2023-2024 NCAA Football Thread

ESPN still needs eyeballs. They don’t want dud games to sell to advertisers. The expanded playoff starts next year. The new contract hasn’t been finalized yet.
Not how it works , CFP is like the NFL, once they get the contract done, all they think about is the next one, how to get more money, hence the expanded play offs, ratings are the byproduct of all that.

CFP could put the MAC Champion in there, ESPN would complain, but there is no rebate, but of course they will not do that, because it would affect the next contract.

Right now, they are just getting ready to count the money, Apple, Amazon and Peacock are already making plans, also, will not be 12 years, more like 7, to maximize the next contract.

Also, splitting it up looks likely.
 
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It’s why they play the games. Let the teams play each other not a committee.

Imagine if the NFL decided to have a committee decide the Super Bowl.
But you’re talking far more teams in a far smaller field of playoff spots.

It’s not comparable imo.

After this year it doesn’t matter as much though.
 
Not how it works , CFP is like the NFL, once they get the contract done, all they think about is the next one, how to get more money, hence the expanded play offs, ratings are the byproduct of all that.

CFP could put the MAC Champion in there, ESPN would complain, but there is no rebate, but of course they will not do that, because it would affect the next contract.

Right now, they are just getting ready to count the money, Apple, Amazon and Peacock are already making plans, also, will not be 12 years, more like 7, to maximize the next contract.
ESPN still has to sell ads to this season. They want to maximize their return for paying to much. People won’t watch “unknown teams”.
 
But you’re talking far more teams in a far smaller field of playoff spots.

It’s not comparable imo.

After this year it doesn’t matter as much though.
Next year hopefully the committee doesn’t get in the way and the seedings work themselves out.
 
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ESPN still has to sell ads to this season. They want to maximize their return for paying to much. People won’t watch “unknown teams”.
And the CFP does not care, what you posted is what ESPN has to consider when they negotiate the next contract, they get the revenue from Advertising, not the CFP.

By the way, ESPN does not want to give it up.

With the Third Quarter numbers, while Cable/Satellite lost 1.7 Million, services like YTTV picked up 1.3 Million, so ESPN only lost 400,000 per sub fees this last quarter.

If that keeps happening, ESPN will be ok in future negotiations with the leagues.
 
And the CFP does not care, what you posted is what ESPN has to consider when they negotiate the next contract, they get the revenue from Advertising, not the CFP.

By the way, ESPN does not want to give it up.

With the Third Quarter numbers, while Cable/Satellite lost 1.7 Million, services like YTTV picked up 1.3 Million, so ESPN only lost 400,000 per sub fees this last quarter.

If that keeps happening, ESPN will be ok in future negotiations with the leagues.
CFP would rather ESPN over pay for the rights as they can saturate the sport more than anyone. Fox and NBC don’t have the reach or nonstop programming that ESPN does.
 
CFP would rather ESPN over pay for the rights as they can saturate the sport more than anyone. Fox and NBC don’t have the reach or nonstop programming that ESPN does.
Fox is not bidding, they already overspent on the Big Ten Contract.

NBC is thinking either part of the playoffs or the whole thing, do not forget about Peacock, which Comcast is starting to turn into more and more a sports streaming service.

Amazon has more Prime members in the United States than ESPN has subscribers .

Wildcard is Apple, reason why they dropped out of the Sunday Ticket deal, was they wanted more control, will the CFP give it to them with the right amount of Billions.

And, yes, I would prefer ESPN to keep it, specially with their new upcoming streaming service, but it is all about the money.
 
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Fox is not bidding, they already overspent on the Big Ten Contract.

NBC is thinking either part of the playoffs or the whole thing, do not forget about Peacock, which Comcast is starting to turn into more and more a sports streaming service.

Amazon has more Prime members in the United States than ESPN has subscribers .

Wildcard is Apple, reason why they dropped out of the Sunday Ticket deal, was they wanted more control, will the CFP give it to them with the right amount of Billions.

And, yes, I would prefer ESPN to keep it, specially with their new upcoming streaming service, but it is all about the money.
Some speculation that Warner/Discovery makes a bid for it.
 
