re: 24 team playoff nearing approval

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Off topic but.........what realistically happens to these directional schools if they no longer get the big payday games?

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Financially subsidize them. Take whatever money they’re accustomed to getting and funnel it down to them through any means possible.

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what realistically happens to these directional schools if they no longer get the big payday games?

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What I'd like to see is they play their games Tue, Wed, Thu and larger schools use them to fill holes in their rosters caused by injury. A minor league feeder type deal. Allow these schools to play preseason games against Power 5 schools so they can make their budgets.

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At least these kids can grab some taco bell and take there girlfriend to see a movie.

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The good ol days of those fabricated sob stories.

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Financially subsidize them. Take whatever money they’re accustomed to getting and funnel it down to them through any means possible.

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There probably isn’t going to be room for that forever. That “welfare” money is money Jake or Jalen could be putting towards their Porsche Mission S.

The answer is that UAB and schools like them need to give up, get cheaper, and go to the FCS.

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I don't particularly think the regular season will be devalued compared to how it already is. The regular season has already been devalued by moving to 12.

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If 12 devalued it, then by definition doubling the number of teams will devalue it even more.

The value of the regular season has always been that individual games carried enormous consequences. Alabama losing to Auburn, Ohio State losing to Michigan, Oklahoma State losing to Iowa State or another top-five team getting upset by an unranked opponent could fundamentally change the national championship picture. That’s what made seemingly ordinary Saturdays extraordinary. Every game mattered because the margin for error was so small.

Expanding to 12 teams has already reduced those stakes. Compare losing to LSU in 2011 to the loss to UGA last Saturday. Expanding to 24 would reduce the stakes even further. A three-loss team losing its fourth game in November isn’t necessarily eliminated anymore. A rivalry loss might cost a team seeding rather than a championship opportunity. You’re not increasing the importance of those games simply because more teams remain mathematically eligible.

And there’s another unintended consequence you’re overlooking. If a team has already secured a playoff spot, what’s the incentive to risk injuries to key players in a late-season rivalry game or conference championship? The more you expand the playoff, the more you introduce the same strategic decisions that have diminished the importance of regular-season games in other sports.

You’re measuring the value of the regular season by how many teams remain alive. I’m measuring it by how much winning and losing actually matters. That’s what made college football different and better.

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We'll be pulling up old games on youtube of how it used to be and that will be our football season.

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Reminds me of watching NFL films from the 70s when players were warriors and the games were battles. The game will never be like that again.

I took a few days to absorb this and think about. Here is what I’ve come to:

pros and cons

I know most of us hate this, but here's how I see it.

PROS
- More access. 12 spots out of 138 FBS teams is tiny.
- Home playoff games. A first-round game in Bryant-Denny would be electric.
- Safety net for a team that loses early and gets hot late, which happens more in the portal era.
- If the SEC gets its 10-power-games requirement, it rewards tough schedules like ours.
- More money, which is why it's happening anyway.

CONS
- Kills conference championship games. No more SEC title in Atlanta. Which is pointless now honestly.
- Big late-season games lose stakes. The Iron Bowl could end up deciding seeding, not survival.
- Watered-down field. Three-Four loss teams become the norm, and the bottom of the bracket gets worse.
- Encourages scheduling cupcakes to get to 9-3, unless the 10-game rule sticks.
- More games and more wear on players, especially for lower seeds.

BOTTOM LINE: Bama will be in almost every year, but we'd trade the SEC Championship and some regular-season drama for it. The 10-power-games rule is the piece to watch. Without it, the format favors weaker schedules over SEC schedules.

Nothing's final yet. The deadline for 2027 changes is Dec. 1.