The Josh Innes Show - College Football Championship Weekend Could Be A Farce

Episode Date: December 6, 2024

Here we are...It's Championship Weekend. In the past, this would feel pretty significant. But, with the CFP being what it is, most of the marquee games are essentially irrelevant. Of course, a team could win its conference and get a bye in the tourney. But, do they even want that? How do you bet these games? How do you enjoy these games? Also, I have thoughts on the absurdity of SEC bias. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of Service Corporation International. All right, friends. The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of Service Corporation International. All right, friends. It is championship weekend, college football championship weekend, championship game weekend. And really, it's all a giant waste of time for the most part, especially in the bigger conferences. Outside of the ACC where, you know, Clemson could steal a bid if Clemson wins because they'd win the conference championship and that would get them in. So the game matters to Clemson.

But as far as SMU goes, I mean, it also matters to SMU because if SMU loses, they're going to be out of the college football playoff. So that game matters. But here's the problem. And this is something that's always kind of been the case, but now it's really a debate point and really the case when you start talking about the college football playoff 12-team era. It was the case in previous eras as well, but should conference championship games, the loser of those games, be negatively impacted in their future standing, their future seating, and whether or not they make the college football playoff. Should a team that sits their ass at home and does nothing be rewarded and

move up in the rankings, uh, despite the fact they didn't play. And obviously one of the big teams that's mentioned to this is Alabama. And, uh, cause Alabama is everywhere. I fucking hate Alabama.

I'm tired of Alabama. I get it. I'm L of Alabama. I get it. I'm LSU guy. You're like, shut up, LSU guy. That's why you hate Alabama because you're LSU guy. No, it really isn't. If Alabama were 11-1, put them in the fucking playoff. Alabama's 9-3, and they lost to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.

Again, we talked about it yesterday. Those are two teams that would have finished the season under.500 had it not been for the fact that they had defeated Alabama so shut the fuck up about Alabama my god but anyway SMU who is in a power conference by the way like it's what I know that we can look at SMU and go SMU they must be an upstart no SMU is in the ACC The ACC is one of the power conferences. So whether you think it's as good as the SEC or not is irrelevant. Whether you think it's as good as the Big Ten or not is irrelevant. I would say it is not. And we would all agree with each other that the SEC, for the most part, has better football. However, the name of the game in the

college football playoff is let's not get as many SEC teams in as possible because we believe they're the best conference. It's a bullshit system that we're using here. You can't diminish the fact that SMU currently is a top 10 team and they're in your little college football playoff bracket. And if they lose a conference championship game, which is one extra game, more than Ole Miss had to play because they lost three games, more than South Carolina had to play because they lost three games, more than South Carolina had to play because they lost three games, more than Alabama had to play because they lost three games. You want to tell me that you've got to punish them because they're playing Clemson and having to play a bonus game? This whole system is a farce. I know I talked about it yesterday.

I get it, but I'm passionate about this. I'm passionate about the level of farce we are dealing with right now. College football isn't a place of just farcical enormities, if that even makes any sense. Like we're coming off a national signing day. I'm an LSU guy. We talk about it all the time. There's this dude, his name is Solomon Thomas. He's a five-star offensive lineman out of the state of Florida. He was committed to Florida State. Last day on the trail, he flips and commits to LSU. Big get for LSU. Five-star guy, right? Big deal.

He's being interviewed after his signing day festivities, and he announced he's signing with LSU. He's being interviewed. The kid literally says that he was disappointed that he couldn't go to Florida State. Well, why couldn't he go to Florida State? Did they not offer him? No, they offered him. Problem is, LSU gave him more money. So think about this. This is where we are right now. This is just, I mean, I guess to a degree I appreciate his honesty, but on the other hand, as a guy who roots for LSU, there's a big part of me that says hey Solomon go fuck yourself like oh I'm like you want to go to Florida State then take

less money to go to Florida State there there's the answer if you truly want to go to Florida State and you're not just trying to cover your bases with your Florida State and your Florida people then take less money to play for them but we are in the era of ultimate greed and we are in the era of the absurdity of this college football playoff and the selection committee with this group of slap dicks determining who gets in instead of letting it bear out on the field. We are in just this bizarre era. So think about that. You just made a life-changing decision. And again, I get it. These guys are 18 years old whatever sorry you're no longer in high school you're an 18 year old that just signed to play college football and

