The CFP is broken: Here’s how to fix it

By Chris Marler

If there’s anything that the last three days of college football has taught us, it’s that the sport is broken. I mean broken, broken. Like, a promise I made to my fiancée that I’ll only have three beers during 18 holes of golf kinda broken. 

We thought it would be NIL or the portal that delivered the final blow to the fractured sport we all used to know and love. But we were wrong. 

Turns out it was just basic levels of discourse and disagreement fueled by a reality television show CFB fans mistook for a meaningful insight to something we all really care about. How dumb of us. 

College football is a very complex business that has slowly become untethered from its roots in amateurism and regionalism. It has since been left on its own with no guidance or leadership thanks to the NCAA doing their best Lane Kiffin impression and leaving at a time they were needed most. I’m not going to pretend I know all the answers to the current state of college football. I don’t even round up for a good cause when I’m paying at the grocery store, so I’m zero help at explaining revenue share, antitrust agreements, or things that include the word “fiduciary.” 

I also don’t know how to stop the incessant arguing over TV network conspiracy theories, conference bias, or any other irrational outbursts fans are having right now. They’ve convinced themselves that this is reality because the thought of their opinion being wrong or something bad being true about their favorite team is just too much to bear. But here’s what I am good at: actually caring about the sport of college football. That seems like a pretty obvious statement, but every day we are reminded that the people running the sport stray farther and farther from God, the BCS, and doing the right thing. 

Here’s how I would fix the CFP immediately.

Step 1 – Get rid of the committee

We should’ve known to never put our trust in the same thing most of us try to avoid contact with every waking day – other people. If I wanted to see a bunch of old people sit in a room and pretend to know what they’re doing, I’d ask my grandparents to reset their wifi. Get rid of the human involvement. 

It’s not even because I worry about inherent biases or shadiness happening when agendas are potentially being pushed. I think they’re there to actually try and carry out the job as best they can to get the right teams in. Now, they have definitely failed at that almost every single year, but still A for effort. I want to do away with the human component for a few reasons. One, I don’t want there to be an opportunity for blame or excuses when something doesn’t go a certain way. 

It’s clear, after last night’s rankings and horrid justification on multiple topics, that the BCS was far superior to any college football postseason.

— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) November 19, 2025

I want clarity. I want clear, transparent communication of what numbers we are going to use to find the 12 best teams, and I want to have an understanding of exactly which metrics matter to avoid what we have found ourselves in for two years in a row. If it’s strength of schedule, strength of record, ranked wins, or how many wins a team had while Mercury was in Retrograde in the month of September of a year that ends in a prime number. I don’t care. Let’s do that. Just explain to the class what we are doing before you make us sit through a whole semester of silliness, and fail out our classmate after naming him teacher’s pet for the last two to 156 years. 

That was a shot at Notre Dame, guys. Not my best. 

Step 2 – Bring back computers and figure out what parameters matter most before the season starts 

That includes scheduling. Time and time again, we have proven that scheduling from conference to conference and team to team couldn’t be less parallel. Still, that hasn’t stopped coaches, ADs, and entire regions of fans from creating narratives about whose schedule is most difficult. 

I have been adamantly opposed to a nine game SEC schedule. But if it means avoiding this same groundhog day argument where it very clearly feels like one side is more right than the other but never see eye to eye, then fine. Whether every conference is playing eight or nine conference games doesn’t matter. Just make sure every P4 conference is playing the same amount. 

The main goal is that everyone plays the same amount of conference games and Power four opponents across the board for the AQ conferences. There will still be arguments over someone’s tenth game being against Ohio State while their rival got to play Purdue, but this is a massive step forward at finding more common ground from league to league. 

Step 3 – Get rid of the Group of 6 teams and let them play their own playoff 

I’m sure there would’ve been some 12 seed Cinderella team to pull off a huge first round upset at some point in the 12 team playoff. But after seeing Notre Dame, BYU, and Vanderbilt all get left out at 10-2 or better in favor of a 21 point underdog carrying the 123rd ranked strength of schedule into the CFP, I realized we gotta put an end to that. 

“It’s time to get rid of the G5 schools.”@finebaum weighs in on what he would do to fix the CFP system 👀 pic.twitter.com/Q9k0BZIbNU

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 9, 2025

Let them play their own playoff. Maybe do it through the current bowls that are already in place if you want. I don’t know. But the only thing worse than those schools being completely left out and disregarded for a shot at the title, was forcing them into the playoff over a more deserving team because we want to talk ourselves into the idea that a team named after a former president and undersized lineman is going to Eugene, Oregon and beating Phil Knight’s super team. 

Step 4 – No sitting ADs involved in the process at all 

I don’t care if you have to get Ryan Seacrest, Jeff Probst, or Andy from Bravo. Do not get another athletic director involved in the process of whatever broadcast is put together to deliver the rankings. Honestly, I think it would be cool to get Steve Harvey announce the field like a game of Family Feud. 

“Show me, Michigan!” “XXX”

And that’s how each team finds out their hopes and dreams of a championship season is over. With a loud buzzer in front of a studio audience in Atlanta, Georgia. Just like God intended. 

Seriously though, I cannot stress enough how little I ever want to see Hunter Yurachek on my television again. 

College Football Playoff committee chair Hunter Yurachek has 6-7 jokes. #CFP pic.twitter.com/3fzg9lUzxI

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 26, 2025

Step 5 – Play in games 

Conference championship weekend is dangerously close to being irrelevant. I know that Alabama just had their season saved because they played in one, but that felt very forced and agreed upon beforehand. I usually hate most things B1G commissioner Tony Petiti says, but this past offseason he brought up a great idea. 

The CFB Message Boards Have Gone Fully Off The Rails, Proposing That Miami And Vanderbilt Schedule A Play-In Game In Hawaii This Weekend To Attempt To Get Into The CFP https://t.co/kiv1A3GNbl pic.twitter.com/eWjvkTXgca

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 3, 2025

If we end up moving to a larger field in the current format that involves some conferences getting possibly four automatic bids, then we should revamp conference championship weekend altogether. If the SEC gets four automatic bids, then take the top two teams that would play in the traditional title game and have them play for the trophy and bye. Then play No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 with the winner of each game clinching a spot in the playoff. 

Think about how easy of a sell that would be to host cities, not to mention how exciting for the fans. 

Step 6 – Make Notre Dame join a conference 

And, then still keep them out. It would be hilarious.