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The politics of college football is exhausting. Now that we have a CFP there will always be teams on the bubble that have legitimate arguments for being included. Bowl games outside of the CFP are a risk for injury in meaningless games. Eliminating bowl games, and expanding the CFP makes the most economic sense to me. However, agreeing on an expanded format simply shows the chaos of what management by committee is all about.

How significant is the Stephen Daly knee/leg injury for Indiana's pass D? He appeared to do significant damage celebrating with fans post CCG.

It's sad when you look at your supposed "lil' bro", and suspectyour parents lied... He's not even one of the little Sisters of the Poor.

Lots of great input as always. Thanks, Jon!

I like the setup, but I will confess I think many are underestimating Texas Tech because they aren't a traditional power. They have a loaded roster (#2 in NIL spending behind only Texas is what you read, and something like $28m compared to Oregon's $23m or so). They're defensive front is considered by many to be the best in college football (and is where they've spend a lot of NIL money). BYU and Utah (I live in Utah) may not be in the top tier of teams, but they are good, and Utah has a very highly regarded offensive line, but neither team belonged on the same field as Texas Tech and neither could handle Tech's front 7. They had the Utah QB on the run consistently. Its that match-up that I hope we game plan for. We saw against Indiana (with a similar ability to get after the QB) that when under pressure, Dante sometimes hurries things and doesn't see receivers down field. With Texas Tech and then Indiana in our path, I'm hoping we scheme some things up to help there. Having some receivers back will certainly help too.

The best way to put ND in their place is for the P4 schools to quit scheduling games with them. The domer double-standard has always peaved me no end, but this latest whine fest is just over-the-top entitlement. Yes the CFP committee was afraid to bump Bama even after their unimpressive showing in the SEC championship game, but if YOU would have beaten Miami then this would be a non-issue. Get even by destroying your bowl opponent, not by crying foul in a system where you get preferential treatment anyway. YOU put yourself in a position to let the CFP decide your fate and they did.

USC's Trojans Wire calls out ND. Setting the stage to cancel the series? https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2025/12/10/notre-dame-whines-eliminated-cfp-usc-football-rivalry/87701817007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=email

Agree, and will probably happen in the early 2030s when the conference television contracts are up. And bye bye bowls, you had a great century plus run.

Thanks, Charles I would prefer a 14 team playoff with 2 byes. It gives the ultra no-brainers soemthing to play for down the stretch. But, what do i know. A conversation for another day. Along with having the quarters as home games, fans will get fatigue in a couple years with all the travel once the "newness" of the playoff wears off. Oh, and adios to the conference title games.

And how bout when they made the title game in 2012 when the Ducks were clearly better. Go away, ND!

And correct me if i'm wrong, but the conference will get more money to distribute, while ND would take all of the post-season cash. Of course the ACC is going to want Miami. This is the price you pay, ND, for not fully committing to the conference. Go fly a kite!!! (keeping it PG)

Totally, they can disagree all they want, but playing the "victim" is off-putting.

Very possible, i see what you're saying.

Thank you! thanks for reading.

