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That’s the real question I have; How do they find a way to make bowl games matter again? I don’t think there is a way, that plane has already left the runway. Once the playoff became the “end all-be all” it basically rendered bowls meaningless. I remember bowl season being one of my favorite times of the year, and now it’s nothing more than an opt-out bonanza.
I believe there’s several ways to fix CFB under its current construct.
Here’s my suggestions:
1. Since they expanded the CFP to 12, just expand to 16 & I’ll explain why and how in a minute.
2. Reduce the regular season to 10 games + 1 conference title games. Have one OOS game (rotate between a G5, & P5 opponent, no more FCS), & 9 conference games. Remove divisions all together across every conference and take the two top teams to play in the conference championships.
3. The Power 4 Conference Champions will be automatically ranked as top 4 CFP seeds. One G5 conference champion will be considered the 5th seed, & then 6th - 16th seeds will be determined upon all factors including AP rankings, SOS (as it can very dependent on strength of conference), etc.
4. Do Hockey-like 4 rounds meaning highest ranked team will always play the lowest ranked remaining seeds in the following rounds.
-Sweet 16 round will be home field for highest seed.
-Elite 8 round will incorporate & rotate between two Tier 1 Bowls (Alamo, PopTarts, Citrus, Duke’s Mayo, Gator, ReliaQuest), and rotate between two NY 6 bowls
-Final 4 will incorporate & rotate between two NY6 bowls
-CFP Final will use a NY6 bowl
5. The tier 1 bowls will now be viewed as important bowls like NY6. The Tier 1 bowls & the NY6 bowl not used in rotation for the CFP will be used for CFP teams ranked 17th - 25th + 1 at large who slipped right outside to top 25 at #26. (This will all help w/ perception and revenue sharing for all the participants)
6. All other bowl games should be incentivized for both players & schools, with NIL opportunities + future partnerships with sponsors. MVPs of said bowl games get a little extra cash towards NIL earnings, and there should be be bigger cash prizes towards winners vs. losers (revenue share)
7. Portal has 2 open windows
-Only after the season is complete, including all bowl games through the beginning of Spring Practice.
-Summer B through the beginning of Fall Camp.
A student is only allowed one transfer REGARDLESS of circumstance. If a second transfer is sought, whether they are grad, undergrad, hardship, etc. they have to sit out half the season. If a student seeks a 3rd transfer, they have to sit out full year. However, the exception will be if a HC leaves or gets fired, then all transfers are allowed w/o penalty/restrictions.
8. Get rid of the Covid rule. It’s now 4 yrs removed. 6th year of eligibility is the longest allowed due to health or multiple RS reasons
9. NIL should be facilitated only by students, their representatives, & 3rd parties that are of reputable companies (i.e Coke, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas, Puma, YouTube, Bleacher Report, etc.). There should be unlimited NIL opportunities in the commercial world; however, there needs to be a dissolution of “Collectives, and booster led fundings. Boosters should be allowed to only contribute towards the betterment of a University (Academic or Athletically), but not pay for play. This needs to be completely outlawed, & regulated.
10. NCAA is the Governing Body strictly to oversee student athletes still meeting the criteria being a student (GPA, eligibility), and any ethical violations by participating members like sign stealing, visit violations, pay for play allegations, etc. That’s it; the Bowl Subcommittee, and ADs will work w/ the NCAA by not for the NCAA.
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