Just a crazy idea here, but…
What if 32 teams made it to the college football playoffs?
Yes. THIRTY TWO TEAMS!
- Set up 4 regions with 8 teams each, seeded 1-8
- On Friday, 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7…
- But they only a HALF of a game each. Winners advance
- Same thing on Saturday–two matchups of one half each
- Winners of those two halves advance out of the bracket, leaving 8 teams total to play full games in the subsequent weeks.
Imagine how fun this would be for the fans. Four stadiums around the country hosting fans from EIGHT DIFFERENT TEAMS at the same time who show up on Friday to watch four “mini-games” with two more “mini-games” on Saturday.
Everybody has their teams they cheer for when their team isn’t playing–this would give them a chance to enjoy other matchups, see some other teams play, interact with other fans, etc.
And the upsets!
Upsets are the thing that makes the NCAA basketball tournament so fun. Imagine the risky play style we’d see those low seeds implementing–they only have a half to make a miracle happen!