He certainly has his share of whiffs, but this ain’t one of them.
… I just think college football has always been different. It’s always been different. And going this route, which is where it’s going to go, so it doesn’t really matter what I think. If it’s fan-driven, money-driven, whatever… I’ve just always thought college football was unique. And the unintended consequences when we went from the BCS to the four-team playoff, nobody was opting out when it was the BCS.
“Those bowl games were important, finishing your season, all those type of things. I think, the more you do this, you become just like the NFL, or even the NBA. Football is not a tournament sport, first of all. This thing isn’t built that way. I think there’s going to be more and more unintended consequences. I wouldn’t be surprised to see kids opting out of the playoffs if you go to 12 [teams in playoffs], to be honest with you.
“My big thing is, now all of the sudden, again, you’re undefeated, you’re in the playoff, and you got this rivalry game at the end… Well, yeah, you want to win the rivalry game, but do you really want to play Trevor Lawrence in that game? And you got the playoff next week, and you know you’re in it? Just like what you see if the NFL. It’s all about the playoffs.
“Just like in basketball… No one watches regular-season basketball. They watch the playoffs. But, if that’s the model we’re going to, I think there’s going to be some changes. Ultimately, I think there’s going to be some type of mega-conference—40, 50 teams, or something like that… 12, 14-team playoff.
“Whatever the rules are, we’ll embrace them and go to work on them. I’m just not a huge fan of it. And some people will get mad and say, “Well, you’ve been in the playoffs.” And, I always say, “If we can get in with four [teams], we can get in with 12.” So, it’s not going to decrease our odds. It makes it more of the same [as basketball, NFL, etc.] than different and unique. And, college football has always been different and unique. That’s just my opinion. I’m in the very small minority when it comes to that.”
I don’t think the minority is as small as he thinks it is. The real problem is that making college football’s postseason more like other sports isn’t a bug for ESPN. It’s a feature.
Get The Picture 
Get off my lawn.
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You were shaking your fist when you typed that, right?
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Damn right, Mr Harold. But only until I could get to my M1 Garand.
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He’s definitely not in the minority when you include long time ticket buying fans. Unlike those fans he has a platform to voice his opinion. Just like those fans those running the sport DGAS about Dabo’s opinion either.
I thought Dabo said he would opt out when players got paid.
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Dabo is spot on(clemson still sucks) and i like how he phrased it “because football is not a tournament sport”
can’t wait to hear how wwl spins this dose of reality
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Why bother spinning it when they can just ignore it? It’s not going to change anything so they might as well not give it any air time.
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ESPN cares primarily about having more inventory to sell. If adding games nets them an extra $100 for the season, they don’t care if they wreck traditions, rivalries, or anything else about college football. It’s short attention span theater. Young people don’t care about tradition and ESPN figures old people will watch out of habit.
FTMFs at Disney. 🙂
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Who is fucking goofy now…
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I heard it was Minnie, that’s why Mickey wanted a divorce. That was the way the joke went.
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Sigh. It all began when the US Open caved to tv and did away with Open Saturday. Everything, everything, is just a reason to get a bet down or buy viagra and beer.
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Dabo hits the nail squarely on the head with this. The powers that be will chase every dollar they can. What has made college football special is the regular season, and those who believe an expanded playoff is going to keep that are kidding themselves.
When Kirby holds his starters out of the Fech game to save them for the playoff is the day I tell college football I’m done.
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Would your attitude remain the same if it was the players who made that choice?
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Probably.
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Man the fun we could have if our so called leaders could think differently and ignore the MBAs and PR flacks.
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I’m coming in contrarian and saying I just want more good football games to watch. Bowl game tie-ins work against that. How many bowl games have you (not) watched because it was something like the #11 team in the country against an un-ranked opponent? A 12 team playoff should mean (more) better post season games to watch. Even the non-playoff bowls should get better, since the 12 best teams are out of the picture, there will be less Goliaths to beat up Davids.
