Thoughts on Conference Championship Semi-Finals

[Dman374]

Radical thought here, but wanted to get thoughts on removing one regular season game and adding a semi-final round for the conference championships? I'm going to try to hunt down the source podcast I heard this idea from, but was an interesting thought experiment considering conference sizes and trying to get more attention/$$$/meaning back to conference championships in the expanded playoff era.

 

[JacketOff]

With the 12 team playoff it makes more sense to drop the conference championship games altogether than it does to add a semi-final game

 

[bensaysitathome]

With the 12 team playoff it makes more sense to drop the conference championship games altogether than it does to add a semi-final game

The 12-team includes autobids. I think this places a higher importance on championship games. I know conferences don't want to "eat their own" but it would be great for the fans.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

What will be great for the fans is the next round of expansion to 24. That would give more SEC/BIG fanbases hope and would make the regular season more meaningful as you wouldn’t be eliminated after a September loss or even an October loss. Imagine that -you could actually get better a s a team throughout a season and build to a successful ending instead of going to a meaningless bowl game in late December.

 

[WreckinGT]

The 12-team includes autobids. I think this places a higher importance on championship games. I know conferences don't want to "eat their own" but it would be great for the fans.

I wouldnt bank on those autobids being in place after 2026.

 

[YoungSting]

What will be great for the fans is the next round of expansion to 24. That would give more SEC/BIG fanbases hope and would make the regular season more meaningful as you wouldn’t be eliminated after a September loss or even an October loss. Imagine that -you could actually get better a s a team throughout a season and build to a successful ending instead of going to a meaningless bowl game in late December.

How does a regular season game get more meaningful if a loss doesn’t matter? Or is this a joke on the sec/big ten

 

[AUFC]

I've thought about this and am for a conference semifinal just because I think it is our one true shot to really get into the Big Dance. Finishing Top 2 in a conference with Clemson and Florida State is going to be a tall order but it wouldn't be unheard of to finish 4th and roll our dice with 2 one-off games. Hell, we did it last season.

 

[stinger78]

I've thought about this and am for a conference semifinal just because I think it is our one true shot to really get into the Big Dance. Finishing Top 2 in a conference with Clemson and Florida State is going to be a tall order but it wouldn't be unheard of to finish 4th and roll our dice with 2 one-off games. Hell, we did it last season.

OK. Why do we want to be in a national playoff with a team that finished no higher than 4th in our own conference? Is there really any upside to getting waxed by Ohio State, Alabama, or Oklahoma in front of millions of CFB fans?

I’m all for rebuilding our program to where we can win the conference again, or field a top 10 team. I would like to have seen that 2014 team compete in such a venue. We can get back to that point. Let’s do that.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

With the 12 team playoff it makes more sense to drop the conference championship games altogether than it does to add a semi-final game

This, plus drop one or two regular season games and expand the playoffs. But doubt that will ever happen.

 

[tomknight]

I can't imagine conference championships will matter any more. The whole point of college fb now is pay players, get to final 12. Nothing else matters.

 

[stinger78]

I can't imagine conference championships will matter any more. The whole point of college fb now is to pay players to play in the SECheat and B1G. Nothing else matters.

FTFY.

 

[Dman374]

Just remembered where I heard this concept, but it was Chip Paterson on the cover 3 podcast. Re-listened to it earlier today, and I agree with these two points.
1. 16-18 team conferences are insane (prob swells more than that), and tie-breakers with that many teams would lead to a lot of what ifs. Best way to solve that is a semi-final. Also, imagine a hypothetical last year game where Oklahoma State beat Texas and made the playoffs. I'm 100% certain they would get waxed once they got in, but it would make that game interesting, and there would be a lot more at stake for the underdog. Conference championships would mean something, teams are not resting starters, more $$$ to pass around the conference for a better TV product. Lot of upside. With that said...

2. Would only be interesting if auto bids for conference champs are still a thing. Get rid of auto bids, or expand the playoffs any further, then forget it.

 

[stinger78]

Just remembered where I heard this concept, but it was Chip Paterson on the cover 3 podcast. Re-listened to it earlier today, and I agree with these two points.
1. 16-18 team conferences are insane (prob swells more than that), and tie-breakers with that many teams would lead to a lot of what ifs. Best way to solve that is a semi-final. Also, imagine a hypothetical last year game where Oklahoma State beat Texas and made the playoffs. I'm 100% certain they would get waxed once they got in, but it would make that game interesting, and there would be a lot more at stake for the underdog. Conference championships would mean something, teams are not resting starters, more $$$ to pass around the conference for a better TV product. Lot of upside. With that said...

