Athletic directors and coaches like to throw around phrases like "player safety" and "for the good of the game" but their actual decisions show they don't care about anything as much as they do the cash grab.
The college football calendar is insane.
In 2026, the season will extend to the College Football National Championship Game on January 25. That means the postseason will extend nearly two full months after the last regular season game. And they haven't done anything to streamline the timing of coaching carousel, early signing day and the transfer portal, which all take place in scattershot fashion while the playoffs are going on.
It gets even worse because January brings the start of a new term or semester, so players get caught in a vise between their own team and their new, pressured to abandon their teammates before the season is over.
Last year, Oregon came to the College Football Playoff semifinal short players at running back and the defensive line because of transfers.
Before there is any more talk of doubling the playoffs to 24 or restricting free enterprise with the Cruz-Cantwell bill, the college football commissioners, presidents and network executives have to come up with a workable, sensible calendar.
A 4 round, single game playoff takes a month and a half
— Ryne Schill (@ryneschill) June 2, 2026
That's.... Absurd https://t.co/f6csciQAcH
A steamlined, sensible calendar benefits the game, the players and the fans
There's no need for the playoffs to begin three weeks after Rivalry Week, typically the weekend after Thanksgiving. Move the Army-Navy Game to Week Zero. Let it be the lone noon kickoff on the last Saturday in August.
Two-week layoffs typically produce bad football. Timing is off. Team lose momentum and rhythm. Too much talk fills the void. Yet this schedule bakes in a two-week gap before the start of the playoffs, a two-week gap between the first round and the quarterfinals, 13 days between the quarterfinals and semifinals, ten more days before the championship.
Start the season in Week Zero. Everyone plays ten Power 4 opponents, one nonconference road game and takes one bye week. If the playoffs are going to be expanded, eliminate the conference championship games and start the playoffs the first week in December.
Four straight weeks without a bye produces the best football. And it keeps the climax of the college football season out of direct competition with the NFL postseason.
Play the first two rounds on campus sites. Finish the season by January 2nd. Eliminate the long layoffs and the first-round byes. Have a clean bracket with either 8, 16 or 24 teams. Twenty-four is too many, but if they want to go that way because they need the money to feed their undisciplined, escalating spending, the playoff expansion has to be accompanied by scheduling reform.
Campus sites ensure the best atmosphere, reward the students and communities that support the teams and reduce the logistical nightmare of four straight rounds of travel and hotels. How many fans can take that much time off work during the holiday season?
The length of the season eliminates all but the deepest, richest teams from true playoff contention. It becomes an endurance race.
A bloated five-month season that clashes with the NFL playoffs is just insanity. And it throws off the competitive balance, top teams getting an extra two months of practice over teams that miss a bowl, permanent underclass, widing the gap between successful, well-funded teams and the programs that are down.
That's a significant problem, because one day your favorite program may be down too.
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