Naked greed is the name of the game in big-time sports, more brazenly so all the time.
But it’s never been more brazen than the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 24 teams, a move that has absolutely zero upside beyond:
• More tickets to sell.
• More TV slots to peddle.
• More games to bet on.
• Greed.
There isn’t one positive path that doesn’t directly involve a dollar sign.
Don’t overlook that last item: Big-time sports are absolutely enslaved by big-time gambling.
So is big-time sports media, bought and paid for by way of silencing criticism, normalizing and doing PR work.
In terms of damage done, let’s count the ways:
• The change has been dictated by ESPN. Not a governing body, but the televising network.
• There will be no conference championship game and therefore no conference champs, not unless they’re arbitrarily declared after an unbalanced schedule. There will be no Big Ten champ, not really. No SEC champ. Years of tradition flushed.
• Three- and four-loss teams will routinely make the playoffs. A big purpose of this is giving do-overs to big-time brand names. A small playoff rewards excellence. Now you’re just punching a ticket to a crapshoot. More layers of playoffs translate to a more random result.
• Wait till Michigan and Ohio State rest starters in that game by way of not risking injury for the playoffs. That will happen in a lot of late-season rivalry games. More tradition scuttled.
• It won’t be like March Madness, where early-round upsets can occur. In basketball, you only need two or three good players. The disparity in college football is too big. For example, a MAC school won’t upset a Big Ten school in a playoff game. Not at season’s end with elimination on the line. There will be lots of routs.
• Not that many MAC schools will make the playoffs. This revamp is designed to super-serve brand names. The Big Ten and SEC will enter seven or eight schools every year. Big-money brand names like Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, etc. will never not make it.
• The season will last too long, potentially into February. Too much overlap of big games with the NFL. A team could play as many as 17 games. That shows shocking disregard for player safety. Except it’s not shocking. Elite talent can get a head start on CTE before ever playing in the NFL.
• In college football, every game used to matter. That’s been diluted to the point where no game will matter till the College Football Playoff starts. Embrace mediocrity. Embrace cash.
There’s not one single thing good about a 24-team College Football Playoff that has anything to do with football.
It’s not progress. It’s naked greed.
Pitt still won’t make it.
The Panthers are 0-3 since Coach Loudmouth cut his “wake up and rank us” promo. Pitt is a small sports school.
Source: triblive.com
