Revamping College Football Playoff: Campus Games Over Neutral Sites

The College Football Playoff (CFP) format is getting a lot of heat lately. Coaches and fans are pretty vocal about the travel overload it creates for teams and their supporters.

People are starting to wonder if all this cross-country travel for multiple games is killing the vibe. It just feels like it takes away from the excitement and energy that should define college football’s biggest moments.

There’s a lot of talk about shaking things up. Moving games to campus sites and tweaking the playoff schedule could make the whole event a lot more compelling—and honestly, a lot less exhausting for everyone involved.

Challenges with the Current CFP Format

The travel demands of the current CFP format are, frankly, a little wild. Take Oregon fans, for example—they might have to fly to Miami for the Orange Bowl quarterfinal, head back to Oregon, and then jet off to Atlanta for the semifinal if their team keeps winning.

If the Ducks make it to the national championship? That means another trip, back to Miami. All told, that’s something like 15,000 miles in just three weeks. No wonder folks are frustrated—it’s logistically brutal and doesn’t exactly make for a great fan experience.

Impact on Ticket Sales and Atmosphere

Neutral-site playoff games have been a bit of a flop when it comes to ticket sales and atmosphere. Ticket brokers buy up thousands of seats, but then can’t even unload them.

Just look at the numbers: you can get into the Orange Bowl for $49, or the Cotton Bowl for $32, even when big-name teams like Ohio State and Miami are playing. If that doesn’t point to a bigger problem, what does?

Proposed Changes to the CFP Schedule

Some coaches—like Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire—are pushing to kick off the playoff on the first weekend of December, right alongside Championship Week. They’re not talking about scrapping conference championships, but they do want to bump the season up by a week.

Quarterfinals would land on the second Friday and Saturday of December. Semifinals would follow a week later, and the championship would wrap things up on New Year’s Day. Feels a bit more streamlined, right?

Benefits of Campus Games

One of the most intriguing ideas? Hosting the first three rounds on campus sites. That could change everything:

• Maximize the impact of the regular season – Teams would fight harder for home-field advantage, making every regular season game matter more.
• Create unparalleled game-day environments – There’s just something about a college campus on game day. Playoff games there would be next-level electric.
• Reduce travel demands – Less cross-country chaos for teams and fans, which honestly sounds like a win for everyone.

Addressing the Group of 5 Issue

The inclusion of the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the CFP is a hot topic. Some say that the gap in schedule strength between these teams and the Power 5 can make for lopsided, unexciting games.

The committee didn’t help matters by adding a Group of 5 at-large selection, which some folks think just waters down the matchups even more.

Enhancing the College Football Calendar

Tweaking the playoff schedule could actually simplify the entire college football calendar. If everything started after January 1, the chaos of national signing day and the transfer portal might be easier to handle.

It’d be a cleaner process for everyone—players, coaches, and fans alike.

The Future of Bowl Games

Even with all these potential changes, bowl season isn’t going anywhere. There’d still be 41 games, giving plenty of teams a shot to show what they’ve got.

The Rose Bowl would keep its legendary status as the national championship’s annual home. Some things, thankfully, don’t need fixing.

Embracing Change in College Football

The College Football Playoff can’t really avoid tournament change anymore. The sport keeps shifting, so the postseason setup has to keep up too.

What sets college football apart? It’s those electric campus atmospheres and the crowds that live and breathe every game. Leaning into that energy could make the playoff system even stronger.

The latest proposals are all about making things more open, a bit wilder, and honestly, just more fun to watch. If done right, college football’s playoff might hold onto its spot as a real American tradition.

Curious about the nitty-gritty and what coaches are actually saying? Check out the full story over at USA Today.