24 Hours Later I've Fixed The College Football Playoff

As the nation just lay shocked at what unfolded not just yesterday but really over the last week, in which the committee put out rankings just for the "drama," moved teams that didn't play a game, & basically dumped out any juice from championship weekend, I took it upon myself to be the one to fix yet another broken system that has been put forth by the NCAA. We are now left with teams who "could have won it all" playing in Pop-Tarts Bowls or just packing it up for the year. WE want & need answers. Well, no worries, I got them. After 24 hours, I may have the system!

To kickoff (had to use this pun, sorry), yes, it does mean expansion. Boo hoo to those old purists that hate more meaningful football for some reason. This playoff will consist of 24 teams. Which, by the way, for those already banging their heads against a wall, that’s still only 17% of teams getting in. To give you a comparison, college basketball, with our favorite tourney of all... lets in 19% with their 68 teams. So 24 teams is not crazy. Also, before you start with the “games won’t matter” line… WRONG. Keep listening here.

Off the jump, there is a qualification for Power 4 teams: you must play 9 (10 for the Big 10) P4 games, which most teams already do. This just means you have to play 1 P4 non-conference team... unless you play an FCS team, which then bumps the number up one more. Let’s give an example:

Arizona State plays Morgan State, Texas A&M, & Hawaii in 2026. They would need to drop either Hawaii for another P4 team or Morgan State for a Group of 6 (Pac-12 having teams again in 2026). Before you freak out, teams change their schedules EVERY damn year in college basketball; they can fix these future ones to fit the model!

All of the data points for rankings can stay the same with H2H, strength of schedule, record, & team injuries/coaches & so on. Though, there needs to be an overhaul of the strength-of-schedule model, as we keep seeing teams having “good wins” on the graphic that are 7–5 teams who fired their coach. Sorry, but that’s not a good win, even if they started the season ranked! No one is claiming Notre Dame’s win over 7–5 NC State as good, so neither is LSU!

The rankings are the same with the weekly release so ESPN can have their shows, money, & drama. BUT! Going into championship week, the rankings are “locked” in a sense.

CHILL!

Now don’t get on my ass yet, I’m gonna give championship Saturday some juice without the "major" penalty. It’s a win-win for the fans, teams, & coaches.

First off, if the conference has playoff-ranked teams, then that is how their conference title teams are determined. Look, this is just a casualty of big conferences; we don’t have the right tiebreakers in place. IF the conference doesn’t have anyone ranked, then you go to the tiebreakers set up by each league.

Then the top P4 conference champs & top Group of 6 champ now get the bye, with the 3 remaining highest-ranked teams also getting a bye. So not 4 anymore, instead 8. This is where the juice comes in, as you get a guaranteed bye. Also, IF you are ranked high enough in those frozen standings, you won’t be punished for the loss. Let’s pull up another example.

Under this model, these would have been the Power 4 matchups for championship Saturday:

Big 10: Indiana vs Ohio State

ACC: Miami vs Virginia

SEC: UGA vs Ole Miss

Big 12: Tech vs BYU

Now, in the SEC & Big 10, all 4 teams would have been safe in the byes either way. Yes, that can happen, so it becomes more so pride to win a championship (which the Big 10 game was the best one last week anyway).

Now the other two though... Miami, Virginia, & BYU, would have been fighting to get that bye into the top 8 while still knowing they are in. Yes, I know this isn’t perfect, but it feels like the happy middle people are looking for in this situation, because after this week it feels like conference championship week is falling apart before our eyes.

If you are lost here, I’m going to give the breakdown in just a moment. Now what about the Group of 6? The top one gets their bye, but the other 5 are they playing for nothing?!? Nope! They get auto-bids into the 1st round(Round of 24), though if not ranked going into that weekend they are just slotted at the lowest seeds, so no home game for them. Again, yes, not perfect. Yes, this means some bad teams are going to get in. But have you ever seen March Madness?? So please get off that horse sir!

