Would you be alright with Ohio State and Michigan playing three times in one season? Because that's the possibility starting next year.
Well yes, because as others have mentioned, that is the direction the sport is going. Frankly, the Big Ten took too long to get rid of their godforsaken divisions.
I think after today The Game will not be the same with the expansion of the conference and playoffs etc. I am not a big fan of this expansion of the playoffs. I could change my mind once it happens but now I definitely do not like this idea.
Yeah, there's no doubt it won't be the same. The Game after Thanksgiving isn't going to mean nearly as much starting next season. That's just the reality of the situation. I wish it weren't that way, to be honest. Even sitting here with a 3 game losing streak, I still want this game to mean everything. The regular season will still matter, obviously, but not even close to how much it has mattered until now.
NIL, expanded playoff, pretty soon revenue sharing...College Football is becoming an official Minor League for the NFL. It won't be long before the only thing that matters is making the playoffs and winning the title. Rivalry games are going to be almost as forgettable as NFL rivalry games, I'm afraid.
Yea.
Or I will be. Will it lose some appeal. I'm sure.
But you play each team in the NFL twice in your division and again in the playoffs on occasion.
Browns fans hate the Steelers any less because of it?
It just doesn't mean as much when your season doesn't ride or die based on the result of one or two games. I don't like losing to the Steelers, obviously, but if you win the Super Bowl who gives a shit? I could not fathom a team winning a Super Bowl and having any fan say "boy, I sure wish we beat [insert team name here] during the regular season!" This line of thinking simply does not exist.
It won't be long until College Football is the same. And I think the sport is worse off for it.
It's cool that more teams will still be in it in late November/early December, but at what cost? At the end of the day, a 10-2 Missouri or 11-2 Louisville is never going to win the title in a 12 team playoff. It's still going to be won by the top teams. If anything else it'd be something like an 11-2 Alabama team ranked #10 getting hot and winning it.
Alabama this year is the perfect example. They (probably) will lose their two biggest games of the year to Texas and Georgia. In between they barely beat a plethora of bad teams. And moving forward that team will have a chance at winning the National Championship. And to me, that's pretty damn lame.