you're probably making six figures if not higher for the time you're going to be at LSU you could like these could be dudes making a million dollars we saw it with the quarterback play we saw the quarterback Bryce Underwood get a million and a half two million whatever it was to go to Michigan now is this guy probably getting a million and a half, two million, whatever it was to go to Michigan. Now, is this guy probably getting a million and a half? No, but he's probably somewhere in six figures, right? The Solomon Thomas kid from Florida. You would like to think if you put forth the effort and the offer to get this guy to come to your school,

the least you could do is not mention the place you didn't go and certainly not mention the fact that you would almost rather be at the place and that it was all based on money. Now, there's a certain level of honesty that comes with that that I kind of appreciate. I kind of appreciate when you go, hey, I took the money. I wish everybody would do that. I wish guys like this Bryce Underwood wouldn't come out and tell you how happy he is to be at Michigan and this is where he always wanted to be bullshit you went because you took more money so there's a part of me that appreciates the honesty of it but there's

a way to word that that would make me feel better that would that would make my delicate sensibilities as an LSU fan make me feel a little bit better. And it would be that at no point during that interview, do you say I'm disappointed that I couldn't go to Florida state, bro. This is Louisiana. There ain't a ton of cash here. Somebody found a shitload of money for you to come to LSU to play on the offensive line. What I want to hear from you is I'm fucking ecstatic to go to LSU. And whether you want to tell me it's because of the money or not, that's fine. You want to say, Hey, LSU is the highest bidder. And I went there. Good. Tell me that that's honest. And I can live with that. What I don't want to hear from you

is I'm a little bit disappointed, whether it was in context, out of context, whatever. What I don't want to hear is that I'm disappointed that I couldn't go to Florida state. Don't tell me that. Like, are you going to stand up at the altar? You're getting married and you're like, how do you feel? What are your vows? Tell your vows. Well, here are my vows.

You know, back when I was a young boy, I really thought that I was going to marry someone much better than you, but here we fucking are. YOLO. I do. Like, at least lie to me a little bit and say, I'm just fucking elated to be here. Fuck Florida State.

LSU came in hot at the end. Go Tigers. But instead, this dude's like, well, I'm a little bit disappointed that I couldn't go to Florida State. Okay. Like, give me a little something. Make me feel a little.

Tell me I'm pretty a little bit, please. My God, like we're just in this era. Like, and you know how I feel about the idea of calling these dudes kids. Once you're getting paid six figures to play college football and you're leaving schools like, you know, you know, two, three times in your college football career, I'm done calling you kids. Oh, they're high. I'm not going to judge a high school kid for what he does, or I'm not going to judge a college kid for what he does. Bullshit. If I'm 20 years old and I'm not in college and I'm in the workforce, I'm not going to judge a high school kid for what he does, or I'm not going to judge a college kid for what he does. Bullshit. If I'm 20 years old and I'm not in college and I'm in the workforce,

I'm an adult. But because these guys are starting athletes, that we can't criticize these people for their lies and the decisions they make and the stuff they do on the field? Once again, as Matthew McConaughey said in 10 Things I Hate About You, bullshit. Not here for that shit. The days of, oh, these are just kids.

I'm not gonna judge or boo a college kid. You're not kids anymore. You're hired guns, you're employees. And when I start hearing people basically admit to you that they came to LSU because it just so happened LSU had the bigger offer, I appreciate your candor, but it also opens you up to the realities of being a paid gun, a hired gun, a professional athlete. So please spare me the bullshit of they're just

kids, man. No, college football is professional football. It's the minor leagues right now. And we got to start acknowledging that. And we're in the era of gambling as well, like in sports betting. So people are going to get even more heinous and even more cruel about this shit. But I don't care how old you are. If you're 21 years old, you pick up a gun, you go to war. People judge you differently than if you're 21 years old and you're on campus getting paid six figures to play football and go to class. Yeah, cool. that shit but yeah so uh let's talk a little bit about these a couple of the big college championship games here in just a second um i'm gonna play a couple of commercials here and we will reconvene all right if you're ready

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Limited time offer. See terms at pick6.draftkings.com slash promos. All righty. So we talked about the ACC. There is a chance that SMU gets punished for losing a game that Alabama and South Carolina and Ole Miss and Miami don't even have to play in. There's a chance they get punished. And I would understand this if SMU were playing in the same conferences, you know, if they

were in the AAC, I would understand it. No, you have labeled the ACC as a legitimate power conference. Big 12, Big 10, ACC, SEC, they're in that world. They are in that universe. And they are in the conference championship. The day, the week before they play in this game, you say that they are one of the top eight teams in your little made-for-TV bracket show, right?

