This webpage was created to advocate for major changes to the way NCAA Division I football is administered. New conferences, a new season schedule and a new playoff system. Among other benefits, this redesign of college football will allow ALL of the teams an equal opportunity at the national championship. No more rankings, selection committees and algorithms determining who gets to play for the title. Everything is determined on the field!
There will be 144 teams total, creating 16 equally sized conferences, each with 9 teams. The conferences will be aggregated into 4 regions, each with 4 conferences per region. The 4 regions will be further combined into 2 leagues with their respective winners playing for the national title.
There will be championship games at the conference, regional, league and national levels.
32 teams will qualify to be in the playoff beginning with the conference championships. There is no selection process to qualify and reach the national championship, a team must simply win on the field to advance.
the season
Each team will play 12 consecutive Saturday games consisting of 8 conference, 3 regional and 1 at-large game.
A team's conference games will solely determine a team's standing within a conference.
The regional games win-loss record for each team will be combined for each conference to determine ranking in the regional championships.
The at-large game will be a team's season opener and is the only game that is not pre-determined. The at-large game does not count for anything other than practice and bragging rights. It is entirely up to each school who they choose to play.
The final regular season game will always happen the Saturday preceding Thanksgiving. The season opener will be the 11th Saturday before that. Thus, the season will always start with an at-large game the first week of September, between 9/2 - 9/8.
This will be followed by the 3 regional games.
The conference games begin late September/early October, and the 16 conference championship games will take place the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving.
The regional championships will be played the following two weeks of December 12/1-12/14.
The league championship games will happen the next week 12/15-21.
The national championship will always be played between 12/22-28.
conferences and regions
The 144 teams will be first subdivided into 16 conferences each with 9 teams. Each team in the conference will play the others with home field alternating years. That equals 8 games. The conferences are based entirely on geography. Schools that are close to each other, particularly within the same state, will be grouped together. Each conference is balanced as best as possible with several traditionally strong schools, and several smaller or “traditionally less competitive” schools.
The system which currently exists has 136 teams playing in what is called the FBS that is dominated by 4 “power” conferences. A second-tier system exists which is called the FCS. The new plan would bring 8 more FCS schools into the FBS for a total of 144.
There are numerous FCS schools which could be added. The 8 which were chosen are all public schools, have in the past performed well in FCS play, and 7 represent states which do not currently have any FBS teams.
Note below:
*The (numbers in parenthesis) represent the times a school has been deemed national champion, with the total for each conference and for each region also given. In many years there were multiple champions.
*The team names in italics are current power 4 conference teams.
*The added FCS teams are in bold type
regional games
There will be 4 regions with 4 conferences each. Each conference will send their champion to play for the regional championship. Conferences will be ranked 1 - 4 in the regional semi-final based on their cumulative conference record versus the other conferences within their region.
During the regular season, within a region, each team from each conference will play 3 games against comparable level teams from the other 3 conferences. That is, the #1 team in conference A, will play the #1 team in conferences B, C and D. Likewise, the #2 teams will play each other and continuing down to the #9’s. For example, let’s say 2026 in the North Region, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Kent State and Minnesota all finish 3rd in their respective conferences. In 2027, those 4 teams will play each other with their individual 3 game record counting towards their conference's 27 game total record. The best overall combined regional record will get the first seed, and so forth.
Upon completion of the conference championships and determination of final placement (1 - 9) within a conference, the following season's regional games will be determined with home field alternating years. That is, the conference A#7 will host B#7 in odd years, and B#7 will host A#7 in even years, and so forth. Once the regional games are determined for the following year, a team could begin planning for their at-large season opener.
The Leagues and national Title
There will be two leagues East and West. The East will consist of the North and South regions, which will play a league championship to advance. Likewise, the West is comprised of the Midwest and Far West regions who will vie for the West League title.
The two league champions, representing East and West, will then play a National Title game at a location to be determined.
BOWL GAMES and rivalry games
The 4 regional championship games and the 2 league championship games will comprise the 6 major bowls.
The East League will use the Orange, Peach, and Sugar Bowls and they will rotate yearly. Likewise, the West League will use the Cotton, Fiesta and Rose Bowls which will rotate.
For instance, every third year, the Sugar Bowl will be the East League final, then the North Regional final the following year, and then the South Regional final.
To illustrate, Year 2026 East League Final - Sugar Bowl
North Region Final - Orange Bowl
South Region Final - Peach Bowl
Year 2027 East League Final - Peach Bowl
North Region Final - Sugar Bowl
South Region Final - Orange Bowl
Year 2028 East League Final - Orange Bowl
North Region Final - Peach Bowl
South Region Final - Sugar Bowl
The Regional semi-final games and the Conference championship games also hold potential to become bowl games. There are 30 single elimination games in the tournament plus the National championship game. Only 6 are assigned bowl games which leaves many opportunities for other bowls. For instance, the Pop-Tart Bowl could become the de facto Heartland Conference championship game, etc.