Thanks, Darren. Insightful and humorous as always. Plus, I love it that you and David Marsh do not simply request comments, but that you both stick around to participate in post-article discussions. If the NCAA managed the FBS postseason, we would have a PO with a 16-team or more field. There would be no ranking show teasers. Top teams would play home games up to the semifinals on January 1st. The CBB tournament has a much larger field, and the controversy of not being one of 68 teams in the field was more about ESPN (there they go again), giving Dickie V a platform to rant from. The CBB committee discloses its metrics and the use thereof to the public. As the season progresses, you know the teams that had the top, Quad 1 wins, which are given greater value, and the teams that may look good but have played tripe. One month before the Selection Show, the CBB committee releases its top 16. If the final selections and rankings do not appear to match the early ranking and the committee's metrics, the CBB committee chair explains why, and questions are not dodged. Unlike CBB, CFB teams do not play enough games against the better teams out of conference (OOC), and also in today's mega-conferences, where in-conference schedules vary widely. There is not enough data to subjectively determine who is the 'most deserving,' 'the best, ' or any of the other nonsense fed to us by ESPN. Selectively fed to us peasants, the CFB committee hides the metrics it uses like squirrels hiding their nuts. If the sausage grinder is broken, don't expect good sausage. The PO format is FUBAR! Tony Petitti laid out the formula that reflects the reality of today's game and the quality of the participants, and was booed off the stage by folks who would have made millions more dollars this season if Tony's automatic qualifier had been used to select the teams. This includes the SEC. UVA and BYU would be in a 16-team field. So would Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt, and USC. This would destroy the regular season? Teams with brutal in-conference schedules, say a 3-loss Florida and Wisconsin this season, would have had the opportunity to play their way into the field on the final weekend of the regular season. Teams are mutually canceling P4 OOC matchups. Why not. OOC, the nation's No. 1 team chomped down on three cupcakes without having to leave home. Next season, Notre Dame opens with Wisconsin in Green Bay and then hosts Rice. One 2025 PO team is on the schedule, No. 10 Miami in South Bend. The only other game against a team ranked by the committee is the regular-season finale against No. 16 USC in LA. By comparison, next season, Ohio State plays two PO teams, plus two other top 25-ranked teams in conference, and also plays at Texas. The Irish schedule is serendipitously set up for success. Why is Texas hosting Ohio State? Why is Michigan hosting Oklahoma? CBF is big business; these marquee OOC games make no business sense. The format encourages fan disappointment, not looking forward to excitement. PO expansion talks are ongoing. I'm hopeful that come January 23rd, if not sooner, CFB will have an expanded PO field in 2026-27, with Tony P holding AQ format firm. And with ESPN's teaser rankings limited. Meanwhile - Dunk the Dukes!

Time to breakup traditional conferences and go to an NFL style conf/division format. No rankings, just win your games. Get the human factor out of it. Problem is how do you set it all up. That's probably a topic for another conversation. If it did happen then ND along with TX and BYU would be in. Going to 16 games just pushes the "Why is my team left out?" further down the list. College football at the FBS level has always been behind the times. Time to move forward.

Oregon's Dan Lanning Responds to Viral Insults from Penn State AD Pat KraftWhether he would like to admit it or not, Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning now has some extra fuel for his team the next time they face Penn State after some recent viral comments from Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft. Oregon Ducks On SIOregon's Dan Lanning Responds to Viral Insults from Penn...The Oregon Ducks are gearing up for the first round of the College Football Playoff against the James Madison Dukes at Autzen Stadium on Dec. 20. But in the day

Next episode of Beavisville, “Why Did We Hire THIS Guy?” So far by my estimation, every Shephard public interaction has been cringe worthy and Beavis fans seem to be nervously embracing everything he says…for now. The article/transcript of his intro presser was just awkward. Once they realize he’s not bringing 20 players from Alabama with him, the bloom will fall off quickly imo.

Great read! The only outrage is with ND and their fans, or perhaps NBC…same as every year with the first team out in every college sport. Ole Miss, TAM, OBD…all would have had cause to be outraged in the old 4 team PO. These giant, unbalanced conferences of 2025 would not have worked well at all in the 4 team format.

Darren...you are so right. Oregon would have been hosed in the four-team system, just as ND was this year. Perhaps this will speed us to 16 teams, and no byes to open the Playoffs? No. 1 plays No. 16, and so on as usual seeding takes place. Yes the G6 teams can have a slot or two, but the big babies (SEC and ND) would have had all their wishes granted. And I love your writing style!

Go 0-2 and no playoffs for you.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2025/12/09/notre-dame-football-whining-over-cfp-snub/87689944007/ Spot on.

In today's world, it is very rare to fire somebody "With Cause" unless you have ironclad evidence of significant violations. The repercussions for Michigan if they blew this, would be incredible for institution. Therefore, I have to believe that they have him dead to rights.

I was getting ready to draft a post, but basically you took the words right out of my mouth. So, I really have nothing more to say on the subject. You nailed it here.

ND is being ridiculous as they have enjoyed a favored status for decades. Generally I have enjoyed their usual post season beat down as an undeserving team. I particularly enjoyed Oregon State's 41 to 9 Fiesta Bowl win in 2001.