NCAA 2024/25 - NCAA - Bowl Season [National Championship Game Tuesday Jan 21st @11:30AM]

[aussiedude]

Saturday, December 21 @ 12PM
College Football Playoff First Round
#10 Indiana @ #7 Notre Dame
ESPN2 WatchESPN Kayo

Sunday, December 22 @ 4AM
College Football Playoff First Round
#11 SMU @ #6 Penn State
ESPN2 WatchESPN Kayo [TNT Broadcast]

Sunday, December 22 @ 8AM
College Football Playoff First Round
#12 Clemson @ #5 Texas
ESPN2 WatchESPN Kayo [TNT Broadcast]

Sunday, December 22 @ 12PM
College Football Playoff First Round
#9 Tennessee @ #8 Ohio State
ESPN2 WatchESPN Kayo



Wednesday, January 1 @ 11:30AM
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
#6 Penn St Vs #3 Boise State
ESPN WatchESPN Kayo

Thursday, January 2 @ 4AM
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
#5 Texas Vs #4 Arizona State
ESPN ESPN2 WatchESPN Kayo

Thursday, January 2 @ 9AM
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
#8 Ohio St Vs #1 Oregon
ESPN WatchESPN Kayo

Thursday, January 2 @ 12:45PM
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the AllState Sugar bowl
Caesars Stadium, New Orleans Louisiana
#7 Notre Dame Vs #2 Georgia
ESPN WatchESPN Kayo



Friday, January 10 @ 11:30AM
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Florida
#7 Notre Dame Vs #6 Penn St
ESPN WatchESPN Kayo

Saturday, January 11 @11:30AM
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
#8 Ohio St Vs #5 Texas
ESPN WatchESPN Kayo



Tuesday, January 21 @ 11:30AM
College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
XXX Vs XXX
ESPN ESPN2 WatchESPN Kayo

 

[juddy_Like]

You're judging on ONE season, and one game though. Give it a few years to fairly judge. And for other programs to strengthen. I like the new system as there is less likely to be SEC dominated bias come voting, and the same teams are not going to win the recruiting every year because they always make the play offs. A more open playoff will see the playing field level out more in time.

There will NEVER be a perfect system. There will always be some teams that play poorly in playoffs, but not their fault they won their games and the other "stronger" teams didn't. The old system more likely kept good teams out, than the current one will let poor teams in.

It's been judged already before a game was even played with the treatment Oregon got vs what Penn State gets.

I'll put it to you this way, in previous years PSU's games vs Ohio State and Oregon could help strengthen your arguments for being a playoff team or confirm if you are just not good enough. This year and moving forward, these games just don't matter.

In terms of recruiting rankings, well this just doesn't matter anymore in the world of NIL and one year contracts. If we're trying to get Cinderellas and smaller schools in, I'll argue the gap between Team 1 and Team 100 is even further apart now.

Yes the old system kept a lot of good teams out but we're not interested in good. We want to see the best play the best. Use Ohio State last year. They were very good but lost to Michigan in a 'play for all the marbles' game which made that game what it is. Should we reward their lost with a consolidation prize with a playoff spot? Equally our season would have ended with a lost in that game. No B10 title, No Rose Bowl, No Natty. The way it should be.

 

[AmericanCrow]

Power 4 will never tick off on 5 group AQs [and one would still miss out with Pac, MW, MAC, AAC, SunBelt, CUSA]

we don’t need sunbelt teams

 

[aussiedude]

the SEC already have some weak schedules. look at LSU, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Ole Miss. for next year. One of them will be a 1 loss team and get into the playoffs or 2 losses if they make SEC title game

They dont look brutal and the SEC still only play 8 games.

 

[aussiedude]

Indiana never recovered from the double blow of a bad redzone INT and then giving up a 98yd TD run. it shook them and never got into the game

 

[aussiedude]

Might be the first think Indiana have done well all night

 

[aussiedude]

General Booty didnt even make the list

Moh Bility sounds like a bad fake name. Some parents need to go to jail for the names they give children

 

[aussiedude]

Indiana's kicker is getting drafted just for his onside kick. 2 really good ones in a row

 

[juddy_Like]

Expanding it doesnt change anything. just lets more teams in. the top few teams will still make the semis.
This just gives us extra games and has more "smaller" schools a chance to get a big payday and help push them up or the exposure lets them recruit better like the powerhouses have exploited for ages.

