Canzano: CFP (and bowl) picks, predictions, and thoughts
It won't always be like this, will it?
It won’t always be like this.
I keep telling myself that. Entire teams won’t opt out of bowl games. Head coaches of programs that made the College Football Playoff won’t be working for other schools, watching on TV. And key coordinators won’t be pulling double-duty, finishing one job while scrambling to start another.
The college football calendar has to change. The season needs to start earlier. The timing of the transfer portal window shouldn’t creep into the postseason, disrupting the most important stretch of the season.
The NFL vs the CFP?
That’s real.
It’s why ESPN picked the Friday night CFP game and the earliest window on Saturday. The four-letter network didn’t want the task of having to draw viewers against the most powerful sports draw on the planet.
Why doesn’t college then learn from the NFL? We’re told college is where kids go to get a higher education. What I’m struggling with is how slow leaders of the sport itself are to adapt.
Start the season in Week Zero. Cut the break between the championship games and the opening round of the CFP to seven days. Push the portal window as far into January as the campus registrars can handle.
The playoff will… eventually… expand to 16 teams. Eventually… there will be no byes and higher seeds will host the opening round. Eventually… the calendar will be considered.
It won’t always be like this.
I keep telling myself that.
I’ve picked winners in the four CFP games, plus three key bowl games that kick off before Christmas.
My picks, thoughts, and predictions…