By John McCallum
Editor 

Money hampers enlarging college football playoffs

Crunch Time

 

Last updated 12/14/2017 at 3:18pm



If it’s December — which it is — and it’s my turn in the Crunch Time rotation — right again — then it’s time for the annual review of the college football bowl season.

That’s NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, for you literalists.

This year there are 37 postseason bowls, with 74 teams total competing for prize money for their schools and, more importantly, their conferences. At least I think there are 74 teams, that would make sense mathematically.

Thirty-seven times two equals 74. After counting and counting until everything I saw was in small print, I came up with 73.

Maybe there’s a forfeit, I don’t know. Really, though, it doesn’t matter.

Actually, according to the official “bowl site” at bowlschedule2017.com, there are 40. NCAA FB has 37, but who’s counting any more. My eyes, and now my head, hurt.

Even if you tack on a couple more, it’s still the same picture. Almost half of the teams traveling to exotic locations like Boise, Idaho; Nashville, Tenn. and The Bronx, N.Y. are programs that managed just six or seven wins — mediocre or close.

I’ve talked about this in the past, so this year, let’s move on. Until the number of bowls is reduced (not likely) and the FBS actually adopts a bona fide playoff system (are they buying parkas in hell yet?) that will continue to be the case.

The main reason is there’s a ton of money to be made out there by organizations that include Disney, ABC, NBC and ESPN, not to mention the conferences and cities that host bowls. Economic development has no bounds.

Hey, I found another bowl: Dec. 16 Celebration Bowl with Grambling facing North Carolina AT&T. Dogged investigative journalism triumphs again!

Anyway, back to the money. According to information on collegefootballpolls.com, the payout numbers for bowls is almost $94.5 million.

However, that figure is based on 2016-2017 actual payouts for the non-playoff bowls. According to CFP, there are seven bowls that will receive payouts from the “playoff revenue system.”

In last year’s bowl season, the playoff revenue combined with the other non-playoff bowls amounted to just over $622.6 million. There’s no reason to think it will shrink.

The playoff revenue system isn’t necessarily complex, but it does have certain parameters schools must meet to receive money. It’s worth taking a look at if you have the time to see what I mean by the statement above about it shrinking.

On top of this are the economic impacts to communities hosting bowl games as students (maybe), staff and alumni travel to support their teams, staying in hotels, eating out (and drinking) and doing some shopping.

It means that, while there is talk now about enlarging the playoff structure from four teams to eight, it’s difficult to see how that will get done. There is a need, as 12-0 University of Central Florida will tell you since they were left out of the national semifinals despite being the only undefeated team in the nation.

Wisconsin, at 12-1, also has an argument for being included, if you ditch the selection process that looks at strength of schedule, strength of opponents schedule, common opponents and outcomes among other top teams, etc., etc., etc.

To increase the playoff system to allow eight teams in, you’d likely have to pick four other bowls to host a playoff round for those eight teams. That will end up depriving eight teams of postseason trips — teams that would likely be ones finishing 6-6.

Would this eliminate some of the non-Power Five conferences from additional revenue, probably, but that would have to be worked out. It would prevent teams that started slow, but ended their regular season on winning streaks from being rewarded for that growth.

Time will tell on this issue. For now, there’s plenty of football coming up, beginning this Saturday.

And my TVs are all in good working order.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Cheney Free Press
Ritzville Adams County Journal
Whitman County Gazette
Odessa Record
Franklin Connection
Davenport Times
Spokane Valley News Herald
Colfax Daily Bulletin

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/28/2024 03:17