Giving more teams a chance has made the season better because those 2 loss teams in November were still a chance.
In 5 years when balancing has been worked out and seeding issues are less we will see the expanded 12 [or possibly 16] team playoff in its final form.

NFL playoffs have bad games in the WC round. lets just get rid of them and remove division champs and have the 4 best records in each conference. or the AFL just get rid of the 8 teams since teams outside the top 4 almost never make grand finals.

We get more meaningful games then ever. Some people just want to watch the same schools every year. they can tune out till the Semis then. Let the rest of us have fun and watch more teams having good seasons rather then tear them down for a bad game. If Clemson beat Texas and the Longhorns also struggle does it make their season any less good?
Or ND blow Georgia out should they have been left out since Beck wont play?

If you want to reward smaller schools with participation spots, that's fine mate but we already had a system in place called the Bowl games. Yes they are "meaningless bowls" now but that's because we've somehow developed a system where its 'playoffs or fail' mentality.

Giving more teams a chance has also made big and highly anticipated games meaningless as the winner will still make the playoffs. What's the point in playing Oregon v OSU, Penn State v OSU or OSU losing to Michigan since the consequences are all the same. In previous years these games were massive as the loser would always generally mean being eliminated from the playoffs which gave the smaller schools a shot.

NFL and AFL more or less play on even playing fields where you have a salary cap and draft to even out the talent. By expanding the playoffs is like the AFL making the final series a Top 12 since we want to keep the season 'alive' for teams that we know for this year aren't in the top handful. Its cool if you want that but it reeks of rewarding mediocrity to me.

Again as I will repeat, we've had Washington, Michigan State, Cincy, TCU in the playoffs. Not sure if you would call these the 'same schools' every year.

 

[aussiedude]

If you want to reward smaller schools with participation spots, that's fine mate but we already had a system in place called the Bowl games. Yes they are "meaningless bowls" now but that's because we've somehow developed a system where its 'playoffs or fail' mentality.

Giving more teams a chance has also made big and highly anticipated games meaningless as the winner will still make the playoffs. What's the point in playing Oregon v OSU, Penn State v OSU or OSU losing to Michigan since the consequences are all the same. In previous years these games were massive as the loser would always generally mean being eliminated from the playoffs which gave the smaller schools a shot.

NFL and AFL more or less play on even playing fields where you have a salary cap and draft to even out the talent. By expanding the playoffs is like the AFL making the final series a Top 12 since we want to keep the season 'alive' for teams that we know for this year aren't in the top handful. Its cool if you want that but it reeks of rewarding mediocrity to me.

Again as I will repeat, we've had Washington, Michigan State, Cincy, TCU in the playoffs. Not sure if you would call these the 'same schools' every year.

If you dont watch to watch the extra schools then thats fine. dont watch, come back the 2nd week of Jan for the Semis.

Let the rest of us enjoy it. No one is forcing you to watch, you just chose to and want to shit on everyone.

and if regular season games lost their value to you, then thats a you thing and not CFB as a whole.
It reeks of entitlement, Just look at how bama fans and the school reacted to being left out with sooking over non conference games that actually boosted their SoS. How dare these no names think they can compete with the Michigan's or Alabama or Ohio St of the world.

Its the first year, there are growing pains with seeding and rankings. So people want to blow it up after Indiana play a bad game. F**k off.
So much revisionist history "Indiana dont belong" "TCU dont belong even after beating Michigan". Blowouts happen its sport. Washington wasnt a small name, people just ignored them for years because they were in the Pac12. the Pac12 as a whole was much better then people gave credit its just we scheduled the best to play eachother more and they would beat eachother so more often we would have 2-3 loss champs.

 

[aussiedude]

 

[juddy_Like]

If you dont watch to watch the extra schools then thats fine. dont watch, come back the 2nd week of Jan for the Semis.

