Bowl season officials are still hoping the school football playoff will expand to incorporate more of their games.
In a letter sent to convention delegates, Bowl Season Executive Director Nick Carparelli encouraged convention officials to play first-round games at bowling venues rather than campus venues, offering a list of reasons for such a decision.
In an interview Friday, Carparelli showed that the organization sent the letter and remained in “continuous communication” with commissioners about it.
“The bowl formula encompasses the fact that the CFP is moving toward the 12-team playoffs,” Carparelli told Sports Illustrated. “It’s in the most productive interest of school football. that will make all playoff games incorporated into the bowl design. I don’t think it’s too late to make any changes.
In a letter similar to the one he sent to CFP officials last October, Carparelli says bowling spots are better suited to host all 4 games in the first round of the new 12-team playoffs. Among the reasons, he says bowling (1) is offering a fairer and more impartial environment; (2) have a unique location to offer hospitality parts such as hotels, practice sites, etc. ; (3) are capable of the mandatory running speed to host the Games and (4) are situated in hot climates that would affect the Winter-related Games.
“Simply put, bowling games are arranged and provide a turnkey solution for all school football playoff games,” Carparelli wrote in the letter.
In the style of expansion followed by the CFP leaders last month, the seeded No. 5-12 play in 4 first-round games at the campus sites of the most sensible seed (12-5, 8-9 and so on). The winners advance to play the quarterfinals unlike the No. 1-4, who get first-round passes. Only convention champions are eligible for first-round passes.
Six bocce balls will host the quarterfinals and semifinals in rotation. The national championship match, in an impartial location, will be decided through a bidding procedure, as is the case lately.
While Carparelli’s call-up is likely long-term, the schools’ impromptu playoff games loom as one of many logistical issues related to playoff expansion. PFC leaders have created several subcommittees and enforcement teams to examine the variety of barriers, adding on-campus games. .
Some problems come with the allocation of price tickets; stadium sponsorship disputes; distribution of gambling revenue with the MFF; access to hotels in small university towns, especially when the start coincides with the games of the first round in mid-December; limited the day of the game with so little time of realization and conditioning for the winter of the stadiums of the north, especially those of the Big Ten.
“We continue to think that bowls are the most productive and adequate to provide the fast response time those games need,” says Carparelli. “There are so many potential venues that can host those games. We hope they will continue to consider them as an option.
The 10-commissioner organization and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will meet next week in Chicago to reignite discussions about the expansion process. They will look to fix many of those logistical messes, as well as the tight schedule to host 8 more games. Deportes Illustrated looked at key growing conditions earlier this month, ranging from the possibility of playing midweek playoff games to conflicts with the NFL.
The commissioners met three weeks ago in Dallas for the first collection since PCP presidents followed the expansion model. They left that assembly hoping to be able to expand in 2024, the earliest imaginable date for the implementation of the new playoffs. The focus of their discussions is the timing and possible change from week 1 to what is now week 0. This could be affected by a proposal for a new 365-day football calendar received through SI earlier this week.
The commissioners have set tentative dates for the 4 cycles of the extended call for proposals, but there is nothing concrete. The first circular falls about two weeks after the convention’s naming games. The time when the circular begins in the typical New Year’s and New Year’s Day window. The semifinals would be played a week later, followed by a championship that, depending on the year, could begin two or three weeks in January.
While Bowl Season advocates for greater participation, some second-round games deserve to be played in the original venues and not bowls. The top-ranked 4 teams, although they receive a pass, cannot perform a playoff game, wasting any merit in the box and the profit that comes with it, some athletic administrators privately noted.
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