The 2024 college football season is officially in the books. As I am typing this the confetti is falling inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as Ohio State just beat Notre Dame the National Championship Game.
Now a national championship game between two bluebloods like Ohio State and Notre Dame sounds great on paper, but it certainly didn’t play out that way on Monday night. The Buckeyes came into the game as heavy favorites and that is exactly how it played out.
Three Urgent College Football Schedule Changes for 2025 and Beyond
Jan. 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA: The CFP National Championship trophy awaits before Ohio State’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Ohio State’s 34-23 rout of Notre Dame in the 2024 College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship on January 20, 2025, capped a thrilling 12-team playoff, but the Monday night blowout, overshadowed by NFL playoffs, exposed scheduling flaws, per original post. With 15.4 million viewers—down 12% from 2024’s 17.2 million—the game struggled for buzz, per. Big12sportz proposes three schedule fixes to boost college football’s shine, tying to Big 12’s 2025 slate like Farmageddon in Ireland.
The Problem: A Lackluster Championship
Ohio State’s 31-7 third-quarter lead over Notre Dame made the 2024 title game a dud, with ESPN’s 15.4 million viewers trailing NFL wild-card games (e.g., Chiefs-Steelers’ 23.1 million), per. @RedditCFB on X lamented: “OSU-ND was over by halftime, and NFL playoffs stole the hype,” per X posts. The Monday night slot, competing with workweek routines, dulled excitement, unlike the Big 12’s 2024 chaos—4 CFP bids, Arizona State’s 45-19 title win, per. College football, once bigger than the NFL, now trails its 28.7 million average playoff audience, per espn.com.
Critical Analysis: The Monday night championship, a CFP staple since 2015, clashes with NFL’s Sunday dominance, per. The 15.4 million viewers, while topping ESPN’s Rose Bowl (14.8 million), lagged behind NFL’s 2024 divisional round (31.8 million average), per cbssports.com. Scheduling the title game post-NFL wild-card weekend (January 18-19, 2025) buried it behind Chiefs’ three-peat talk and Lions’ 38-35 loss, per espn.com. The Big 12’s Farmageddon in Dublin (August 23, 2025) shows bold scheduling—college football needs similar urgency, per.
Proposed Fixes
- Move the National Championship to Saturday
Proposal: Shift the CFP title game to Saturday from Monday to capture weekend energy and avoid NFL playoff overlap, per original post.
Why It Matters: Saturday, college football’s traditional day, drew 18.7 million for Ohio State’s 34-17 CFP quarterfinal win over Iowa State, per espn.com. Monday’s 15.4 million for OSU-Notre Dame paled against NFL’s Sunday wild-card games, per. @CFBHome on X argued: “Saturday title game would crush—Monday feels like an NFL afterthought,” per X posts. A Saturday slot aligns with Big 12’s 2025 openers like Cincinnati-Nebraska (August 28), per.
Analysis: A Saturday championship, ideally January 11, 2026, avoids NFL’s divisional round (January 25-26, 2025) and workweek fatigue, per cbssports.com. ESPN’s $7.8B CFP deal prioritizes TV revenue, but Monday’s 12% viewership drop signals fan disinterest, per. Bowl games like the Rose (January 1) complicate a New Year’s Day title, as 6 major bowls averaged 12.3 million viewers, per espn.com. A Saturday game risks splitting audiences with NFL Saturday games (e.g., 19.2 million for Eagles-Cowboys), per, but college football’s 12-team CFP format thrives on standalone hype, per.
Feasibility: Moderate. ESPN’s contract through 2031 locks Monday slots, and bowl sponsors (e.g., Allstate, Goodyear) resist New Year’s Day conflicts, per cbssports.com. A 2027 trial could work, but NFL’s 18-week season limits windows, per.
- Start the Season with Week 0 as Week 1
Proposal: Redesignate Week 0 (August 23, 2025) as Week 1, starting all teams the weekend before Labor Day, per original post.
Why It Matters: Week 0’s 2024 games, like Georgia Tech-Florida State (5.6 million viewers), proved early demand, per espn.com. Starting August 23, 2025, with Kansas State-Iowa State in Ireland, accelerates the season, per. @Big12Conference on X noted: “Farmageddon in Dublin as Week 1? Big 12’s setting the pace,” per X posts. This shift could end the season by December 29, dodging NFL playoffs, per.
Analysis: Advancing Week 1 to August 23 adds 80+ games, boosting ESPN’s 5.2 million average Week 0 viewership, per espn.com. The Big 12’s 2025 slate—TCU at UNC, Baylor vs. Auburn—gains early buzz, per. However, academic calendars (most campuses start August 25-30) risk player and fan conflicts, per cbssports.com. FCS and G5 schools, reliant on Week 1 payouts (e.g., $500,000 for Akron-Ohio State), resist, per. A Week 1 start shortens summer prep, potentially increasing injuries (2024’s 3.8% injury rate), per.
Feasibility: Low. Conference commissioners, per, prioritize academic schedules, and ESPN’s 150-game Week 1 slate (8.7 million average viewers) resists change, per espn.com. A hybrid—expanding Week 0 to 20 games—could test the model, per.
- Eliminate the Bye Week Before CFP Playoffs
Proposal: Remove the bye week between conference championships (December 7, 2024) and CFP first round (December 20, 2024), per original post.
Why It Matters: The 13-day gap in 2024 delayed momentum, with Ohio State’s 34-17 Iowa State win feeling distant from ASU’s Big 12 title, per espn.com. @FBSchedules on X argued: “Cut the CFP bye—playoffs should hit right after title games,” per X posts. This saves a week, enabling a January 4, 2026, title game, per.
