First off, I want to assure everyone that I took this job at Dawg Sports to never take another job again.
Now to the task at hand: the ever-so-closer 2024 college football season. We’re a scant six weeks away from college football games that count, and matter. That includes your Georgia Bulldogs as they open up Kirby Smart’s 9th campaign as head coach.
This season might be seeing the biggest changes to the game since… last season. Or possibly the season before that. Let’s face it; conference realignment, Name Image and Likeness, the transfer portal, major network coverage upheaval, coaching merry-go-rounds – the last few years have hammered home the old adage that the only constant is change. And firmly ensconced the fact college football is big business and a lot of influential people are concerned about the money generated from such.
I have trouble keeping track of it, and don’t understand much either. However one item did catch my eye and piqued my interest. So let’s concentrate on the expanded playoff scenarios. As of now, the selection criteria for the newly instituted 12 team College Football Playoff is as follows:
The 5 highest ranked conference champions earn automatic bids to the CFP. The remaining 7 teams qualifying for the playoffs are then based on CFP Committee rankings.
For the 5 automatic qualifiers, that likely means the SEC, B1G, Big 12, and ACC champs will get spots along with a Group of 5 conference champion (secretly hoping Oregon St/Washing St can somehow someway screw this up royally). It remains possible two G5 conference winners get in, but I doubt it. Of course I also thought FSU was a lock for the CFP last year, and you see why I don’t gamble.
Which is the root of this article title. Notre Dame has a pretty favorable 2024 schedule. They should cruise through October undefeated, and if they can beat FSU November 9th at a likely chilly South Bend, they’re probably going to be undefeated and 12-0. Yet because they are independent of any conference, polyamorous dalliances with the ACC aside, they don’t play in a conference championship and therefore are not eligible for the 1-4 seeds of the CFP. And because they are likely to make the playoff no matter what, I am honestly hoping for the undefeated season.
I relish the idea of their success, overrated as always, will not be rewarded. And instead actually punished for their ham-handed stance on conference memberships. Sure, they might get to host a mid-December playoff game at home. But they will inevitably get shellacked by an SEC or B1G team itching to knock off their gipper. This is a variation of schadenfreude – I want them to succeed only to lose out on an opportunity. And then fall short. Again.
Enough about the Irish; they don’t need any more publicity. Of the remaining 7 at large schools to round out the 12 team playoff bracket, most of these teams will actually be ranked higher than an automatic qualifier, and some of them higher than all but 1 or 2 teams. Which is one crux of the debate: why do conference championships matter if the runner-up also gets to the post-season?
One answer is that of the 5 automatic conference champions, the 4 highest ranked will be gifted the 1-4 seedings. Tthat means a first round bye, and having a guaranteed seat in the quarterfinals. Win 3 games and you are our new national champions! That’s something to win the conference for, right?
You know what you don’t get? A playoff game at home. Instead, your team and fans will travel to a New Years 6 bowl game site – which for many UGA fans can be clear across the country in strange locales called “Scottsdale” or “Pasadena”.
Georgia fans are somewhat spoiled when it comes to non-conference or post-season travel. We have to recognize that Chick-Fil-A kickoff games, and even the SEC Championship are held in nearby and easy-to-find Atlanta. And Georgia is a frequent participant in both, giving even more opportunities to see the Bulldogs play without breaking the bank.
Many of those rooting for the recent CFP expansion touted the idea of playoff games at home, and on campus (what idiots don’t have a campus stadium?). School administrators are probably cobbling together projections for the added gate and gameday revenue generated from such a boon. Head Bulldog Kirby Smart would have a recruiting weekend the likes we’ve never seen… except it will probably fall in a contact dead period.
If you’re 9-2 heading into Rivalry Week, and already locked out of the conference championship, you’re going to get a frothy mouth thinking about how a win could secure that at-large bid to the playoffs and hosting another top team in late December. That’s certainly some motivation for a regular season game.
Yet if you’ve marched through the regular season mostly unscathed, and meeting a despised conference foe in the SECCG, what outcome do you root for? Losing and having 1 more game played on Dooley Field as a CFP at-large? Or winning and sitting for a few weeks with the bye, with possibly thousands of miles between you and your top-ranked Bulldogs’ next contest? Oh, and it’s quite possible you’re playing a team from the SEC you’ve already faced this season, or at least see on a regular basis.
Both scenarios include the possibility of a national championship. Both are extremely valuable to the university, the fans, probably the networks, and the players themselves. In 2023, Georgia would have hosted said playoff game after losing to Alabama in the SECCG.
What does UGA Athletic Director Josh Brooks want? What does UGA President Jere Morehead want? What does Coach Kirby Smart want?
But for these purposes… which one do YOU want? One means another SEC banner, the other means a unique playoff event and a late-year quality game at Sanford Stadium.
Whatever your choice…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!