Okay, time for a recap of what we got here. Eight teams get a bye: P4 conference champs, top G6 champ, & 3 highest-ranked teams going into championship weekend. Here’s how the 8 could have looked if Miami & UGA won the new hypothetical matchups:

1. Indiana

2. Ohio State

3. UGA

4. Texas Tech

5. Oregon

6. Ole Miss

7. Miami

8. Tulane

Now, let’s say Ole Miss wins that game, then they just flip in the rankings. Or what if BYU beats Tech? They take Tech’s spot, & if there’s no more room left in the top 8 due to this, then Tech becomes the top seed in the 1st round of 16. Again: there is juice now in championship weekend to win, but you also still get in the tourney!

Using those same rankings & results of Saturday, the 1st round at college sites would go like this:

9 — Texas A&M

24 — Western Michigan (MAC Champ)

10 — Oklahoma

23 — Kennesaw State (C-USA Champ)

11 — Alabama

22 — Boise State (Mtn West Champ)

12 — Notre Dame

21 — James Madison (Sun Belt Champ)

13 — BYU

20 — Michigan

14 — Texas

19 — Arizona

15 — Vanderbilt

18 — Virginia

16 — Utah

17 — USC

OH OH OH! This is where it gets EVEN better! The 8 losers in the Round of 24… aren’t done. They then go into an “NIT” or “Player’s Era” type of bracket to win BIG NIL money. Why? One, to help grow Group of 6 teams, because we all know Western Michigan & Kennesaw State ain’t winning their Round of 24 games. Or what if a Boston College has a crazy one off season, now the extra bump gives them more of a chance to potentially sustain success!

So you put them in an 8-team bracket & use the Alamo, Sun, Holiday, Liberty, Citrus, & Gator Bowls(still actual bowls, not named the Xbox or Pop Tarts Bowls) as their “NY6” bowls for a championship with a purse of 1 or 2 million in NIL, on top of the bowl wins cash.

Okay back to the real deal though! After this first round of games, the winners will then also be re-seeded to play the 8 teams with byes at their home fields in the 2nd round. After it gets down to 8 teams, you then use the New Year’s 6 Bowls like we have been to get into the championship game.

An example of re-seeding? James Madison upsets Notre Dame in Round 1, they then would be slotted to play Indiana. Why? Make the regular season games meaningful! If you win your games all season, win your conference, you get the best scenario to win a championship.

Oh yes, I hear you the clamoring that “games don’t matter much now because a 3-loss USC gets in.” OH SO WRONG AGAIN!

Now all of a sudden rivalry weekend gets even better: Texas beating A&M clinches them a spot in the playoff, UOFA over Arizona State becomes an “extra” playoff game since they were ranked 20 & 25, Georgia Tech vs Georgia, Vanderbilt vs Tennessee, ALL now play-in type of games that are RIVALRIES! Dear god, people… think of the possibilities! Or how about UCLA at 4–7 with the chance to bounce USC out! Looks like that glass is overflowing with JUICE!

Complaints? It’s hard to find any. One though could be the extra game added to the season? But in reality, if you are a fan complaining about one more, go ahead and take a seat. As for worry about players, these guys will want to play. Another chance to help their NIL, draft stock, or win a championship. They will sign up 10 times out of 10. You think Jeremiyah Love, Diego Pavia, Arch Manning, LJ Martin, & others wouldn’t play this format here and now? We all know they would 110%!

We all fear the word “expansion” in playoffs, I know, but in a world in which the teams feel like they’re getting deeper & deeper, how do we not? I’ve had convos with multiple people saying Texas, Notre Dame, or Vandy could have made a run, all left out. Now Is it harder for teams to win it all from the Round of 24? Sure. So then win your regular season games & get that bye. In the end this system gives us all the best of both worlds: a competitive, important regular season with a fantastic, bowl-saving postseason.