COVID-19 Will Fix a Broken CFB System

This is an opinion piece.

Most of the Power 5 conferences in college football have announced that they plan on moving to a 10-game conference only schedule for the 2020 football season. The Big 12 being the only conference member, who has yet to decide what their plans will be.

So, the question that every fan across the country is asking themselves, is how will this season stack up against a typical season?

If you sift through all the drama and angst, you quickly realize that this season has the potential to be the best college football season ever.

All signs point to us having a college football season, but there's still plenty of things that need to be taken care of before the season gets underway.

We've also received some shocking recent news regarding a star player.

Caleb Farley, a 6-foot-2, 207-pounder was a first team All-ACC selection in 2019, but has decided to opt out of the 2020 season.

Farley is highly regarded as a potential first-round pick for the 2021 NFL Draft, and he likely won't be the last CFB player to opt out for this year.

Many people complain year in and year out about how each conference schedules a couple of easy games against FCS opponents, and there's certainly an argument to be made for why that is absolutely ridiculous.

I can't tell you how many times I've been to an Alabama Football game in the middle of August, and left after the game turns into a blowout in the first quarter. Nobody wants to watch a game like that, all it does is pad player stats and make the coaches feel good about themselves.

Alabama shouldn't be able to beat up Western Carolina 66-3, the week before they play their rivalry game against Auburn.

By switching to conference only games, you're getting rid of these bad games. Which will be devastating for the FCS teams, but other than money what else do major conferences owe to them? It's survival of the fittest and that’s how it should be. Football is a tough sport and you're doing the players a disservice by putting them up against weak opponents.

As talked about in article on our website, this is something that Nick Saban has been trying to get changed for years now. Saban has actively voiced his opinion about how he wants to play nine conference games, and he will now get that chance. For all those who complain that Alabama's schedule is "too easy" you can feel free to mute yourselves. Alabama's 2020 schedule will consist of: Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and likely Florida. The toughest schedule in the country.

Not that Alabama needs to prove anything to anyone, they've won four titles in the last 10 years.

By switching to only 10- conference games, each game will be crucial. Teams will have to bring their A-game each and every week. You can't slip up one week, and expect to make it into the college football playoff come December.

In an interview with ESPN, CFP executive director Bill Hancock explained how the committee will navigate through picking the teams for the College Football Playoff.

"Since there won't be as many non-conference games as normal, certain tools used by the committee, such as head-to-head results and results against common opponents, will have limitations this year," Hancock said. "Evaluating strength of schedule will also be different.

One things for sure, there won't be a weekend where you take a look at the Saturday slate and struggle to find a game worth watching. They'll be action packed games sprinkled in throughout the day.

A lot of fans are up in arms about some long time in-state rivalry games not being played, but are these games really all that entertaining?

Clemson has beat South Carolina six years in a row, Georgia beat Georgia Tech 52-7 last year, Florida and Florida State haven't been relevant in years, and Kentucky playing Louisville is an absolute snooze fest.

Another tough decision that needs to be made, is what to do with Notre Dame?

Notre Dame is one of six teams that classifies themselves as an Independent team. This meaning that they get to pick their own schedule year in and year out. They've been doing this for the past 132 years, but are agreeing to join the ACC for this season.

By forcing them to join an actual conference, you're exposing them for the cowards that they are. They're referred to as the "Fighting Irish", but the only thing they're fighting is the humility of an actual schedule.

If you take a look at the starting dates for each conference, the Big 12 and ACC will be staggered from the rest of the pack. This mean that we would get college football way earlier then we usually do.

According to an article by Brandon Marcello, conference only will also boost TV ratings.

"TV revenue is set to skyrocket for the Power 5 over the next five years, which makes maneuvering in this climate even easier. Both parties want the same thing in a year when live events are in danger: games and content, no matter the quantity. Payout for media rights figure to double for each Power 5 conference over the next 10 years, according to Navigate Research, and sacrifices in the short term should be made on both sides. Conference-only schedules also provide a much better road map for television scheduling, particularly with built-in flex dates and more control over when games are and are not played."

If you take all these things into consideration, there's a ton to look forward to this season.