NY6 bowls because the best players sit out. 

The structure with so many meaningless games makes the opt outs more acceptable.  There wouldn't be as many opt outs if a 12 or 16 team playoff started ~December 11th.  

Also the college game should seriously consider moving back to one signing day in February (which would seem likely if they start having mid December playoff games) and only having a couple windows a year where the transfer portal is "open" (much like European soccer does with transfer windows)

[hundredTT 576]

13 hours ago, Horn Dogg said:

The NFL was fun every week this year.  Never thought I would say that.  College sucked ass this year.

Yep, every week there’s a crazy upset in the NFL. And the games are usually very competitive. I never in a million years thought I would say the NFL just trumps college football. Even if Texas would be good, the the game as a whole is just so lopsided for the most part. Can’t blame anyone, Saban just completely dominates the sport. College football def need Texas and USC to bounce back if it wants to start healing. 

[Horn80 6,075]

53 minutes ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

I always enjoy watching all the UT athletic programs performing well. The current state of college football is why I enjoy college baseball more. 47 days until it starts.

Yep.  Baseball team is good again.

[XYZ 2,154]

It seems that expanding the playoffs to 8 or 16 teams wouldn’t stop Bama from dominating everybody.

[The Deuce 1,094]

3 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

of the 130 FBS teams, 6 have won a CFP game

that's less than 5% of FBS

that's not parity

What if only 16 teams out of 130 won a CFP game? That’s less than 13% 

would that be parity?

 

because if 4 different teams went each year (the most diverse it could possibly be), the maximum amount of parity possible would be under 13%🤷🏼‍♂️

[NWAustinDude 2,252]

If one's team is relevant, the whole sport is relevant.

If one's team is not relevant, then the older one gets, the more stupid college and pro football look, because the price of the time waste is high. And, the joy of fottball is only derived from seeing teams you hate fuck up.

Here's hoping Texas is finally on the track to building a relevant program again.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to shopping for new masturbation toys.

 

[Dutchrudder 11,115]

I can think of a few changes I would like to see. Not all are feasible, but it's a start. 

1. Portal eligibility should not start until after Bowl season. 

2. Portaling for sports related reasons should only be allowed once in a player's career. 

3. Opting out of a game should include opting out of your scholarship, room and board. Skipping a bowl game for selfish, non-medical reasons means you quit on your team. It should also work that the school gets to quit on the player, open that scholarship immediately, and boot them from the athletic program. Any other compensation should also be forfeit.

4. Schools should not be allowed to hire new coaches until after Bowl season is over. There should be at least a week between hiring eligibility and Portal transfer declarations. Then a few more weeks until NSD. No need to rush any of this during the off-season, give everyone all the info they need to make the right decisions.

5. Push back NSD to early March give more time to recruits and new coaches to evaluate offers. Players should not be stuck with a school after the coach decides to leave, so they need a bit more time between end of Bowl season and NSD to ensure that they don't commit to someone that won't be there.

6. Reduce the number of Bowls. So many shitty bowls exist, no team with under 8 wins should be eligible. 5/6 wins is a fucking awful season, don't reward shittiness with a trophy.

7. Make better Bowl matchups, drop automatic conference tie ins. Focus on good close geographic rivalries and put them in Bowls that are actually near their schools. Ohio State could be playing Notre Dame today instead of fucking Utah. 

 

 

 

[Guest]

You think it sucks now? Wait until we are in a 16-team conference with at least eight other schools that take football seriously. Instead of winning a bad conference only once every ten years, we'll go to winning once every 25. 

Between conference realignment and NIL, it's going to get even worse. 

I'd say I watch about 10-20% of the college football that I used to watch. If Texas gets good again I will be into it more, but not near how I used to be. The regional aspect of the game was a big draw for me. That's going away. And going forward, something about 18 year olds earning a million playing for the school just doesn't feel... right. (For the record, I think that NIL had to happen -- it was ridiculous that athletes weren't paid. But the way it is now ruins a lot of the appeal of the sport.)

[Vic Mackey 46,936]

16 minutes ago, XYZ said:

It seems that expanding the playoffs to 8 or 16 teams wouldn’t stop Bama from dominating everybody.

Maybe not but at least it can maybe open up recruiting a little. If these kids know so many more teams can be apart of the playoffs, they will migrate to other programs. Bama is still going to get theirs but the other programs getting some players they might not have can level the playing field a little.

I don't have a problem with a dynasty. I enjoyed the Pats dynasty. My issue is the path to get to it needs to be fixed and fast. 

I could not imagine being a fan of a team in a lesser conference or even a lesser team in a big conference. Every single year, you know you have no shot at anything. If FBS does not view the G5 conferences as legit, then split off and let them have their own season and playoffs. Crown their own champion

[The Deuce 1,094]

7 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

- it was ridiculous that athletes weren't paid. But the way it is now ruins a lot of the appeal of the sport.)