Some speculation that Warner/Discovery makes a bid for it.
They do not have the money, still $44 Billion in debt, cash on hand only $2 Billion, market cap of $27 Billion.

Also getting smacked around from the loss of per sub fees ( about 30 Million subs gone) from all those cable channels due to cord cutting.

Advertising Revenue is in the toilet except for during NFL games ( and some college football).

Amazon, Google and Apple all have over $100 Billion in cash each, can afford it with no problem.
 
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2023 Bowl Games​

College Football Playoff​

DATEGAME / LOC.MATCHUPPREDICTION
Jan. 8National Championship
Houston
Title gameSemifinal winners
Jan. 1Sugar Bowl
New Orleans
Semifinal(2) Washington vs. (3) Texas
Jan. 1Rose Bowl
Pasadena, Calif.
Semifinal(1) Michigan vs. (4) Alabama

New Year's Six bowl games​

DATEBOWLTIME (TV)MATCHUP
Jan. 1Fiesta
Glendale, Ariz.
1 p.m. (ESPN)(8) Oregon vs. (23) Liberty
Dec. 30Orange
Miami Gardens, Fla.
4 p.m. (ESPN)(5) Florida State vs. (6) Georgia
Dec. 30Peach
Atlanta, Ga.
Noon (ESPN)(10) Penn State vs. (11) Ole Miss
Dec. 29Cotton
Arlington, Texas
8 p.m. (ESPN)(7) Ohio State vs. (9) Missouri

Other bowl games​

DATEBOWLTIME (TV)MATCHUP
Jan. 1 Citrus
Orlando, Fla.
1 p.m. (ABC)Iowa vs. Tennessee
Jan. 1ReliaQuest
Tampa, Fla.
Noon (ESPN2)LSU vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 30Arizona
Tucson, Ariz.
4:30 p.m.Toledo vs. Wyoming
Dec. 30Music City
Nashville, Tenn.
2 p.m. (ABC)Auburn vs. Maryland
Dec. 29Liberty
Memphis, Tenn.
3:30 p.m. (ESPN)Iowa State vs. Memphis
Dec. 29Tony the Tiger
El Paso, Texas
2 p.m. (CBS)Notre Dame vs. Oregon State
Dec. 29Gator
Jacksonville, Fla.
Noon (ESPN)Clemson vs. Kentucky
Dec. 28Alamo
San Antonio, Texas
9:15 p.m. (ESPN) Oklahoma vs. Arizona
Dec. 28Pop-Tarts
Orlando, Fla.
5:45 p.m. (ESPN)Kansas State vs. NC State
Dec. 28 Pinstripe
New York, NY
2:15 p.m. (ESPN)Miami vs. Rutgers
Dec. 28 Fenway
Boston, Mass.
11 a.m. (ESPN)Boston College vs. SMU
Dec. 27 Texas
Phoenix, Ariz.
9 p.m. (ESPN)Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 27Holiday
San Diego, Calif.
8 p.m. (FOX)Louisville vs. USC
Dec. 27 Duke's Mayo
Charlotte, N.C.
5:30 p.m. (ESPN)North Carolina vs. West Virginia
Dec. 27Military
Annapolis, Mary.
2 p.m. (ESPN)Tulane vs. Virginia Tech
Dec. 26Guaranteed Rate
Phoenix, Ariz.
9 p.m. (ESPN)Kansas vs. UNLV
Dec. 26First Responder
University Park, Texas
5:30 p.m. (ESPN)Texas State vs. Rice
Dec. 26 Quick Lane
Detroit, Mich.
2 p.m. (ESPN)Minnesota vs. Bowling Green
Dec. 23Hawai'i
Honolulu, Hawaii
10:30 p.m. (ESPN)Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State
Dec. 23 Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nev.
7:30 p.m. (ABC)Northwestern vs. Utah
Dec. 2368 Ventures
Mobile, Ala.
7 p.m. (ESPN)South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan
Dec. 23Famous Idaho Potato
Boise, Idaho
3:30 p.m. (ESPN)Utah State vs. Georgia State
Dec. 23 Armed Forces
Fort Worth, Texas
3:30 p.m. (ABC)James Madison vs. Air Force
Dec. 23 Camellia
Montgomery, Ala.
Noon (ESPN)Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Dec. 23Birmingham
Birmingham, Ala.
Noon (ABC)Duke vs. Troy
Dec. 22Gasparilla
Tampa, Fla.
6:30 p.m. (ESPN)Georgia Tech vs. UCF
Dec. 21Boca Raton
Boca Raton, Fla.
8 p.m. (ESPN)Syracuse vs. South Florida
Dec. 19Frisco
Frisco, Texas
9 p.m. (ESPN)UTSA vs. Marshall
Dec. 18 Famous Toastery
Charlotte, NC
2:30 p.m. (ESPN)Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion
Dec. 16Independence
Shreveport, La.
9:15 p.m. (ESPN) Texas Tech vs. Cal
Dec. 16LA
Inglewood, Calif.
7:30 p.m. (ABC)Boise State vs. UCLA
Dec. 16New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
5:45 p.m. (ESPN)Fresno State vs. New Mexico State
Dec. 16Cure
Orlando, Fla.
3:30 p.m. (ABC)Miami (OH) vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 16New Orleans
New Orleans, La.
2:15 p.m. (ESPN)Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana
Dec. 16Celebration
Atlanta, Ga.
Noon (ABC)Howard vs. Florida A&M
Dec. 16Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, SC
11 a.m. (ESPN) Georgia Southern vs. Ohio
 
