College Football Toilet Bowl Tournament

[rickh150]

Although the name needs work, I would like to see the next progression of making year end college football even better.

Kudos to college football of having a tournament of 12 teams to decide on the field a champion.  It was long coming.  And it is a big $ maker.  It needs some fine tuning, yes, but what a change for the better.  Each of those 11 tournament games is better, except maybe the last one.

Those other bowl games, however, have lost meaning.  To change or even flip that,  have a secondary tournament with the next 16 teams. With how much bowl games are spread out already, this could work.  This wouldn’t capture all bowl games, but it would be so much fun. maybe include a round with on campus games in final 4…I don’t know.  And the kicker is, the winner of this secondary toilet tourney would get an automatic spot in the CFB Playoff the following year…..for me, now also 16 teams. The team could be totally different, but what a draw for tecruits and transfers! 

Since we are ultimately taking about being a popular change with more money, I think it would be immediately a boom for TV viewership and so fun for the fan. These games would draw fans because they suddenly have added meaning. 
 

[Samurai Bucky]

18 hours ago, rickh150 said:

Since we are ultimately taking about being a popular change with more money, I think it would be immediately a boom for TV viewership and so fun for the fan. These games would draw fans because they suddenly have added meaning. 

DraftKings or Caesar's would push for something like this.

We all know that Notre Dame wouldn't lower themselves to such standards.  They are much better than that.

[rickh150]

And what a final game….with a CFP game on the line for the following season?  Huge.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I like the idea of the 'secondary' tourney as the bowl games certainly have lost luster. But I can't get on board with the reward of a tourney berth the next year for the winner with no regard for the type of season they'll turn in. Taking the chance of that team being mediocre & acing out whoever the twelfth team might otherwise be? Ughh.

Float the idea to the corporate world, give a few firms exclusive ad rights, and let them pool millions of dollars to the winner to go towards "NIL" (Never Inhibit Lawlessness). That's the model they more or less used for the BB tourney in Vegas earlier this season.

[JosephC]

Historically, the smaller bowl games have been money losers for teams because the payouts do not offset the travel expenses.  Schools have still done it for lots of reasons.  A reward for the players.  Donors like bowl games.  Extra practices which have been considered a big deal by pretty much all coaches.

But with the opportunity to throw money at future players, are teams really going to be willing to lose money on going to a bowl game?  This doesn't apply to Notre Dame, as they were a top 10 team so they would have been going to a very good bowl with a nice payout.  But do I believe Kansas State bailed on a bowl game because of a coaching change?  I don't know.  Obviously there are many, many coaching changes every year, and generally teams don't withdraw from bowl games because of that.

It does seem like a second tournament would be a logical outcome, as just the factor of "win and play another game" would raise the stakes and keep many more fans interested.  I don't think there needs to be any type of incentive, like the winner getting an automatic bid into next year's big tournament, to raise the interest level.  Just the fact that there is a bracket, which American sports fans have a very weird infatuation with, would be enough to significantly increase interest.

[Samurai Bucky]

1 hour ago, JosephC said:

It does seem like a second tournament would be a logical outcome, as just the factor of "win and play another game" would raise the stakes and keep many more fans interested.  I don't think there needs to be any type of incentive, like the winner getting an automatic bid into next year's big tournament, to raise the interest level.  Just the fact that there is a bracket, which American sports fans have a very weird infatuation with, would be enough to significantly increase interest.

Sounds like "promotion" like in soccer.  That would give them incentive but might also pull in recruits from the Transfer Portal if they know they will be in the tourney next year.

There would probably have to be some type of limits put on it, though.  The team would have to be in the top 25 next year if they win the tournament this year as an example.  You wouldn't want a 3-8 team in the First-Division Tournament 😉