So then you want to tell them that if they lose this game, they will get punished while Alabama sits at home with a thumb in their ass just waiting to see where they go because they're Alabama. If you want to create a playoff that's just SEC teams, go for it. But that's my promise. And yes, is the best football, generally speaking, played in the SEC? I believe that, yes. But just because you lose three games in the SEC, it isn't just a product of how tough the SEC is. Maybe you're just not good. Alabama lost three games in the SEC. To me, that's not a compliment to how tough the SEC is.

It's a statement about where Alabama football is that they lost to 6-6 Vanderbilt and 6-6 Oklahoma and scored three points against Oklahoma. We should not be rewarding them. There's this mindset that the toughest games in the world are in the SEC. It's almost like we reward good teams for losing to shitty teams as long as they're in the SEC because it helps create this narrative that the SEC, anything could happen. Yet somehow Michigan, like if the Michigan-Ohio State thing would have happened in the SEC, all we'd hear is,

yep, you can't rest. Any day in the SEC is tough. But because Ohio State loses to Michigan in a rivalry game and Michigan's six and six and they're not good, it's Ohio State stinks. They lost their big matchup there and they suck. But if it happened in the SEC and Ole Miss loses to Florida, who's not good, it's can't take a day off, man. Top to bottom, that SEC is tough. Is it really? Because it looks to me like there's a bunch of shitty teams in the SEC Ole Miss is fine but they got three losses and all three of those losses came in the SEC and when you look at who they lost to those are losses to mediocre teams like LSU mediocre teams like bad teams like Kentucky like but that's the myth that's this

myth we've created about the SEC is it's the toughest league in the world because good teams like Alabama lose to Vanderbilt on any given Sunday. Back in the day, Vanderbilt was still Vanderbilt and Alabama would beat the shit out of Vanderbilt and Alabama would be 11 and one. So now just because we got a bunch of mediocre teams and mediocre coaches now in the SEC and Nick Saban's out. Like we sit here and act like losing three games in the SEC is some sort of achievement. It's not. I don't know that Florida would line up and beat the fifth or sixth best team in the Big 12, Big 10, maybe. But we got to stop complimenting these SEC schools because we've created a

narrative that they're just tougher down there. Like, boy, you lost to Kentucky, but man, Kentucky would win 10 games in the Big 12. Like, come on, man. What are we doing? So you've created this world now where, and this is your issue because you created a world where every Tuesday you have to release these brackets for television, this made-for-TV, hour-long bullshit. So you create this world where the brackets every week matter. So now you've got SMU penciled in in the bracket, partially because we're assuming they win the conference championship, I guess. But you're going to bounce them because they lose a game that other teams don't have to play? It's not right. I understand the sense behind it because there is no sense and then you look at the conference championship games this

weekend and you wonder who even gives a shit like who's playing in these games like on Saturday when you get your big ones like obviously Tulane and Army care like that's a big deal for Tulane and Army in their conference championship game you. Jacksonville State and Western Kentucky. But once you get to Georgia and Texas, both of those teams are in. It's just a matter of whether or not you're going to get a buy and whether or not you even want to buy. I don't know if there is a financial benefit. I would imagine there is a financial benefit to having another home game. So let's say you lose this game. The winner gets a buy, a financial benefit to having another home game. So like, let's say you lose this game. Like the winner gets a buy, the loser has to play a home game. How much money is Georgia going to make or Texas going to make from having a home playoff

game? And oh, by the way, there's money to be made just by making the college football play. If you're going to get some money just for playing in these games, but how much gate revenue and concession revenue are you going to get if you play a home playoff game as opposed to having a buy? I don't know that answer. I've tried to find it. I can't find it. I'm sure if I dig deeper, I could, but would it be just like a normal Saturday night game in Texas or at Georgia where you'd make five, six, seven million in ticket sales or whatever that number would be and concessions, et cetera? Like, would that be the case? Because if so, I'd argue you have incentive to play another game and play at home.

You certainly, at this point, is there any incentive to go out and bash your brains in to play in what amounts to a trivial game other than being able to say you were the conference champion and you get a bye? Do you even want the bye? Like, I think McAfee, Jilly was telling me McAfee was talking about that yesterday, but like Penn State and Oregon, if you're Oregon and you lose this game and you assume there's not going to be a punishment in terms, I mean, you're not going to be bounced from the college football playoff. You're the

number one team in the country. They're not going to bounce you. So let's say you lose this game and you have to play a first round game. Well, your first round matchup is going to be a very favorable matchup and you'll get a home game. Is that good for you? Is that good for you financially? Like we're at a point where you've got college football championship weekend and essentially it's all for the most part irrelevant other than this SMU Clemson game, which could have a domino effect unless SMU wins

and it just stays status quo for the most part. So why even have these games? And that's kind of what I was pitching earlier this week. The idea is let's create a world where we're not nominating and voting and putting out, you know, polls every week to tell you who's going to get into the college football playoff and have a group of dopes sitting around determining who's in the playoffs? How about we NFL this bad boy and create a universe where we have a set standard and guideline on how teams get in. In the NFL, you win your division, you win one of the three wild cards, that's how you get in. Other than that, you don't get in. So let's eliminate conference championship games and let's say SEC, the top three teams in the SEC get in, period.

