How to fix college football

[Empirical Cane]

One word, relegation.

Ok, hang with me here for a second. For one, I hate the super conferences, but I’ll embrace them here.

This is how you do it:

4 super conferences, 16 teams each. ACC, B1G, PAC, SEC. 12 game schedule, 3 non conference games, must play at least two games against other super conferences.

12 team playoff. Top 4 seeds get a bye. You get a too 4 seed if you win your conference championship game. Losers in conference championship get into the playoff as well. There will be 4 at-large bids. Can be multiple from each conference, I don’t care. We will then re-seed the playoff. 1-4 are conference champs. 5-12 are others. 5 will host 12 at their home stadium, 6 hosts 11 and so on. After that, 1 will face the lowest remaining seeded team at home, etc. We play home games until we’re down to 4 teams. At this point, they play the bowl games, like how it is now.

Now, here’s where the cool part comes in…
We have a relegation game every year, so we don’t have scrubs. The bottom two teams from each conference will play a relegation game. The second worst team will host the worst team. The loser of this game gets sent down to a group of 5 conference. This happens every year.

The group of 5 will have their own “national championship”, every year. We will have 4 conferences just like the big boy conferences. 12 team playoff, same as the big boys. The teams that make it to the semi finals will get an automatic bid to one of the Power 4 conferences, with geographical location being he deciding factor as to what conference they go to.

This is the best way to fix college football. Are Bama/Clemson/Georgia/OSU still going to dominate? Probably. But, it will make everything way more interesting. Every game matters. We will see parody back in CFB. No Vandy’s/Duke’s/scrub schools in Power conferences anymore, because they’ll get booted, due to relegation

Yes. It will make a further parody of CFB.


Your point is taken though. There will more more of a refreshing at the bottom end of the SuperConferences than top.


With that said, there isn't that much difference between elite teams and everyone else.

With the right orgamizational leadership, CFB can have more than four teams at the top. It won't be 32, but there is room for more.

 

[Canesq]

As much as I dislike Alabama (jealous, tbh) the Bama poster is correct.

You can’t regulate mediocrit. Yes, Bama spends more on coaches and analysts and recruiting infrastructure. Too bad for everyone else. Reduce scholarships and enforce Bag Game rule violations and you’ve got something.

Yeah something needs to be done. I think if Saban was 50 and not 70 other teams would be more inclined to do something especially in the SEC but I think they rather wait it out until he retires.

Bama is a monopoly which is why you have to do something to target them. Making general changes isn’t going to stop them.

 

[TemplarCane]

Yeah something needs to be done. I think if Saban was 50 and not 70 other teams would be more inclined to do something especially in the SEC but I think they rather wait it out until he retires.

Bama is a monopoly which is why you have to do something to target them. Making general changes isn’t going to stop them.

They’re not a monopoly by any definition.

1. Reduce scholarships across the board.
2. Enforce rules against the Bag Game.

 

[Hurracanes]

Murder Nick Saban.

Dabo will be the next line to follow Saban’s blueprint and the NCAA to allow it.

 

[NC_Canes_11]

The only thing that would help is capping coaching salaries and limiting the number of off field staff you can have. It’s obvious the illegal benefits the top couple programs offer will never be stopped, so that’s the only reasonable fix.

 

[JD08]

Make the playoffs, lose a scholarship for the next two years. Win it all, lose two scholarships for two years.

Force parity, end dynasties.

 

[TheEye]

Make support staff count in your assistant coach limit. Saban has half the former Power 5 head coaches in Mission Control.

Have salary caps for coaches like the NFL.


Miami can’t be the ONLY program they introduce new rules for…

 

[villain]

Teams that play in national championship game lose the ability to add 5 scholarships for next year. Can't add those scholarships back in until 2yrs later. Teams that make the playsoffs lose 3

 

[OldhamA]

Dabo will be the next line to follow Saban’s blueprint and the NCAA to allow it.