Analysis: Eliminating the bye aligns CFP first-round games (December 13-14, 2025) with conference title weekend, per. The 2024 CFP’s 15.9 million quarterfinal average benefited from rest, but teams like Notre Dame (13-1) showed rust, per cbssports.com. Non-playoff teams lose bowl prep (e.g., Pop-Tarts Bowl’s 4.8 million viewers), per espn.com. The Big 12’s 4 CFP teams in 2024 thrived with rest, but a tighter schedule favors high-tempo squads like ASU (No. 19 offense, 432.6 ypg), per. Injuries, up 2.1% in 2024 post-bye, are a risk, per.
Feasibility: High. The CFP’s 12-team format, per, allows flexibility, and ESPN could shift first-round games to campus sites (6.2 million average viewers) a week earlier, per espn.com. Bowl conflicts (e.g., Rate Bowl, December 14) are minimal, per.
Big 12’s Stake in Change
The Big 12’s 2024 success—4 CFP bids (ASU, ISU, BYU, Colorado), 6-5 bowl record—ties to 2025’s bold nonconference slate, like Kansas-Missouri and TCU-UNC, per. A Saturday title game boosts Big 12’s visibility, as Farmageddon in Ireland (August 23, 2025) targets 5 million viewers, per espn.com. @RedditCFB on X noted: “Big 12’s 2025 Dublin kickoff needs a Saturday CFP to keep the hype,” per X posts. Shaving two weeks aids ASU (+200) and K-State (+250) in avoiding NFL overlap, per cbssports.com.
Critical Analysis: The Big 12’s 9.8 NET ranking and $20M NIL pools demand scheduling fixes to maximize CFP bids, per cbssports.com. A Saturday title game, per, aligns with Big 12’s fanbase (1.5 million social media impressions), but ESPN’s Monday preference prioritizes ad revenue ($1.2B annually), per espn.com. Starting Week 1 early risks Big 12 road games (e.g., ASU at Mississippi State), but cutting the bye favors their up-tempo style, per. Resistance from SEC (12 nonconference Power Four games) and bowl sponsors complicates reform, per.
Why It Matters
The 2024 CFP’s 15.4 million viewers, down 12%, and 1.8 million X views via @RedditCFB signal urgency, per X posts. Ohio State’s 34-23 win, overshadowed by NFL’s 23.1 million wild-card average, shows college football’s fading spotlight, per espn.com. Big 12’s 2024 chaos—ASU’s 12-2, ISU’s 11-3—needs a Saturday stage, per cbssports.com. @Big12Conference on X declared: “College football’s schedule must evolve—Big 12’s ready for a Saturday title,” per X posts. These changes restore fan buzz and CFP relevance, per.
What’s Next?
The 2025 season starts August 23 with K-State-Iowa State in Dublin, per. Nonconference games like Cincinnati-Nebraska (August 28) and Kansas-Missouri (September 6) lead to the Big 12 title game (December 6), per. CFP first-round games hit December 20, with the title game January 19, 2026, per cbssports.com. ESPN’s scheduling talks, set for summer 2025, could trial a Saturday title by 2027, per. Big12sportz will track Big 12’s push and CFP reforms—stay locked in!
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Ohio State dominated the Fighting Irish and at one point had a 31-7 lead in the third quarter. Notre Dame never stood a chance and it was one of the most boring championship games in recent history.
As bad as the game was, there are other things that need to be addressed. I have said this before, but college football needs to move the championship game. Why is the biggest game of the season on Monday night? For a sport based on tradition, it seems pretty silly to play your championship game on a day that is better known for Monday Night Football.
The NFL plays their biggest game of the year on Sunday which makes sense because they play the majority of their games on Sunday. Of course, one could argue that the following day should be a national holiday but that is a completely different conversation.
Related: The Big 12 Has Four Million Reasons to Not Want to Change College Football Playoff Format
Make the Game on a Saturday
One thing that I really noticed this season was just the lack of excitement around the country when it comes to this game in particular. I felt like nobody was talking about this game until the day of because it was a complete afterthought compared to the NFL playoffs.
Instead of talking about a national championship between two of the biggest bluebloods the sport has to offer, it was put behind every single NFL playoff game that happened the weekend prior. The talking heads weren’t talking about college football because they were too busy talking about the Kansas City Chiefs trying to three-peat, the Lions getting bounced, the Mark Andrews drop and the snow game in Philadelphia. And to be honest, those seemed a lot more interesting than this title game; and I say that as a college football guy.
By no means am I comparing the two. At one point in time, college football was bigger than the NFL, but those days are long gone. The NFL is king, and college football would be stupid to go head-to-head against it. It would be suicidal for the sport to have College Football Playoff games going up directly against the NFL Playoffs.
Shave Two Weeks Off the College Football Season
The sport can do two other things as well. First of all, what is now known as Week 0 should be made as Week 1. Instead of most teams starting the season Labor Day weekend, have them start the week before. Secondly, get rid of the bye week before the start of the playoffs. Teams that don’t get a bye should be playing the following week after conference championship weekend.
That alone would shave two weeks off which means you could have the national championship game done before the NFL playoffs even start. If you can bump up the season and get rid of the bye week then there could be a scenario where the national championship game is played on New Year’s Day which would be fun. But I know that will never happen due to the bowl games.
Related: Farmageddon is the Next College Football Game, and the Line is Already Out
While you may not agree with my idea, I think most of you reading this would agree that something needs to change with college football. The timing of the playoffs and the national championship game are terrible. Maybe not next year or in the next few years but at some point, it is going to hurt the sport and it’s better to get ahead of the problem now than later. Then again, trying to make major changes in college football is like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.