2. Would only be interesting if auto bids for conference champs are still a thing. Get rid of auto bids, or expand the playoffs any further, then forget it.

Get rid of auto-bids and I won’t be watching. I have no interest in watching 6 SEC teams play 5 B1G teams for an NC in anything, football included.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

How does a regular season game get more meaningful if a loss doesn’t matter? Or is this a joke on the sec/big ten

It ain’t that hard. Right now, you lose a game or two and the rest of the season is meaningless. In what other sport does a loss or two end a season? Heck, our conference is so mismanaged right now that FSU didn’t lose a game and their entire 2023 season was meaningless. An expanded playoff will mean every game matters even with a loss or two as you still have hope.

The real truth is the fans of college football have become warped because 85% of fans support programs that have zero hope. As a GT fan I fully admit that my team has no chance to win anything of significance and has just been going thru the motions for decades. But, I’m still willing to spend my money even though we have zero chance at anything. By expanding the playoffs you let hope linger into November instead of being squashed by the end of September for 80% of the fanbases. Right now, if we lose to FSU next August our season will be basically over. Then lose 1 more and we’re back to just going thru the motions. An expanded playoff into the 20’s or 30’s is coming because the TV money will demand it. Then you’ll see that every game actually matters more than “moral” victories.

 

[Vespidae]

. By expanding the playoffs you let hope linger into November instead of being squashed by the end of September for 80% of the fanbases.

The problem is, only the Natty matters. Fans DO check out by end of September. Conference championships used to matter. Let’s just expand the playoff to 134 teams …

 

[YoungSting]

It ain’t that hard. Right now, you lose a game or two and the rest of the season is meaningless. In what other sport does a loss or two end a season? Heck, our conference is so mismanaged right now that FSU didn’t lose a game and their entire 2023 season was meaningless. An expanded playoff will mean every game matters even with a loss or two as you still have hope.

The real truth is the fans of college football have become warped because 85% of fans support programs that have zero hope. As a GT fan I fully admit that my team has no chance to win anything of significance and has just been going thru the motions for decades. But, I’m still willing to spend my money even though we have zero chance at anything. By expanding the playoffs you let hope linger into November instead of being squashed by the end of September for 80% of the fanbases. Right now, if we lose to FSU next August our season will be basically over. Then lose 1 more and we’re back to just going thru the motions. An expanded playoff into the 20’s or 30’s is coming because the TV money will demand it. Then you’ll see that every game actually matters more than “moral” victories.

But you are arguing that a loss doesn’t knock a team out of the playoffs, so that game doesn’t mean anything. Which makes it meaningless, no?

And 95% of teams don’t belong in the championship game/playoffs. That doesn’t take away from us fans supporting and having fun at games that are big for Tech

 

[tomknight]

Just remembered where I heard this concept, but it was Chip Paterson on the cover 3 podcast. Re-listened to it earlier today, and I agree with these two points.
1. 16-18 team conferences are insane (prob swells more than that), and tie-breakers with that many teams would lead to a lot of what ifs. Best way to solve that is a semi-final. Also, imagine a hypothetical last year game where Oklahoma State beat Texas and made the playoffs. I'm 100% certain they would get waxed once they got in, but it would make that game interesting, and there would be a lot more at stake for the underdog. Conference championships would mean something, teams are not resting starters, more $$$ to pass around the conference for a better TV product. Lot of upside. With that said...

2. Would only be interesting if auto bids for conference champs are still a thing. Get rid of auto bids, or expand the playoffs any further, then forget it.

If a team is going to make the CFP playoff, there is no reason for them to not sit starters in the conference playoff. No value at all anymore in conf champs.

 

[Root4GT]

If a team is going to make the CFP playoff, there is no reason for them to not sit starters in the conference playoff. No value at all anymore in conf champs.

Getting a home game in the CFP or a bye is of value as is being a Conference Champion on it's own merit!

 

[stinger78]

The problem is, only the Natty matters. Fans DO check out by end of September. Conference championships used to matter. Let’s just expand the playoff to 134 teams …

Let’s just invite conference champs and the season suddenly matters. Add in 2-3 at-large teams to reward a top 10 runner up and you have it.

 

[WreckinGT]

If a team is going to make the CFP playoff, there is no reason for them to not sit starters in the conference playoff. No value at all anymore in conf champs.

You will have to worry about players choosing to sit out as well. In reality there is no 12 team playoff. You will still have the same small handful of teams that actually have a chance. For potential first round picks on those 8-12 seed teams, how many of them are going to risk 2-3 more games when their team has little chance of winning it all?