Lost time is never found again – Benjamin Franklin
“Playoff games should be played in sequential order, and finish sooner than now” Daniel Arthur Lanning
If Saint Nick Saban were the Commissioner of College Football (CFB), instead of Every Conference For Itself, the focus could and hopefully would be on The Good of the Game. (Our Mr. FishDuck took a pause from his gaming fun at Pinco casino to wonder out loud with me if Saban might just favor the SEC a touch?)
If CFB could find its way to Commissioner Camelot, the first and easiest thing for Nick to do would be to fix the cockamamie CFB calendar, right? It’s not like figuring out how many teams should be in the playoff, the criteria for selection to the playoff field, control over NIL, transfers, salary caps, and how many assistants to the assistant coaches are enough; it’s the bloody calendar! Fix it!
Football-wise, Nick Saban may be a Saint, but if he could fix the CFB Calendar, he’d be joining a now exclusive two-person Parthenon: Julius Caesar, creator of the Julian Calendar in 46 BC, as corrected by Pope Gregory the 13th in 1582.
“Everyone” agrees on the following changes that should be made to the CFB Calendar, but …
—CONSOLIDATE THE SEASON AND THE PLAYOFF – Stop Butting Heads with NFL Games
—WEEK ZERO – Everyone starts playing ball in what is now referred to as Week 0. Ipso facto, the season begins and finishes one week earlier than today.
—CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES – The games go away, or are folded into the last week of the regular season.
—ARMY/NAVY GAME – This game, important to the entire nation, is played a week earlier on today’s Conference Championship Saturday, and not the second Saturday of December.
—16-TEAM PLAYOFF – NO BYES – FIRST TWO ROUNDS PLAYED ON CAMPUS –
Can Nick Saban expand the thinking of the CFB World to solve the calendar? (Screenshot from The Pivot Podcast Video)
–USE TONY PETITTI’S 4-4-2-2-4 PLAYOFF FORMAT, or devise another format that, as much as possible, takes subjectivity out of determining and seeding the field. Reseed the field after the first and second rounds.
ESTABLISH A PLAYOFF FOR THE G6 – Help with negotiations for the broadcast of the G6 playoff games and share some of the Power 4 playoff revenue with the G6. The Power 4 playoff would have four teams selected by the playoff committee.
PLAY THE GAMES SEQUENTIALLY – Play the semifinal games on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl and another bowl site among the New Year’s Six Bowls. Negotiate with the NFL to hold the Championship Game on a Saturday with no NFL game played during the same time frame.
WHY THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN BEFORE 2032 – ESPN and ESPN’s ‘Ownership’ of the Bowl Games and Playoff Games – We will continue to have a Bowl Game Extravaganza masquerading as a ‘Playoff.’
However, Nick, below are some easy changes. No approval of Disney and friends required.
SIGNING DAYS – Go away. Any player entering his final year of high school can sign a binding agreement with terms as agreed to by the Power 4, anytime he so desires. There will be severe penalties for any program or a third party on behalf of a program interfering with a written agreement.
Tony Petitti is right about the transfer portal schedule. (Screenshot from Joel Klatt Show Video)
ONE SPRING TRANSFER PERIOD FOR FOOTBALL – Tony Petitti proposed one spring transfer period and was shot down by all other conferences and Notre Dame. This makes too much sense in terms of the playoff calendar, coaches hiring dates, etc., not to be approved?
Ole Miss should be in the playoff without missing its head coach.
Tempus Fugit – Time Flies – But for College Football today it’s Tempus Tardat – Time Drags –
For the Good of The Game – Fix This!
Jon Joseph
Aiken, South Carolina
Top Screenshot from the SEC Network Twitter, “X” Video
Share your thoughts about this team in the only free, “polite and respectful” Oregon Sports message board, the Our Beloved Ducks forum!
Related Articles:
Jon Joseph grew up in Boston, Massachusetts but has been blessed to have lived long enough in the west to have exorcised all east coast bias. He played football in college and has passionately followed the game for seven decades. A retired corporate attorney Jon has lectured across the country and published numerous articles on banking and gaming law. Now a resident of Aiken South Carolina, Jon follows college football across the nation with a focus on the Conference of Champions and the Ducks.