Now, do you determine that based on the SEC record or overall record? I would assume you'd base that on your conference record. So, because that's how it is. Well, actually, no, just take it the overall record. But then again, if you do that, then you're incentivizing playing nobody at a conference and you don't want to do that. Like I would prefer it, make it an SEC, ACC, Big 12, have it be a situation where, and again, I don't have all the answers, but I would have a situation where you'd say, all right, SEC, the top three SEC records in the league out of your eight SEC games, or hell, make it 10 conference games and two out of conference games, whatever you want it to be. Your conference record, the top three or four teams, however you want to hash this out to make it a 12-team, 16-team, 20-team,

I don't care how many teams are in it, but those teams get in. Top three teams or top two teams in each conference are guaranteed a spot. Then if you want to use a computer system like the BCS or something to determine wildcard teams or where these teams are seated, I'm cool with that. That's fine. But do something like that. So going into the season, you know, if you're one of the top two teams in your conference, you're in. And then you use something that doesn't have a bias, like a computer, an algorithm, if you will, to determine the wildcard teams. But don't have a group of people sitting in a room, people who have biases.

By the way, you see the athletic director from Michigan, Ward Manuel, he's on this committee. Well, there's incentive to get as many Big Ten teams in as you can because there's more money for the Big Ten if they do. If you have an SEC, like the Arkansas AD is in there, Hunter Urechek. Of course, there's incentive to add four or five SEC teams into this thing because there's money for the conference every time another team gets in. So it's biases, totally. So what are we doing? Create a universe where there are

no biases allowed in the process. Have a set rule going into it, like this is how it's going to work out. Three teams from each conference with the best conference record get in. We'll use a computer to determine the seating, so there is still some incentive to play better out of conference games, so like you could take strength of schedule and all that it would still factor all that in sec would probably still have an advantage but play more conference games and play fewer out of conference games and try to schedule out of conference games that aren't going to kill you but can still be fun and can benefit you if you're looking down the road at potential seeding in the playoff. Because you don't want to see two games against Western Kentucky and the Citadel.

You still want to see fun out-of-conference games. You want to see LSU versus USC. You want to see Alabama versus Texas. Well, now they're in the same conference, but when they weren't. You want to see those kind of games. So reward teams for playing those kind of games by having the strength of schedule factor play into it whenever you seed them at the end of the year, but let the computers handle that

and give us definitive ways that teams can get in when they go into the season. And then eliminate these conference championship games and start the playoff fucking a week early. Add more teams, play more. There you go. This week right here that we're wasting our time with conference championship games,

this week could be used for playoff games. Put in more teams. Instead of 12, make it 20. I don't know how the math works out. I'm not a math guy, and I didn't really think this through. But instead of wasting this with seven, eight, nine conference championship games that don't matter, like literally one of these games has true value in this. The rest of them don't. So if you're going to do that, have this

week be the first week of the playoffs. That would be more fun than these games. Like I'm talking from a betting standpoint. I know that that doesn't concern all of you. I don't know how the fuck to bet on these games. Like I would go in and say Dylan Gabriel to throw for X yards for Oregon or, you know, obviously the one game that you do think is going to have value is the ACC championship game. So you circle that one and you go, okay, this is going to be a competitive game, passing yards, all that. Is there really any incentive for Oregon and Penn State to do anything?

They're in unless one of them really wants a buy. Does Texas or Georgia really want to buy? I don't know. And what happens at a point if they get down by 17, 20 points, like let's say like Georgia, who we've seen this happen to them a couple times this year, they've gotten down big multiple times this year. Last week, they did it against Georgia Tech. If they're down 17, 20 points midway through the third quarter, are they just like, yeah, we're out. We're cool. We're going to rest our guys. We're going to rest our guys. We're going to make sure nobody gets hurt.

You don't know. That's what makes it difficult. Anyway. All right. I'll do some prop bets for the NFL. I'm going to head out now. I'm going to go to the St. Clair Square Mall in Illinois. And we're going to write out some prop bets.

And Jillian and I will do those and pick some games later on.