Jon Joseph Moderator No. 1 Share Posted June 21 (edited) The Athletic's Bruce Feldman has released his 2024-25 Playoff Delighted Dozen. Caveat - Bruce is a graduate of the program once justifiably 'The U' that today should be referred to as The Community College. Miami has yet to win an ACC title and did not get a sniff of the 4-team Playoff. However, Bruce's Playoff participant's guess is as good as any other sage rolling the dice. Feldman's CFP 12-team projection: Why I like Miami, PSU and Texas WWW.NYTIMES.COM Which teams reloaded their rosters and seem to be good bets this early on for the CFP? Feldman's field has 4 SEC teams in the Playoff - Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, and Alabama. A 1st round bye for Georgia and 1st-round home games for Texas and Old Miss. 3 B1G teams are in. No. 2 Ohio State with a first-round bye, No. 6 Oregon vs No. 11 Miami in Eugene, and 10 Penn State opening at No. 7 Ole Miss. In the 1st-round, No. 5 Texas draws 12-seed Memphis in Austin. Which is nice. After the home game vs. Miami, if the Ducks move on, Puddles pals best have unlimited frequent flyer miles to trade in; or, a seat on Uncle Phil's plane. Oregon's 2nd-round game would be peachy, for No. 3 FSU, with Oregon traveling to Atlanta to play the Seminoles in the Peach Bowl. The distance from Tallahassee, Florida to Atlanta is 261 miles. The distance from Eugene? 2621 miles, 5,242 miles round trip. Chop down the Seminoles and Puddles next mission would have the Ducks playing No. 2 Georgia in the Orange Bowl in Miami. The distance from Athens, Georgia to South Beach is a Dawg walk 679 miles. For Puddles, it's a 3,278-mile flight, 6,556 round trip. If Puddles Gets Smart in Miami, it's back to Atlanta to play No. 1 Ohio State. on January 20, 2025, for the title. This B1G champ game match-up assumes that Ohio State would win the Cotton Bowl semifinal against Texas in Dallas. If Oregon decided to spend the 1st semester in Eugene and not in Dixie, Puddles and Pals would be looking at 17,040 flight miles and at least two lube jobs for Puddles. Add this to the 15,222 miles Oregon will travel in the regular season, not including a possible round trip to Indianapolis, Total travel exclusive of a B1G champ game trip would be 32,262 miles. The circumference of the Earth is 24,901 miles. It certainly is not the ACC and the SEC's fault that Oregon is in the Northwest. However, favoring the ACC and the SEC in Playoff site locations is a systemic problem. that needs to be addressed before the 2026 Playoff. Is B1G Commissioner Tont Petitti paying attention? This putative Playoff travel is almost as bad as the B1G asking Oregon to be the only P4 team in the nation in 2024 to play eight games in a row without a break. Scheduling Matters! Game locations matter! Especially in an era of two P4 conferences with 16 teams, one with 17 teams, and the B1G with 18 teams. Join the NFL. The higher-seeded teams host games before the Super Bowl or at least before the semifinals. Edited June 21 by Jon Joseph 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 2 Share Posted June 21 On 6/21/2024 at 3:13 PM, Jon Joseph said: No. 6 Oregon vs No. 11 Miami in Eugene Whoa Nellie...would that be an intense game! Remember...he always knows best. 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicroBurst61 No. 3 Share Posted June 22 If the SEC and B1G intend on "sealing the deal" regarding their NFL-Lite league, issues such as these will HAVE to be addressed or risk delegitimizing the "level playing field" that NFL-Heavy has worked so hard to attain. My thoughts are that it is the final "gifts" to the SEC, and their fans, as thank you for dragging college football into becoming a NFL "competitor"; and issues like "number of conference games" and "rotating scheduling" of playoff games and locations will be coordinated before we go to 16 game playoff in a couple of years. As long as OBD are there to knock some head around, I'll deal with the current disparity! Go Quackers!!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 4 Share Posted June 22 Micro B, I think it is but a matter of time before we see a Super Conference for football that does not include historic bowl sites in the playoff site process until the CFB semi-finals and perhaps, only for the CFB Super Bowl. The teams selected will be determined by on-field results as will seeding. I believe CFB Fans will not be copacetic with their team ranked ahead of the ACC, B12, and G5 conference champions being left out and teams ranked above the ACC, and B12 lower ranked conference champions having to play four and not three games to win the title. Not happy with a 12-game Notre Dame that finished 10-2 knocking out a 10-2 team that lost its conference champ game to finish 10-3. The 2025-26 and 2026-27 format was designed to be approved by five P5 and 5 G5 conferences. The tables turned as we are well aware to CFB having four 'power conferences' and not five. The format went to a 5-7 format, better than 6-6, but the entire format should have been revised and will IMO be revised come 2026-27. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 5 Share Posted June 23 Counterpoint (and I am not advocating here). The B1G powers that be may not be so asleep at the wheel regarding playoff locations as some of us Duck partisans might think. Sure there are domes in the East that could host games. But there are many forces in play here. The playoffs are played in December and January and fans of bowl teams have historically wanted to combine their game trips with warmer weather activities. If you are say a Michigan Wolverine or a Wisconsin Badger for example, would you rather have a mini-vacation to Miami or New Orleans or, alternatively, to Detroit or Indianapolis? My experience living in B1G country for Grad School was that the Midwesterners couldn't wait to get to warm weather sites for their games, and I suspect B1G officials know this. The travel bugaboo is obviously worse for the West Coast playoff participants. Domes for hosting games are fewer in the West, and few outdoor locations other than Southern California or Arizona are very desirable as host cities for such games. Of course on -campus games will sometimes present a challenge. I think we'll see it relatively soon but a home game in Autzen in December could present some interesting weather challenges (that most of us Duck fans would gladly "weather" if we could get in to see the contest). But I am hardly shocked that the playoffs will be a largely Southern phenomenon for the foreseeable future. Not advocating ; just sayin'. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherOD No. 6 Share Posted June 23 (edited) I think I read the current college football playoff contract expires after 2024 and 2025: 2024-2025: Quarterfinals: Fiesta (Phoenix), Peach (Atlanta), Rose (LA), Sugar (New Orleans) Semifinals: Orange (Miami), Cotton (Dallas) Final: Mercedes-Benz (Atlanta) 2025-2026: Quarterfinals: Cotton (Dallas), Orange (Miami), Rose (LA), Sugar (New Orleans) Semifinals: Fiesta (Phoenix), Peach (Atlanta) Finals: Hard Rock (Miami) After that, the whole thing is to be renegotiated. Many minor bowl games have contracts up after 2025-2026 as well. It will be interesting if after 2025 locations such as SoFi (LA), Allegiant (Las Vegas), Lucas Oil (Indianapolis), or even Levi (SF) attempt to break into the rotation, not just for the final but also for playoff games (Action Network reported Allegiant is thought to be the heavy favorite for 2026-2027 Championship game already). With college football trending toward "NFL-light", I wonder if college football will be able to ignore these destinations ready made with the stadiums, infrastructure, flights, hotel, weather and entertainment, and people all in place (not to mention the dollars). Just adding SoFi, Allegiant, and Lucas Oil would certainly help level the (playoff) geographic playing field for Oregon. On the less favorable front, both NRG Stadium (Houston) and Raymond James Stadium (Tampa) have also been mentioned as sites of possible future interest to college football playoff execs (though they conflict more closely with established sites in Dallas and Miami). All that said, I don't think anyone at the top of college football is overly concerned if Oregon has to play all its playoff games in Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, or Dallas (or even Tampa or Houston). It will be the dollars that ultimately help level the playing field (not much of a real concern over travel fairness). Edited June 23 by AnotherOD 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 7 Share Posted June 23 Autzen, a great and loud home venue. EA Sports College Football 25 weighs in on toughest places to play SATURDAYBLITZ.COM EA Sports College Football 25 reveals top three toughest stadiums to play in, featuring new And when playing the Dawgs in Athens you better wear earmuffs. BARK! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 8 Share Posted June 23 (edited) Nevada Dawg. You make some good points, Sir. Assuming it would work for the Raiders, Las Vegas would be an excellent Western site. The Orange Bowl is not played in a covered stadium so why not So-Fi Stadium in LA—a stadium in far better condition than the Rose Bowl? NFL playoff games played in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Detroit, sell out in the winter. However, using bowl sites as playoff sites is a relic of the past. When there was not One True Champion, which I for one liked, the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, and Orange Bowls rewarded a few excellent teams and ended the season on New Year's Day. But today? Why use bowl sites for anything other than the champ game? The NFL had to delay a game by one day in Buffalo this season but the stadium was packed for the game vs. Kansas City. Money matters in college football today more than ever. Home games even in inclement weather earned by a team's quality of play in the regular season IMO are logical. Using the example I used above how many Ducks fans could afford to travel to Atlanta, then to Miami. and back to Atlanta; especially, when hotel prices are jacked up? Feldman's twelve teams and his PO seeding evidence the folly of the PO format in 2024-25 and 2025-26. Fans of a lower-ranked Florida State team with an easier preseason SOS than Oregon would have a 4-and-a-half-hour drive to Atlanta from Tallahassee, straight up I-75. It's a 39-hour drive from Eugene to Atlanta, the halfway point is Lemoyne, Nebraska. This is not equitable. But it is what it is for the next two seasons. In response to AnotherOD, the PO format suggested by the B1G and the SEC for 2026-27, 14 teams including 