Let the rest of us enjoy it. No one is forcing you to watch, you just chose to and want to shit on everyone.

and if regular season games lost their value to you, then thats a you thing and not CFB as a whole.
It reeks of entitlement, Just look at how bama fans and the school reacted to being left out with sooking over non conference games that actually boosted their SoS. How dare these no names think they can compete with the Michigan's or Alabama or Ohio St of the world.

Its the first year, there are growing pains with seeding and rankings. So people want to blow it up after Indiana play a bad game. F**k off.
So much revisionist history "Indiana dont belong" "TCU dont belong even after beating Michigan". Blowouts happen its sport. Washington wasnt a small name, people just ignored them for years because they were in the Pac12. the Pac12 as a whole was much better then people gave credit its just we scheduled the best to play eachother more and they would beat eachother so more often we would have 2-3 loss champs.

Bowl season used to be fun too until we destroyed it. You want the same to happen to the H&A season which is my point? Like why watch until the playoffs right?

If you think I'm being entitled, then no team would have benefited more from this format than my team.
Botch punt at MSU, ended our season.
Lose a random game at Iowa whilst being ranked #2, ended our season.
BS 4th & 1 call at Ohio State, ended our season.
But guess what... that's how it should be and what made those games important and memorable.

Not sure where you getting the "Indiana don't belong, etc" from as it wasn't from me. You are basically making my point in that all those teams deserved to make the playoffs and did make the playoffs. The only team that maybe got stiffed was FSU last year... a big brand program. Oh and blowouts do happen in sport yes, just not as often in the finals.

 

[nobbyiscool]

the "snap" is as soon as the ball is lifted. Just like the center cant take his hand off the ball once its placed on it until its snapped.

You sometimes see trick plays where the snap it like normal but on an angle to a TE in the backfield. or fake punts snapped to upmen.

Yeah exactly, those other examples they snap it like "normal" ie. between their legs. Old mate today didn't do that, he just picked it up and pegged it.

 

[aussiedude]

I dont know why we cant just be happy that now the games are being decided on the field and not in hypotheticals.

In 5 years when the kinks are fixed it will look much better. There were people who hated the 4 team playoff at the start, this will grow on people because at least now the games are decided on the field. Yeah sure there will be blowouts but that happened in the 2 and 4 team systems too.

Those regular season losses that now dont mean anything is BS, in the future that will be what costs you first round byes and on campus 1st round games will become a big thing, teams all try and make their stadium a hard place to play in and that should be no different in playoffs. If anything first 2 rounds should be on campus [i would say all but the championship, but thats never going to happen]
For the first time in forever a ND home game felt like a home game [take note NBC crowd noise is a good thing]

 

[Dirty Bird]

Watched the sports reporters ep i linked above. Really good discussion and everything like the playoffs, what changes should or might happen, if 16 would be a better number. the SEC/Bama. also talk about UNC/BB and other issues with CFB.

I like how they all think losses matter, but also it needs to stop with the power 2/4 because that makes it messy with the debates on stuff like 3 loss SEC team vs 2 loss from others and that the G5 is so undervalued. unbalanced schedules like like Notre Dame or Texas this season or Oregon next season which is their own making with super conferences there will always be teams getting weak schedules or harder ones.

I was thinking today RE Unbalanced scheduling.

Is removing divisions actually going to hinder conferences now due to giving some schools an easy schedule and the committee punishing them for that?

I see the logic in getting rid of divisions, why give us Michigan/Ohio State vs Iowa ad nauseum, when we can just let them play it out again when they're the 2 best teams (Were before this year). But does it lead to average teams getting an easy path robbing us of a better team who had a harder schedule? (Ie, Indiana in over South Carolina)

A part of me does wish we brought back divisions. I'd rather an average team win a division on merit and having a fair shot at the conference, then an average team getting in on pure dumb luck of the schedule. Probably why I hate there being wildcard teams in the NFL playoffs. I still think it's BS that the 2007 New York Giants got a 3rd shot at Dallas when Dallas already proved themselves twice.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Bowl season used to be fun too until we destroyed it. You want the same to happen to the H&A season which is my point? Like why watch until the playoffs right?

