Greed-Attacking College Football Playoffs

© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer Cell” Edward Abbey

The ink is still wet on the new playoff model agreement, and the College Football Playoffs (CFP) is already looking to expand the playoff again, the CFP board is already discussing going from a 12-14 team model.  The CFP board wasted no time to see how the new playoff model will look and work, moving right into talks to expand again. All signs point to nothing more than greed now pushing the CFP board to maximize every dollar possible as fast as possible. The more teams, the more games, the more money with the biggest question becoming at what point do they stop expanding? 

Many people believe that the SEC and the Big 10 are now pushing for dominance after joining together to form a joint advisory group. Rumors already started to come out, not only do the SEC and Big 10 want multiple automatic bids but they are also looking for bigger payouts compared to the other conferences involved.  Conference realignment has given both the SEC and Big 10 a big advantage, due to the number of top programs that play in the two conferences.

The SEC and Big 10 Joining together has given both an advantage when negotiating what should and has to happen in the Texas meetings. The SEC and Big 10 control most of the biggest brands in college football, making the other conferences fearful that the two could establish their own playoff. Both conferences already with mega television deals now look to take as much as possible from the playoff TV deal as well.  

“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” Warren Buffett

The SEC and Big 10 power and dominance come directly from television viewership and teams making the college playoffs. If conference realignment and expanded playoff had happened a year earlier, out of the 20 teams involved in the ten most watched games, twelve came from the Big 10, five from the SEC, and only one from the ACC, Big 12, and Notre Dame. This past year's playoff field was no different, with 5-teams coming from the Big 10, five from the SEC, one from the ACC, and one from Conference USA.     

The greatest regular season in all sports, where every game mattered, and one loss could end your season changes to a completely different model where 9-3 teams will now be getting reward.   LSU went 9-3 last year and lost all their "big games” and would still get into this new 14-team playoff model. The new 12 and 14-team model puts an end to almost all must-win games. 

© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

College football was a sport based on tradition and the history that made it. Now it's based solely on the dollar, and nothing is off-limits on how to maximize every dollar.  In an ideal world, the Playoff committee would have moved to an 8-team model years ago, which could have saved the now-abandoned PAC 12.  Greed is ultimately attacking the college football landscape causing a massive change to the sport. Many believe college football is already moving more to an NFL model, NFC/Big 10 and AFC/SEC with only those two conferences surviving.