They could definitely screw this up, but with first round byes and seeding ramifications, there’s also a chance this doesn’t lessen the regular season or (most) conference playoffs. Getting a first round bye is no small prize, so let’s say #1 ranked Bama is playing #3 ranked UGA in the SEC championship, the loser probably loses their first round bye; I still think nobody sits their starters.
Of course, if I’m using Bama in my scenario, I will admit they could lose the game and still be ranked #3. I will also admit I wouldn’t feel less joy if they tempted fate and did sit a starter or two and UGA burned them for it. Is it football season yet??
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The byes go to the top 4 conference champions regardless of ranking. The best that an SEC championship game loser can expect is to be the top wild card at #5 and host a play-in game versus #12.
I guess my perspective on the playoff is that for every wild card … sorry, at-large team … that proved during the season they weren’t the best their conference offered, that cheapens the regular season by giving those teams another shot at being national champions. When a 9-7 team wins the Super Bowl, it renders the regular season meaningless.
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If the nfl regular season is so meaningless why are the stadiums full and the number of people watching tv off the charts?
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Not sure about off the charts.
butts in seats pre-pandemic:
Attendance Drops To Lowest Point Since ’04. NFL teams averaged 66,648 fans at home during the ’19 regular season, the lowest figure since ’04. It is the first time since ’10 average attendance dropped below 67,000.Jan 3, 2020
eyeballs during pandemic when more eyeballs were stuck at home:
For the 2020 season there were 18 NFL telecasts that delivered an average audience of over 20 million viewers, compared to 29 games in 2019. … Nonetheless, the audience declined from 20.5 million in 2019.Jan 8, 2021
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2020 was a messed up year…for a lot of things.
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Does anyone care that team X beat team Y in the regular season? That’s why the regular season is less meaningful. Does anyone really care about NFL “rivalries” when it’s likely a player that played for Dallas one season may play for the Giants the next season?
College football has the most meaningful regular season in all of sports. The powers that be should approach toying with that with caution.
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Rivalries and the on campus enjoyment of tailgating (regardless of team). I have always felt hospitality whenever I go to a road game and try to reciprocate whenever I am in Athens. Pro game atmospheres always felt more clinical or cold.
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Do you think a 7-loss team deserves the title “world champions” just because they won a few games at the right time?
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Thanks, I wasn’t clear on how the byes were distributed. On your NFL point, though, there’s much greater parity in the NFL and far fewer teams. We haven’t seen an undefeated NFL team since ’72. Almost every year there’s an undefeated team or two in the FBS. Most of them outside the P5, looking in on a playoff they were boxed out of. Now the UCFs of the world can put up or shut up. That said, I think 12 is too many; 6 or 8 would have been my choice.
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Dabo nails it. Unfortunately, the mindless MBAs at ESPN don’t get it.
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I agree with Dabo, look for this to get ZERO airtime.
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Football is not a tournament sport, I get it. But, why is it that there’s an end of season tournament (playoff) at EVERY other level of the sport? I guess that’s one of the things that always made D1 football different, special. It was just a matter of time, though. I personally will still hinge on every snap of the regular season, at least for the foreseeable future. After ’22 when my son graduates and Friday nights are free again, Saturdays will be all I have left. All other sports have lost me, hanging onto the Dawgs like a hair in a biscuit…
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His bank account hasn’t suffered.
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Exactly what Dan Patrick’s been saying. We’re headed for an “NFL model”, like it or not. Like a train that can’t be stopped. Thanks, ESPN. Barf.
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Now the most important part of football season can compete with the NFL playoffs. Yay!
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I blame the powers that be, conferences I suppose, for becoming owned by ESPN. When we have our last CBS game it will be a sad day and it will be official that ESPN has a complete hold on the whole sport. I don’t count FOX and I would bet that at some point ESPN buys the big ten too. Either way, television has taken hold of all things in the sport.
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