Many historical rivals, such as Alabama and Auburn, play within the same conference giving them an automatic game. There are also rivals within each region and depending on the standings of the previous season, may have an automatic game as one of their 3 regional games. For example, if Georgia and Florida both end up in the same position within their respective conferences, that would give them an automatic regional game. Failing that, they could negotiate to play each other in the at-large season opener. Teams that are rivals, such as USC and Notre Dame, but do not exist in the same region, could use their at-large game for this matchup.
advantages
It is fair to say that there is consensus that the current system is broken, and in need of a major overhaul. This new system being proposed here has many benefits for students, student-athletes, coaches, schools, fans and media.
*Students will be able to attend more games as the travel time from their home campus to the opponents' field will shrink drastically and become less costly. For example, a student at Georgia Tech now would need to travel to Syracuse, Boston, South Bend and Miami to see away games. Not possible for busy students. With the new format, the furthest a student from Georgia Tech would need to travel for an away conference game would be Tuscaloosa, AL or Statesboro, GA, which are both about 3-hour drives. First and foremost, college football is for the students that attend the colleges.
*Student-athletes will have more choices for schools to attend. This will create a drift of athletes from the elite power 4 schools to other “less competitive” schools.
If an athlete has a choice between an offer for scholarship from a power 4 school where they feel they will be a 2nd or 3rd string player, and an offer from a lesser school where they feel they will make starter, they would more likely go to the lesser school to get more playing time, more experience, more exposure and a chance to make a bigger impact by taking the lesser school into the playoffs. Players develop rapidly from high school through college, but only if they get playing time, especially on a big stage.
The lesser schools within a conference will thus become more competitive against what are now the power 4 conference schools resulting in a more balanced conference with competitive games.
* Coaches have breathing room to start the season which is critical to allow for teams to gel. If a team gets off to an 0-2 start now, their season is likely over at that point and the coach will take a lot of heat for that. Fans lose interest. This new system allows teams to lose their first 4 games before starting their conference matches without it ruining their chances to make the playoff. They could even lose the first game or two in their conference but still have time to gel and get things right, potentially snagging second place to make the playoffs.
* Schools will have less expense and generate more revenue with their football program. With reduced travel distance for away games, schools will save tremendously on travel related costs. There will be sustained interest throughout the season. Attendance will increase for home games resulting in increased ticket sales revenue.
* Media outlets will have increased viewership as the entire season will now have meaning with 16 conference races and a true playoff system which no doubt will be full of surprises, upsets, and amazing stories. There will be 4 levels of championship games, with many opportunities for truly consequential bowl games.
*The season will have a smooth, predictable flow to it with teams being able to build and sustain momentum with weekly games right through to the end. No games in August or January. No big breaks between games which can sour a team's momentum and cause fans to lose interest.
* The season will start and end with a flourish since many of the at-large games to start will be between traditional rivals, and the season will end with a true national championship game for the first time ever.
* Expanded playoff field of 32 teams beginning with the post-Thanksgiving Conference Championships and culminating with the Christmas week National Championship, which will both become cherished traditions.
* All 144 teams have an equal chance to be champions based on their on-field performance. The best teams will no doubt rise to the top. The system which currently exists is exclusive. Most teams do not have a reasonable chance to play for the National Title. The system being proposed here is absolutely inclusive.
Some will say that combing stronger and weaker teams in the same conference will result in blowout games. We say, let 'em play. There will always be tight games, upsets and lopsided victories no matter who is playing. For instance, the SEC championship in 2025 was one such lopsided game with Alabama gaining -3 yards on the ground the entire game. yet they were chosen to advance to the playoffs. Not to knock The Tide, but they will be the first to tell you that they got spanked. Meanwhile, other teams like Notre Dame were eliminated simply for not playing, which has created an abundance of acrimony. Confusing? Yes. Unfair? Certainly. Can we make a better system? Absolutely!
* No more (less anyway) blathering, bickering and prognosticating about which teams are the best and deserve to advance into the playoffs. Everything is determined on the field!!
how you can help
Fixing college football is going to take a team effort. Here at fixcollegefootball.com we have taken the lead in advancing a new format. It is now up to you to be a proponent of this plan (or something comparable) and to help circulate it. The decision makers, in particular, need to hear from you. Perhaps you have a comment, suggestion for a tweak to be made, or maybe noticed an error on our part, contact us we’d like to hear from you. We could also use your financial support as domains, websites, outreach, etcetera cost money. We would like to improve our website and graphics, continue our letter writing campaign, and to hire some help with it. Visit and subscribe to our social media platforms where we will be posting videos with detailed verbal explanations and updates to complement this website.
We encourage you to write a letter to the NCAA. Write to the administrators of your favorite college and maybe the conference that they exist in. Email is fine, but note that an actual letter, handwritten or typed, sent via USPS, will have a much greater impact.
Contact the NCAA:
National Collegiate Athletic Association
P.O. Box 6222
Indianapolis, IN 46206-6222
700 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN
(317) 917-6222
Contact Colleges:
Presidents and Chancellors, Athletic Directors, Football Coaches, School Newspapers
Contact Conferences
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Donate if you can
Remember that college football belongs to all of us, and if we work together, just as a team does on the field, we can make the change we’d all like to see happen!
donations appreciated
the huddle
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