2025-2026 College Football Season

[Phantom255x]

The new format netted us a Final 4 of Indiana, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon. I'll take that. A bit more parity. And lets face it, in the older system teams like Georgia/Ohio State among others would just be put into the Final-4 based on record/rank without much additional thought even though the playoffs are showing they probably aren't as great and lost to said-inferior teams (Miami, Ole Miss, etc.)

Yeah I think the part about the bye week is going to be an interesting debate/discussion. Maybe they do expand to 16 and just do it like a March Madness-style bracket with no bye weeks as someone here mentioned. I'm not opposed. If it's 16 teams, a few like Texas, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame would have made it in the field and I think been some interesting teams in the mix.

[Moranis]

SEC loses again.  Terrible post season continues.

Yes and no.  Is losing to the #1 team in the country terrible?  The SEC had 5 of the top 9 ranked teams.  Those teams losing to better teams isn't all that bad of a result.

the SEC has 3 post season wins.  And in 2 of those wins, it was games in which 2 SEC teams played and in those games, and the lower ranked team won.  Texas beating Michigan is the only other win. It is a terrible post season.

Do people really care about non-playoff bowls?

In the current era, it's all about the playoff.  Having 5 out of the 12 teams in the playoff is more impressive than winning the Wasabi Bowl.

I think those other bowls go to the general feeling that the SEC is consistently overrated.  Every single year they get the benefit of the doubt, and they probably shouldn't.  If they go 2-5 in the playoff with the 2 wins being against each other, doesn't that also support the point (now I get they are currently 2-4 and Ole Miss is favored and can still win the title).

The fact that Alabama got crushed in the SEC title game and didn't even drop in the rankings is crazy.  Those other games are played, they should absolutely matter.

[Moranis]

The new format netted us a Final 4 of Indiana, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon. I'll take that. A bit more parity. And lets face it, in the older system teams like Georgia/Ohio State among others would just be put into the Final-4 based on record/rank without much additional thought even though the playoffs are showing they probably aren't as great and lost to said-inferior teams (Miami, Ole Miss, etc.)

Yeah I think the part about the bye week is going to be an interesting debate/discussion. Maybe they do expand to 16 and just do it like a March Madness-style bracket with no bye weeks as someone here mentioned. I'm not opposed. If it's 16 teams, a few like Texas, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame would have made it in the field and I think been some interesting teams in the mix.

I think they are going to 16 and may just get rid of conference championship games to get that done.  I do think they'd still need the other conferences.  I'd do 2 lesser conference bids and then the next 14 best teams as long as there is at least 1 team from the 4 big conferences in those 14.   

So this year that would have been

1 IU v. 16 James Madison
8 OU v. 9 Bama
4 TTech v. 13 Texas
5 Oregon v. 12 BYU
3 Georgia v. 14 Vande
6 Ole Miss v. 11 ND
7 A&M v. 10 Miami
2 OSU v. 15 Tulane

Gives the top 2 seeds an easier 1st round opponent so an advantage there.  Since Miami is in, you don't need the ACC Champ Duke.  1st round games all played at home of higher seed just like now.  Then you just do the quarters, semis, and finals as normal.  The only question left is, should they reseed like the NFL does (like if they reseeded this year, Indiana would play Miami and Oregon and Ole Miss would play). 

I think we are headed to something like that. No byes, no conference championship games, just the best teams (with the 2 smaller conference schools getting a chance). 

[Roy H.]

I think they'll move to 16 soon, as well.  The byes aren't benefitting the top seeds, and there's more money in playing more games.

I'm less sure if they'd be willing to ditch the conference championships.  At least in the ACC, that game is a big money maker.

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One complicating factor in all of this is that the transfer portal opens during the middle of the playoffs.  That needs to change. 

[mobilija]

SEC loses again.  Terrible post season continues.

Yes and no.  Is losing to the #1 team in the country terrible?  The SEC had 5 of the top 9 ranked teams.  Those teams losing to better teams isn't all that bad of a result.

the SEC has 3 post season wins.  And in 2 of those wins, it was games in which 2 SEC teams played and in those games, and the lower ranked team won.  Texas beating Michigan is the only other win. It is a terrible post season.

Do people really care about non-playoff bowls?

In the current era, it's all about the playoff.  Having 5 out of the 12 teams in the playoff is more impressive than winning the Wasabi Bowl.

I think those other bowls go to the general feeling that the SEC is consistently overrated.  Every single year they get the benefit of the doubt, and they probably shouldn't.  If they go 2-5 in the playoff with the 2 wins being against each other, doesn't that also support the point (now I get they are currently 2-4 and Ole Miss is favored and can still win the title).

The fact that Alabama got crushed in the SEC title game and didn't even drop in the rankings is crazy.  Those other games are played, they should absolutely matter.

Agree 100%. SEC gets by on ?Strength of Schedule? every year because they play eachother on a never ending loop. They should be honest and just rename it ?Brings in most Money?. The selection committee should be embarrassed and deserves to get roasted. Having 5 of 12 teams in the playoff isn?t impressive if they end up showing that they didn?t belong.

[Roy H.]

Having 5 of 12 teams in the playoff isn?t impressive if they end up showing that they didn?t belong.

Which teams didn't belong?  Based upon what?

[Donoghus]

- Go to 16 teams so no one gets a bye.
- Move the first round up a week (Army-Navy weekend).  Find a new spot to put Army-Navy.  This also avoids the NFL conflict since anti-trust rules prohibit the NFL from having games that 2nd Saturday. 
- Make first round and quarterfinals on campus.
- Rotate the semis among Peach, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, Rose, & Sugar on New Year's Day in late afternoon and evening time slots.
- Play national title the following Monday night (at least a week's rest) to avoid NFL conflict
- Move the transfer portal date back. 

Honestly, I'd get rid of the conference championship games all together but I'm guessing money will get in the way of that.  If you eliminate those, then bump things up even another week and play the national title game on New Year's night except years it falls on Sunday.

This probably sucks for the bowl system and the Rose Bowl will be a problem but something probably needs to be done.