Revolutionizing College Football: Playoff, Calendar, and Transfer System Fixes
College football isn’t in crisis, but let’s be honest, there’s always something that could be better. The sport has changed a lot in recent years, and things like player compensation and the college football calendar still need some work.
This article dives into three bold but doable ideas that could shake up the College Football Playoff (CFP) and the transfer portal. The goal? To fix some of the biggest headaches in the sport.
Contents
Revamping Conference Championship Weekend
The way conference championship weekend works right now just doesn’t cut it. Too often, the games feel meaningless, especially for teams that drop a game.
So, here’s a different take for the Power 4 leagues:
- No. 1 and No. 2 seeds go head-to-head in the conference title game.
- No. 3 vs. No. 6 seeds and No. 4 vs. No. 5 seeds play extra games that same weekend.
Picture this: Ole Miss playing Texas in Oxford, while Oklahoma heads to College Station to take on Texas A&M. Suddenly, teams that are good but have a few flaws get a real shot to impress the CFP committee.
The stakes? Way higher. The games? Way more fun. TV networks? Yeah, they’re loving it.
Maintaining Equal Footing
To keep things fair, any team that skips out on this weekend can’t get into the CFP. That way, nobody gets to game the system by sitting out.
Notre Dame’s independence is always a puzzle, but maybe the ACC could give up a spot in exchange for a slice of Notre Dame’s CFP payout. Seems like a win-win, honestly.
Group-of-6 Conferences
For the Group-of-6, it just makes sense to stick with the old-school conference championship. The reality is, the third-best team in these leagues isn’t sniffing the Playoff, no matter who they beat in a 13th game.
Reforming the College Football Calendar
December is chaos. The coaching carousel spins, the transfer portal opens, and the calendar just feels broken.
Here’s a fresh calendar that might help everyone breathe a little easier:
- Aug. 29: Week 1
- Sept. 5: Week 2
- Sept. 12: Week 3
- Sept. 19: Week 4
- Sept. 26: Week 5
- Oct. 3: Week 6
- Oct. 10: Week 7
- Oct. 17: Week 8
- Oct. 24: Week 9
- Oct. 31: Week 10
- Nov. 7: Week 11
- Nov. 14: Week 12
- Nov. 21: Week 13
- Nov. 28: Conference Championship Weekend
- Dec. 5: CFP Round of 16
- Dec. 12: CFP quarterfinals
- Dec. 19: CFP semifinals
- Dec. 26: Open date
- Jan. 1: National Championship
Notice the week of Christmas is gone. That avoids fighting for TV slots and lets the National Championship always land on New Year’s Day, which just feels right.
Now and then, there are 14 Saturdays between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. When that happens, every team gets a second open date during the regular season.
Rivalry weekend would move off Thanksgiving, which, yeah, is a bummer. Maybe the season could start a week earlier, giving everyone two open dates and fixing the schedule crunch.
The Army/Navy game could still happen on the second Saturday in December, but if either team makes a Playoff run, things get complicated fast. Another idea? Move it to the last weekend of the regular season and give it a protected spot on the calendar.
Transfer Portal and High School Signing Period
The transfer portal could open up the Monday after the CFP semifinals. That would make the whole process smoother and cut down on tampering during the season.
Players would have a better shot at landing somewhere new before classes start. Also, shifting the high school signing period back to February gives coaches time to settle in and keeps recruiting classes from falling apart.
Introducing a Transfer Fee Structure
To help smaller programs keep up with the big spenders, a transfer fee system—kind of like European soccer—could work:
- When a player transfers, 5-10% of their total compensation goes to their old school’s athletic department.
- Players who finish multi-year contracts or move within the same conference might be exempt.
This cash could really help teams that lose their stars. It might even make the top programs think twice before poaching talent from rivals.
And for smaller schools, having a buyout attached to their best players could mean holding onto them a little longer. Not perfect, but it’s something worth considering.
Challenges and Benefits
Implementing this system would require transparency in player compensation, and maybe even collective bargaining. That’s a tall order, but not totally out of reach.
Buyouts could be written into player contracts. This way, both players and programs would have some protection.
The downstream benefits for all levels of the sport make the effort feel worthwhile, even if the path isn’t simple. For more details, you can read the full article on Saturday Down South.
