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We watched from start to finish Monday night as Ohio State beat Notre Dame for the national championship, bringing an end to the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
All in all, I’d call the new format a success. Way more teams got their chance than in the past, four-team playoff, and that made everyone happy. Everyone but Alabama and Crimson Tide backers, that is. Small price to pay. If the CFP goes to 16 teams, there’ll still be a beef about the first team out, whomever that might be.
First-round games at campus sites added a layer of excitement, the fans at Texas, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame getting to experience the thrill of a postseason home game. Even before the semifinals, there was a down-to-the-wire thriller with the Longhorns’ double-overtime win over Arizona State.
And on Wednesday, ESPN reported viewership for the title game was 22.1 million, the most watched non-NFL sporting event over the past year. The peak for a 15-minute period was 26.1 million people tuned in. All the talk about loosened transfer restrictions and name-image-likeness pay killing college football is just that, talk. The game, no matter how it evolves, has too strong a pull.
Would you rather watch the World Pickleball Championships? The National Cornhole League maybe? Didn’t think so.
Still, college football’s postseason format can get better.
More: How did Joey McGuire, former Texas Tech football coaches vote in US LBM Coaches Poll?
More: Texas Tech football: How soon are a name change, field logos coming to Jones AT&T Stadium?
Add me to the list of folks who believe the CFP needs to end sooner. Dragging the finale this deep into January feels awfully protracted. Think of it this way: The Ohio State-Notre Dame game came 25 days after the Texas Tech football season ended at the Liberty Bowl, and the Red Raiders’ season…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football-playoff-better-don-080102207.html
Author : Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Publish date : 2025-01-23 08:01:00
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