Once payment was allowed, it was always going to go this route. This path was inevitable.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, The Deuce said:

Once payment was allowed, it was always going to go this route. This path was inevitable.

Oh, don't argue that. And I think it had to be done. Still think it's going to end up being bad for the sport's appeal.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,145]

1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

The playoffs must expand. 

If it solved something I'd be for it, I just can't see what it will solve 

[tbone_ 14,025]

I find myself much less interested in CFB these days than I have been in the past. And that’s coming from someone who has been very passionate about it for the better part of 50 years.

To me the issue that capabilities aren’t spread around like they used to be. Yes it’s always been a games of haves Vs have nots (which is also an issue). But even given that, over the decades some years Michigan would be good, Texas could be good, Penn State could be good, Nebraska could be good, Colorado could be good, Fla St could be good, Miami could be good, USC could be good, Washington could be good, Florida could be good, etc etc. Not just the same 3, maaaybe 5 teams, year in year out.

That’s the issue for me. It’s just not interesting anymore. Where’s the passion supposed to come from if you know it’s all just big circle jerk for everyone not named Alabama or a small handful of a few others.

[Satchel 6,908]

1 hour ago, Tex-19 said:

What’s really killing bowl games is the total acceptance of opt-outs. I remember it was a huge deal when Christian Mccaffrey opted out of whatever random bowl game. Now you have guys like the stud Pitt QB opting out of his school’s first modern NY6 bowl and no one blinks an eye. Wtf!

It actually seems more common now for NFL-bound guys to opt out than play (other than playoffs of course). So yeah, of course no one cares about even the NY6 bowls because the best players sit out. 

Yep. It’s made the granddaddy of ‘em all a mere afterthought, which is really kinda sad.

[crimsonlonghorn 2,306]

1 hour ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

What a stupid fucking post.

Same, but perhaps more so. 

[Buzzrock 14,871]

[Buzzrock 14,871]

I find myself much less interested in CFB these days than I have been in the past. And that’s coming from someone who has been very passionate about it for the better part of 50 years.

To me the issue that capabilities aren’t spread around like they used to be. Yes it’s always been a games of haves Vs have nots (which is also an issue). But even given that, over the decades some years Michigan would be good, Texas could be good, Penn State could be good, Nebraska could be good, Colorado could be good, Fla St could be good, Miami could be good, USC could be good, Washington could be good, Florida could be good, etc etc. Not just the same 3, maaaybe 5 teams, year in year out.

That’s the issue for me. It’s just not interesting anymore. Where’s the passion supposed to come from if you know it’s all just big circle jerk for everyone not named Alabama or a small handful of a few others.

Ironically, the circle jerk bowl games have been way more entertaining than those awful two playoff games. I’d rather watch the lower bowls. Kentucky is driving right now to beat Iowa.

[WhatTheBuck 28,712]

Goddamn, Wan’Dale Robinson is a stud. 

[Underdog 28,457]

GDit! 
 

Fuck yeah!! 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,151]

23 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

Same, but perhaps more so. 

Let’s just seed the 128 or whatever teams and have 1 play 128, 2 play 127 etc. Winners advance losers pack up their shit after one week. That’s basically how your philosophy works out. 
 

Like I said, fucking stupid. 

[Underdog 28,457]

Fuckin’ A!!! 

[Bodhi 1,111]

23 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Goddamn, Wan’Dale Robinson is a stud. 

I'm a Nebraska fan and even I was happy for him when he transferred from NU to UK.  He is an unreal player but not very big.  Our QB was trying to get him killed throwing late and behind him down the middle of the field and our coach was using him as a RB when the rest of his backfield options sucked.  He was going to end up crippled if he stayed.

[Surly Bevo 24,696]

That chick is wrong

[mdmost 42,865]

Uh, that's a fumble. Ball coming out before the knee was down. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by mdmost

[MirrOlure 14,626]

Uh, that's a fumble. Ball coming out before the knee was down. 

What does that have to do with being stale and boring?

[tbone_ 14,025]

Ironically, the circle jerk bowl games have been way more entertaining than those awful two playoff games. I’d rather watch the lower bowls. Kentucky is driving right now to beat Iowa.

Yea I don’t have a problem with the bowls.

[Gatorubet 30,110]

I’m sure Vic is cooking himself up a nice big piece of juicy meat to satiate his anger.

Vic’s a cannibal?

[Disco Missile 456]

3 hours ago, mdleast said:

This thread reminds me (and forgive if already covered above as I haven’t gone back through all prior posts) how the ESPN talking heads on air and in podcasts in particular said at the beginning of the season that they were going to make an effort on not focusing on the playoffs and which teams were contenders for it so as to make all teams’ fans feel more engaged and relevant throughout the season. I felt like that thinking lasted for maybe 3-4 weeks before being abandoned (with no mention of its abandonment).

There's been a change, and it's for the worse.