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Yet, the ACC Beat the SEC record wise when they played this year.

FSU and Clemson have been carrying the ACC on the football front since the conference expanded and started having a Championship game. Of the 19 ACC Championships the two have combined to win 14 of them, and one of them has appeared in 16 of the 19 games. Beyond that there isn't much consistency in the conference sadly.

I feel for FSU, but I agree with the committee's decision. FSU isn't the same team it was a few weeks ago. Losing their QB, and being down to the 3rd string QB at that really hurt their resume. They're going to get hammered by Georgia whether their backup plays or the third string guy plays. The outcome will be the same. I would wager the same decision would have been made involving other teams.

If Clemson had lost Trevor Lawrence back in 2019 it would have hurt their chances. Chase Brice was a solid backup and won games when Lawrence was out, so they might have survived. But if you took both Lawrence and Brice away they for sure wouldn't been out as well.

I do think the whole SEC being this super powerful conference is over rated though. If you look at it over the same time period since 2009 Alabama is the only consistent program there in reality. Georgia has had a good run as of late, and every now and then you have another program pop up with a good season or two (LSU, Auburn, Florida to name a few). The rest of the conference just doesn't do very much. There are upsets of course and they're competitive, but they don't make national noise.
 
FSU and Clemson have been carrying the ACC on the football front since the conference expanded and started having a Championship game. Of the 19 ACC Championships the two have combined to win 14 of them, and one of them has appeared in 16 of the 19 games. Beyond that there isn't much consistency in the conference sadly.

I feel for FSU, but I agree with the committee's decision. FSU isn't the same team it was a few weeks ago. Losing their QB, and being down to the 3rd string QB at that really hurt their resume. They're going to get hammered by Georgia whether their backup plays or the third string guy plays. The outcome will be the same. I would wager the same decision would have been made involving other teams.

If Clemson had lost Trevor Lawrence back in 2019 it would have hurt their chances. Chase Brice was a solid backup and won games when Lawrence was out, so they might have survived. But if you took both Lawrence and Brice away they for sure wouldn't been out as well.

I do think the whole SEC being this super powerful conference is over rated though. If you look at it over the same time period since 2009 Alabama is the only consistent program there in reality. Georgia has had a good run as of late, and every now and then you have another program pop up with a good season or two (LSU, Auburn, Florida to name a few). The rest of the conference just doesn't do very much. There are upsets of course and they're competitive, but they don't make national noise.
The last paragraph is exactly what I have been saying about the SEC for years now .... It's Bama and now Georgia as well and 1 other team from year to year that may be good .... but thats it.

Unfortunately, when the sec wins the championship, all the schools celebrate like they won it all.