If you think I'm being entitled, then no team would have benefited more from this format than my team.
Botch punt at MSU, ended our season.
Lose a random game at Iowa whilst being ranked #2, ended our season.
BS 4th & 1 call at Ohio State, ended our season.
But guess what... that's how it should be and what made those games important and memorable.

Not sure where you getting the "Indiana don't belong, etc" from as it wasn't from me. You are basically making my point in that all those teams deserved to make the playoffs and did make the playoffs. The only team that maybe got stiffed was FSU last year... a big brand program. Oh and blowouts do happen in sport yes, just not as often in the finals.

But it wasn't the playoff that killed the smaller bowls.

It was players putting their health for an NFL payday first that diminished it, and NIL and/or Transfer Portal that killed them.

The fact that Marshall had to pull out due to losing so many players to Southern Miss. Or that Washington State should probably do the same losing a quarter of their team and half their starters and half their coaches is what makes those smaller bowl games a waste of time.

Here's a method I'd go with.

no bowls (other than the NY6 remaining as 1/4 and 1/2 finals)

20 team playoff
all 10 champs going in.
The top 4 champs getting a 1st Rd bye.

NIL has ruined the sport. But trying to find other ways for parity (giving lesser schools a hand in the recruitment trail) can mitigate the damage.

The Stupid plus one playoff was crap as it monopolised recruiting. But NIL makes it nearly unbearable now.

 

[aussiedude]

I was thinking today RE Unbalanced scheduling.

Is removing divisions actually going to hinder conferences now due to giving some schools an easy schedule and the committee punishing them for that?

I see the logic in getting rid of divisions, why give us Michigan/Ohio State vs Iowa ad nauseum, when we can just let them play it out again when they're the 2 best teams (Were before this year). But does it lead to average teams getting an easy path robbing us of a better team who had a harder schedule? (Ie, Indiana in over South Carolina)

A part of me does wish we brought back divisions. I'd rather an average team win a division on merit and having a fair shot at the conference, then an average team getting in on pure dumb luck of the schedule. Probably why I hate there being wildcard teams in the NFL playoffs. I still think it's BS that the 2007 New York Giants got a 3rd shot at Dallas when Dallas already proved themselves twice.

Im not sure there can be an even schedule with 18-20 team conferences. especially with the SEC only playing 8 games.
Divisions can make everyone stronger. the old Pac12 North was crazy at one stage with Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Washington St all being good and the South was a mess with bad ASU or USC teams making it into the title game. it made the North stronger but they beat each other costing everyone playoff hopes.

I saw one of the talking heads suggest if the SEC gets 4 AQ's then this year Texas and Georgia get in and dont play championship weekend, but instead Tennessee play Ole Miss and Alabama Vs South Caroline with those winners getting the other 2 spots. I cant tell you how much i hate that idea, but now worry that if SEC/Big10 get 3-4 AQ bids this might be how they do it.
We dont want a SEC/Big10 invitational playoff system where they get 8 spots and G5, ACC, Big12 get one and the last is whoever likely a SEC/Big10 team.

 

[aussiedude]

But it wasn't the playoff that killed the smaller bowls.

It was players putting their health for an NFL payday first that diminished it, and NIL and/or Transfer Portal that killed them.

The fact that Marshall had to pull out due to losing so many players to Southern Miss. Or that Washington State should probably do the same losing a quarter of their team and half their starters and half their coaches is what makes those smaller bowl games a waste of time.

Here's a method I'd go with.

no bowls (other than the NY6 remaining as 1/4 and 1/2 finals)

20 team playoff
all 10 champs going in.
The top 4 champs getting a 1st Rd bye.

NIL has ruined the sport. But trying to find other ways for parity (giving lesser schools a hand in the recruitment trail) can mitigate the damage.

The Stupid plus one playoff was crap as it monopolised recruiting. But NIL makes it nearly unbearable now.

With NIL, portal, NFL now more players will opt out of non playoff bowls to not risk injury.