HS ball was/is fun because you wanted to beat your rivals and win your district. If you made a deep run in the playoffs it was exciting, but not the focus. (Understandably, this was different for some schools that expected to win all the time).
College ball used to be like that. It was an amateur sport for young men and the focus was on beating your rivals and winning your conference. And it was fun. The bowls were fun. 
Now it seems like there's a hyperfocus on national rankings and getting into the CFP - and the BCS selections before that. And if that didn't suck enough, you can hardly call college football an amateur sport, or simple good fun. 

[mdmost 42,865]

College Football might be stale and boring but the Rose Bowl is still badass. 

[Farmerted 125]

Change thread name to “college football playoffs are stale and boring”

yesterday was a beat down 

[BERT 4,351]

Buncha old fucks bitching and moaning in here. 

[Dark Horse 2,263]

There's definitely a Nick Saban problem, and a problem with too few of teams stockpiling talent.  

The games yesterday were boring as fuck.  If the playoff was expanded, there could have been more competitive and interesting first round games, but Georgia and Bama would still be playing in the National Championship.

[dcar00 14,035]

2 hours ago, The Deuce said:

What if only 16 teams out of 130 won a CFP game? That’s less than 13% 

would that be parity?

 

because if 4 different teams went each year (the most diverse it could possibly be), the maximum amount of parity possible would be under 13%🤷🏼‍♂️

fucking math man...

[Bama Llama 1,447]

16 hours ago, Sir Ulrich said:

Had the Auburn RB went down in bounds then Bama is out of the playoff and ND goes to the CFP with a head coach in his first ever game. 

The storylines are what makes this game great and regardless of what happens in January the story of the season is told from September to November. There are many more I'm missing but don't sell the greatest form of football short just because Nick Saban exists. 

This exactly.  Of such details watershed moments can happen.  Colt McCoy turns slightly to his left or right on that fateful run early in the Rose Bowl and the present so-called Bama dynasty may never have happened.  We'll never know. But hell, man don't flush college football just because the perfect way to decide a champion hasn't yet evolved.  Give Sark a chance.  Enjoy the seasons as they pass.  NFL =/= college and that's good.

[MirrOlure 14,626]

Buncha old fucks bitching and moaning in here. 

Buncha pussy up in this thread. And not the good or fun kind

[HRSchenker 2,259]

I'm just not convinced that the playoff needs to be expanded. For what purpose? We already have conference championship games. What reason does Georgia really have as a qualification for the playoff? Yeah they're a good team but the question of whether or not they're better than Alabama was already settled on the field. 

What I think needs to happen is to restore the meaning of conference championship games. The teams that should be first considered for the playoff should be conferences champs and independents (let the committee sort it out). Or just say fuck the playoff and pick the top two after bowl season. 

[DougO 5,239]

The old bowl system was great. No championship game, but we got to argue about the polls at the end. In exchange, we got great matchups, almost every bowl was entertaining, they mean something, they were all championships, they were all for bragging rights, players didn't opt out. The BSC was the horrible idea that kept getting worse, then the travesty of the "playoff system" which is nothing more than the ESPN Invitational football tournament.

You wanted it. You got it. It fucking sucks.

 

[Surly Bevo 24,696]

2 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

I'm just not convinced that the playoff needs to be expanded. For what purpose? We already have conference championship games. What reason does Georgia really have as a qualification for the playoff? Yeah they're a good team but the question of whether or not they're better than Alabama was already settled on the field. 

What I think needs to happen is to restore the meaning of conference championship games. The teams that should be first considered for the playoff should be conferences champs and independents (let the committee sort it out). Or just say fuck the playoff and pick the top two after bowl season. 

So you would be in favor of (if the season ended this week) just saying, "ok KC and Green Bay go at it in the Super Bowl" 

Conferences are no longer small and or geographically aligned.  Like it or not this is now NFL lite and it's going to mimic it more and more.  

[Eskimohorn 5,615]

College football between two tough teams wanting to win is great. College football is being held back by post-season exhibition games and redundant conference title games.

All too often college football is robbed of more high-stakes competition.

Whats great?
Tradition
Diversity in schemes and styles
Massive fan interest at home games and student involvement

Whats holding CFB back?
Too many D1 teams
Unbalanced scheduling and shit out of conference scheduling
Games against D2 opponents. Shit football.
Redundant conference title games
Postseason exhibition games (bowl games)
3 weeks off between conf title games and playoffs (a real problem)
Committee selecting winners and not conference titles. This eliminate high-stakes competition when after games are played, judges determine who gets in.

In a perfect world, we’d make CFB a real sport among 64 teams in 4 conferences. Then you’d have 4 conf champs in playoffs.

[Michael Knight 12,898]

Bowl games are meaningless because of the playoffs and the obsession with a true champion. That need to determine the #1 team destroyed the sport for 90% of the fans because nothing else matters.  Winning a Rose Bowl used to matter, beating your rival used to matter.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Michael Knight

[Buzzrock 14,871]

I’m just glad that Fallout Boy didn’t have a new single this year so we didn’t have to hear it 100 times during every game.