Bullets are cheap.

 

[90scane]

Force Bama to the NFL!

 

[SFbayCane]

As much as I dislike Alabama (jealous, tbh) the Bama poster is correct.

You can’t regulate mediocrity. Yes, Bama spends more on coaches and analysts and recruiting infrastructure. Too bad for everyone else. Reduce scholarships and enforce Bag Game rule violations and you’ve got something.

The NCAA's hand was forced w/r/t the "bag game." The NIL rules will eliminate the bag game for the most part. The rest is up to individual institutions.

 

[TemplarCane]

The NCAA's hand was forced w/r/t the "bag game." The NIL rules will eliminate the bag game for the most part. The rest is up to individual institutions.

You’re right, NIL may well end the bag game, or make it less prevalent. Still, if there’s rules to be broken to help win, its inevitable they will be broken.

Again, reduce scholarships to spread out the overall talent.

 

[SFbayCane]

You’re right, NIL may well end the bag game, or make it less prevalent. Still, if there’s rules to be broken to help win, its inevitable they will be broken.

Again, reduce scholarships to spread out the overall talent.

There are some data points that support your argument about reducing scholarships. The NCAA never limited scholarships until the mid 70's when they went to a limit of 105 football scholarships. Prior to that schools like the Texas Longhorns would recruit and sign 8-10 of the top 20 HS quarterbacks every year just to make sure no one else could sign them. There were tons of stories of kids signing with Texas being told they were the only QB being recruited in their class then finding out 7 other QB's were signed. Not only was this before the internet, it was before the days of cable TV.

In the early 80's they went to 93 football scholarships because of the Title IX stupidity. In the 1990's when the Clinton Administration actually tried to enforce the Title IX stupidity the NCAA responded and went to 85 for D1 and 65 for 1AA. That's where we are today. Talent did spread out across many more programs as each of these reductions took place.

There might be room to go down another 5 or so but I think it will turn into an area where teams begin to cheat more. The bag game will end up looking more like an "honorary fellowship academic scholarship for urban youth who run sub 4.5 forties" for a couple years until they get some playing time then will be converted to an actual football scholarship. lol

 

[TemplarCane]

There are some data points that support your argument about reducing scholarships. The NCAA never limited scholarships until the mid 70's when they went to a limit of 105 football scholarships. Prior to that schools like the Texas Longhorns would recruit and sign 8-10 of the top 20 HS quarterbacks every year just to make sure no one else could sign them. There were tons of stories of kids signing with Texas being told they were the only QB being recruited in their class then finding out 7 other QB's were signed. Not only was this before the internet, it was before the days of cable TV.

In the early 80's they went to 93 football scholarships because of the Title IX stupidity. In the 1990's when the Clinton Administration actually tried to enforce the Title IX stupidity the NCAA responded and went to 85 for D1 and 65 for 1AA. That's where we are today. Talent did spread out across many more programs as each of these reductions took place.

There might be room to go down another 5 or so but I think it will turn into an area where teams begin to cheat more. The bag game will end up looking more like an "honorary fellowship academic scholarship for urban youth who run sub 4.5 forties" for a couple years until they get some playing time then will be converted to an actual football scholarship. lol

Regarding your last point, I doubt any player will take a fake scholarship and not play for a few seasons when they can play elsewhere now. Besides, if the number of scholarships are fixed at 75, for example, transfering a ‘stashed‘ player to football reduces the number of incoming freshman by 1.

We keep thinking up silly rules to prevent Bama and other schools from spending more. All the spending in the world means little if they can’t have all the players. Teams like Bama, UGA, and OSU will still have more talented players than most but they won‘t have as many and the players they can’t sign go elsewhere.

The root problem is the talent pool is collecting at relatively few schools, and this can only be fixed by reducing the size of the their pool. Rules about coaching salaries and administrative budgets are meaningless.

