CFP Championship Game: #8 Ohio State vs #7 Notre Dame -- 1/20/2025 (Atlanta) -- 7:30 PM [ESPN]

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I watched about half of it. Which is far more than I watched most of the other playoff games.

Regarding the "care" part, Only the Gators hold my interest now. The greedy bastards that run the show have turned college football
into NFL light but with a lais-sez-faire (no regulation) bent.

I have no issue at all with paying players. My issue is a corrupt NCAA, corrupt media and corrupt University Presidents cabal. They allowed cheating for decades, by a few select programs, with the proper "political" connections. UF was not a part of that good ole boys club and came damn near an SMU style death penalty baCK IN THE 80'S.

They (the powers that launched this madness) lied about things from the very beginning. Who really benefits from all this chaos?
The nfl?, Major media players? Agents? The Universities? For those that say "players" I disagree. The corruption had gotten so rampant that the thieves in
charge HAD to begin paying the gladiator's.

Well it's just unregulated minor league NFL with unlimited Free Agency now. I actually used to love the sport. Now I can barely tolerate it.

Yeah I still watch, but it's tainted and corrupt now, ruined and despoiled by the money hoarders. BTW, whats it cost a working class family of 4 to travel from S or N Florida to catch a game? Or is the sport merely another recreation for the wealthy? Middle and working class families be damned?

So tee, in between a little football we can enjoy all the power plays, the political manipulations, and 2.5 hours of commercials included in what is now a 5 hour game.

(lol and people wondered why the NCAA was looking to reduce actual playing time...............forget the NCAA LIES)!

MORE COMMERCIALS BRO!!! That's the new game, more Ozempic and Chevy commercials, less football! And lets not forget the three hours of asinine
pundit talk before the game and the three hours after. LOL

Hey, I gotta idea, just have a 5 hour commercial telethon, and after 5 hours, pull one of two names out of a hat for the winner? Why play?? That gets in the way of commercials and profit.................... SMDH

 

Yeah I'm the same. I had it on but let the wife takeover the TV in the second quarter because who cares. Bunch of independent contractors playing football intermittently between commercials, which are clearly the product at this point.

I mostly keep up with UF football games but even that is less and less as the conversion to employees continues.

ND lost which is great, but I just checked the score this morning instead of staying up for a 5 hour commercial with some football breaks on a Monday night.

 

Guy has a point …

 

Turned out the way most of us imagined.

 

Ah, 16, just for the extra games. I really enjoyed the first round and think that holds real promise for the future. Think opening weekend of NCAA tourney. The higher seeds typically make it through, but occasionally there's an upset and it's generally one of the most entertaining weekends of the tournament.

The byes are what I don't get. That's such an NFL mentality/thing (revenue sharing, etc.) whereas the additional money from parking and concessions could be a real financial boost in an era when finances are more important than ever.

 

The commercials were absolutely mind numbing. I swear in one 20-minute period I watched 15 minutes of commercials. . . . and spend the rest of the night watching YT.

 

Oh, and the NFL is better. . . . Because it actually has rules for free agency, trades, etc. The comp here is UEFA and European Soccer. Independent teams sort of run by an overall agency, but one that holds no real power over them outside of barring them from its competitions. Thus, if they wanted to create a Super League they could, because there is no authority to stop them. Difference is the transfer system, where a fee is agreed between the teams and where players have to renegotiate a new contract with the new club before the transfer is approved.

 

There is nothing worse than a kickoff for a fair catch sandwiched by commercials.

 

It's insulting.

It truly is.

 

Is it wrong for my final takeaway from this being that the OSU QB's mom looked like W.C. Fields with wig on?

 

I like the games, but still have a problem with a team ranked 12-16 having the opportunity to win the national championship by virtue of pulling off a couple of 11th-hour upsets over teams that had been better over the first 3 months of the season.

Your reference to March madness underscores my objection to 16 teams being given a shot at the NC. Literally, this renders the regular season nearly meaningless.

I sense the underlying message that the only way to get back bowl games played by complete teams without massive sit-outs is to dangle the national championship carrot in front of everybody. And in my opinion, that’s a sad commentary on what this league has deteriorated into. Everybody has to be playing for the national championship or nobody gives a shit

 

So Coach Lou Holtz meets God in a dream. He asks, “Lord, will a service academy ever again win a national championship in football?“

“Yes,“ God says, “but not in your lifetime.”

Encouraged by this, Coach Holtz asks, “Will my Arkansas ever win another national championship in football?”

“Yes,” God says, “but not in your lifetime.”

Coach Holtz then asked one final question: “Lord, will my Notre Dame ever again win a national championship in football?”

After a long pause, God says, “Perhaps, Coach, but not in My lifetime.”

 

I remember UF beating Ole Miss to keep them out of the playoffs being quite the point of pride around here, which seems to go against the argument the regular season doesn't matter. In fact, the expansion may enhance the regular season. Case in point, a week 2 ND loss at home to Northern Illinois would have been season over for the past century, this year all the remaining games still mattered and got all the way to the title game. Just because our favorite team was all but eliminated in week 3 this year doesn't mean the regular season won't matter in the future.

 

Problem was the early drives put TV behind schedule in terms of breaks. ND went 10 minutes opening drive, no injuries or timeouts. Next drive by OSU took up rest of 1Q with no stops either. Usually a quarter has like 5 drives so there's at least chances for commercials between them. That forced ESPN to double up after scores on commercials to make up for it.

Blame NDs defense as much as ESPN, they only forced one incompletion from Will Howard in the first half, the game just moved too quickly as a result.