The portal is a mess because the playoffs and academic years dont line up. unless the Jan portal closes and its only the April one. having to start late with a new team around spring ball might lead to less repeat transfers, Over 2500 players in the portal and 1/3 repeat transfers. Im not for the idea of having to sit out like the old days but having it open now and schools calling players at Boise or SMU and trying to get them to transfer while doing playoff prep is just wrong. Not that all 12 teams wont have players getting calls to move.

NIL was a knee jerk reaction to laws in California and a few others letting players get paid. they did it so quick and never thought it out. Its too hard to introduce rules now because it will just push stuff under the table again.

I still like some of the bowls, most between G5 schools who are happy to get a 7 or 9 win season and would never get to a playoff, so dont want them gone. but the P4 tie in ones im happy to die

 

[aussiedude]

There is a lot of tweaks that need to be made to the playoffs. and the committee.
seeding is an issue, first 2 rounds should be on campus with conference champs hosting at least 1 game. and 16 to remove the first round bye and that removes the issues with conference champs getting the top 4 seeds. rank them as they are if Boise, ASU and Clemson are not top 8 teams then thats fine but they still get to host a 1st round game as rewards for winning a conference title. Yeah there will be blowouts, but we had blowouts in the 2 and 4 team systems too. Making something more accessible isnt a bad thing, Let them get more exposure and it might lead to them getting more sponsorships to help NIL or recruiting. Also just because you buy all the players it doesnt mean it will work, just look at Ohio St or Ole Miss.

I would remove all the AD's from the committee and have former coaches on it. I dont want TV executives, i dont want ADs or commissioners.

 

[juddy_Like]

I dont know why we cant just be happy that now the games are being decided on the field and not in hypotheticals.

In 5 years when the kinks are fixed it will look much better. There were people who hated the 4 team playoff at the start, this will grow on people because at least now the games are decided on the field. Yeah sure there will be blowouts but that happened in the 2 and 4 team systems too.

Those regular season losses that now dont mean anything is BS, in the future that will be what costs you first round byes and on campus 1st round games will become a big thing, teams all try and make their stadium a hard place to play in and that should be no different in playoffs. If anything first 2 rounds should be on campus [i would say all but the championship, but thats never going to happen]
For the first time in forever a ND home game felt like a home game [take note NBC crowd noise is a good thing]

But that’s the thing though, these games are already being decided on field, it’s called the H&A season.

Like we’ve established already Penn State isn’t the best team in the B10 so why do we still need to determine if they are worthy of National Champions?
Bama wouldn’t even be a conversation in the old system and Texas is eliminated by Georgia via the SEC championship game.
SMU should be out too by blowing their title game.

For your arguments about exposure and getting more sponsorships, well what good has the playoffs done for Cincy and TCU? Are we expecting them to complete on the same footings every year with the likes of OSU and Texas?

 

[juddy_Like]

But it wasn't the playoff that killed the smaller bowls.

It was players putting their health for an NFL payday first that diminished it, and NIL and/or Transfer Portal that killed them.

The fact that Marshall had to pull out due to losing so many players to Southern Miss. Or that Washington State should probably do the same losing a quarter of their team and half their starters and half their coaches is what makes those smaller bowl games a waste of time.

Here's a method I'd go with.

no bowls (other than the NY6 remaining as 1/4 and 1/2 finals)

20 team playoff
all 10 champs going in.
The top 4 champs getting a 1st Rd bye.

NIL has ruined the sport. But trying to find other ways for parity (giving lesser schools a hand in the recruitment trail) can mitigate the damage.

The Stupid plus one playoff was crap as it monopolised recruiting. But NIL makes it nearly unbearable now.

This is better articulated than I ever could

 

[Dirty Bird]

This is better articulated than I ever could

So much for building a giant safety net under Alabama/Michigan

 

[Paul Kersey]

Don’t **** this up Texas.

 

[aussiedude]

SMU got blown out. And seems the SEC won another 2 hypothetical games.

But if they wanted to make it they shouldn't of lost to bad Kentucky or Oklahoma teams and been 3 loss teams.

 

[aussiedude]

Don’t **** this up Texas.

If Texas do lose they should cop as much shit as SMU and Indiana since they don't have any "good" wins.

Or will they get a pass for being a brand name?

 

[aussiedude]

Nice drive by Clemson to start