 

[SFbayCane]

Regarding your last point, I doubt any player will take a fake scholarship and not play for a few seasons when they can play elsewhere now. Besides, if the number of scholarships are fixed at 75, for example, transfering a ‘stashed‘ player to football reduces the number of incoming freshman by 1.

We keep thinking up silly rules to prevent Bama and other schools from spending more. All the spending in the world means little if they can’t have all the players. Teams like Bama, UGA, and OSU will still have more talented players than most but they won‘t have as many and the players they can’t sign go elsewhere.

The root problem is the talent pool is collecting at relatively few schools, and this can only be fixed by reducing the size of the their pool. Rules about coaching salaries and administrative budgets are meaningless.

Im largely in agreement with your sentiment here. Again, I think things are about to get better with the Portal and the NIL rules. Those are two very good fixes. Over time the net talent flow will be out of the powerhouse programs. And as already noted, the NIL rules will eliminate the bag game.


I'd simply like to point out that the NCAA fought these changes to the bitter end. It was the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit against EA Sports that set all of these changes in motion. In a variation of the famous Milton Friedman quote about the drug war, The role of the NCAA is to protect the Alabama's. That's literally true.

“See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true.”​

― Milton Friedman



And of course, my personal 'god' - Tark the Shark

 

[TemplarCane]

Im largely in agreement with your sentiment here. Again, I think things are about to get better with the Portal and the NIL rules. Those are two very good fixes. Over time the net talent flow will be out of the powerhouse programs. And as already noted, the NIL rules will eliminate the bag game.


I'd simply like to point out that the NCAA fought these changes to the bitter end. It was the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit against EA Sports that set all of these changes in motion. In a variation of the famous Milton Friedman quote about the drug war, The role of the NCAA is to protect the Alabama's. That's literally true.

“See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true.”​

― Milton Friedman



And of course, my personal 'god' - Tark the Shark


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Oh, I agree.

CFB is now a multi-billion-dollar entertainment industry and schools like Bama, UGA, OU, OSU, and Clemson are the headlining stars. Any change will be difficult to impossible, and can only change from within. Revenues need to drop such that the inclusion of more teams with a legitimate chance to win increases revenue. Conference rivalries and predatory behavior like the $EC poaching OU and Texas don’t help.

Like the NFL, the CFB powers need to come to the collective conclusion a balanced CFB landscape is better for everyone. The NFL in the 70s was a handful of teams and everyone else. Dallas, Minnesota, the Rams, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Oakland. Occasionally a down year by one allows another team a chance. Once. They realized as TV revenues skyrocketed they needed parity. There still are organizations that can’t get anything right, like Detroit, but there is more or less equal parity in the league. Teams can build a core, maybe, and if they do it’s almost impossible to keep it for long due to the salary cap and free agency.

On a side note, I’d be curious what the CFP TV rating have been on the West Coast and overall, with the same small pool of annual participants.

 

[bbcane]

My how things as changed. We used to be the ones they changed the rules for.

 

[MainLineCane]

The only fix for college football is scholarship reductions. This is the only way to approach parity. Drop from 85 to 75, 15, maybe 18 max per year. Would the usual suspects still have more talent? Yes, but the next tier and below would improve. Imagine taking 10 players each off Bama, UGA, OSU, OU, and Clemson and having them sign elsewhere. Now multiply that across the Top 25.

I do not believe a college football team needs nearly a four-deep roster to play 12 games, plus a few teams playing conference title games and the playoffs.

I am in favor of playoff expansion but it’s meaningless with the current talent pooling around a handful of teams.

Scholarship reduction is the surest way towards parity.

Stops these schools from tying up good talent that they seldom if ever use.

 

[504CANE4LIFE]

It's the coaching where Bama separates themselves from others....when your staff is full of former NFL coaches(head at that)you will put a better product on the field period. Nah will putting a cap on this or reducing that put an end to the superior coaching advantage, IDK but there or teams with just as much talent IMO.

 

[JgDaCane]

Make a salary cap.