4 B1G and 4 SEC teams with the Power 2 champs having a 1st round bye did not bounce too high with the ACC, B12, Notre Dame, and the G5. Come the 2026 season, the format can be changed by a majority vote. If the proposed format is not approved in one form or another we will see a Power 2 College Football World Series in 2032 or before. Regardless, drop the bowl affiliations except for the champ game rotating between the Sugar, Cotton, Rose Bowls, and Indianapolis. Although it would give Georgia a significant advantage, I'd still like to see Oregon playing Georgia in Atlanta on 1/20/25, Edited June 23 by Jon Joseph 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonDucks No. 9 Share Posted June 23 On 6/22/2024 at 10:35 PM, Nevada Dawg said: The playoffs are played in December and January and fans of bowl teams have historically wanted to combine their game trips with warmer weather activities. If you are say a Michigan Wolverine or a Wisconsin Badger for example, would you rather have a mini-vacation to Miami or New Orleans or, alternatively, to Detroit or Indianapolis? My experience living in B1G country for Grad School was that the Midwesterners couldn't wait to get to warm weather sites for their games, and I suspect B1G officials know this. That’s a good point. Midwesterners travel very well for away football games. I just wonder if they would travel south, in numbers, for 2-3 weeks in a row. Seems like there should be more balance and maybe the championship game or semi finals is in the south but not all the playoff rounds. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 10 Share Posted June 23 On 6/23/2024 at 12:00 PM, OregonDucks said: That’s a good point. Midwesterners travel very well for away football games. I just wonder if they would travel south, in numbers, for 2-3 weeks in a row. Seems like there should be more balance and maybe the championship game or semi finals is in the south but not all the playoff rounds. It is a good point. But other than the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit which last season had 5-7 Minnesota playing Bowling Green, in front of many empty seats, I do not believe there is a bowl game played in the Midwest. As to AnotherOD's point about the CFB Powers-That-Be not being concerned about Oregon's travels, B1G Commissioner Tony Petitti best be concerned. B1G fans travel well for a single New Year's Day bowl. In 2024-25 if Feldman's field and seeding were to play out, Ohio State fans would be asked to travel to Pasadena, then to Dallas to play Texas, which would defeat the G5 12-seed in Austin, and then to Atlanta to possibly play the 2nd seeded Georgia. If Petitti doesn't use his B1G muscle to make the playing field more equitable, including the ACC and SEC playing the same number of conference games as the B1G and Notre Dame playing 13 games, he will be pulling a Larry Scott. To date the SEC's Greg Sankey, along with once B12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the Notre Dame AD, and the Mountain West Commissioner, except for changing the format from 6 automatic and 6 at large to 5 and 7, are the sole PO architects. Petitti needs to step up and be heard. Being cordial with the SEC is fine, so long as the B1G is not run over. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 11 Share Posted June 23 The first round games this year at home stadiums are Dec. 20(1) and Dec. 21 (3). Eugene low high on Dec. 21: 2023: 44/48 2022: 30/47 2021: 40/45 2020: 40/58 2019: 44/51 Ohio State at MIchigan 11-25-2023: 21/36 12-21-2023: 30/43 The Committee "should" love the balmy weather in Eugene. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 12 Share Posted June 23 (edited) New territory and unanticipated consequences. This is what happens when you “rush” into something. I say “rush” because they could have been planning the mechanics of this for 5+ years, but clearly they were not. There isn’t another North American sport that has pre-championship playoff games (I consider the Final 4 a singular event) at true neutral sites that have capacities of 50,000+, probably with good reason. For football fans, bowl games were the end of the road and a way to take a family vacation someplace nice. Most families don’t take two vacations in a row, so they need to ditch anything related to “bowl thinking”, it won’t work. Really reminds me of how half-baked the old playoff was with the bowl rotation nonsense. We’re giving up traditions left and right, time to let this one go. Edited June 23 by JabbaNoBargain 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 13 Share Posted June 23 I agree that the Irish are a PO title Pretender. But due to the lightweigth schedule and playing 12 games, with only 2 true road games, a 10-2 ND likely sneaks in the PO over better B1G and SEC 9-3 teams and perhaps over a Power 2 champ game loser that finishes 10-3. Contender or Pretender: Notre Dame can make the College Football Playoff, but can it win there? WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM Notre Dame is likely to win enough to make the College Football Playoff in 2024. The question is whether the Irish can finally win a game that matters. Come 2026, I hope Sankey and Petitti insist on the Irish joining a conference or playing 13 games with at least 10 games vs the P4. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
