Pete Fiutak, CollegeFootballNews.com

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Additional terms apply. Pete, thank you for coming through, man. Appreciate it. What's going on? How you doing? I got not a complaint in the world.

Question for you. Today we learned that there's this big old meeting taking place in Texas and the Big Ten and SEC already trying to throw their weight around as it relates to a future college football playoff. We heard about the new 12 playoff system. Another change?

What are your thoughts, Pete? Yeah, they're trying to get, as the Mr. Burns line goes, I'll trade it off for a little bit more. They won already. It's already, it's the Big Ten's world. The SEC is just a step back in terms of just business, not football, not talent, in terms of just the business of college athletics.

There's the Big Ten, then there's a big drop, then there's the SEC and there's a gigantic drop and then there's everyone else. So they already kind of control everything. Now they want to control everything even more.

And so what they are trying to do, what they're trying to do is get as greedy as possible when they don't need to. Again, they've got the win. All they have to do is use this system because if they just get through 2024 and do this college football playoff, people are going to realize, wait a minute here, this is good.

Look, I'm a traditionalist in a lot of ways. I hate it when you change uniforms and change all these other things. So I'm always assuming they're going to screw it up, but they got this one right because you've got to do something to give all the teams in college football some sliver of hope. Because in the 14 format, you could all already say in February, look 80 teams are already out of this thing. There's no point. You've got to give and hope that there's some way they can at least get into the tournament.

And this one does that. What the Big Ten and SEC are trying to do are saying, you know what, we want to make sure that at least four or five of our teams are in the college football playoff, which then takes away any of the fun of the regular season. Wow. Pete, a few seconds here with us, collegefootballnews.com. When you talk about being a traditionalist, I look at some of the rivalries. You know, the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan, it's not going to go anywhere. But how does this change things now that we have an expanded playoff? The juice is going to be out of it just a little bit, right? We're changing some of the implications, no?

A little, not a lot. I mean, because it's still, to know Michigan and Ohio State, that's the big one. Alabama and Auburn. But for all the rivalries, even if two years ago, if you remember how that went down, where Michigan beat Ohio State, and had Ohio State kicked the field goal straight against Georgia, they go on, they would have throttled PCU. Ohio State would have won the national championship. And there are still crazy Buckeye people out there being like, yeah, but we didn't beat Michigan, we didn't beat Michigan, if had they done that. It's just that big a deal. And it's a little different. You know, I know during the baseball season, everyone pumps up, oh, it's Yankees and Red Sox.

All right, again, this just happened 50 times. Or Duke, North Carolina basketball a couple weeks ago, where this is the biggest game ever. And okay, it doesn't really matter, because they're going to play against ACC championship.

And so it is going to slip a tad, but not a ton. Because again, right now, the way they have this set up in the college football playoffs, that playoffs, the top four feeds, which is really the top four power four champions are going to get a buy and get a week off, that's going to be pretty mega. And it's going to be a big deal to those rivalry games, yes, are still going to matter with the way they have it set up. Now, if it's automatic, that the big Tennessee see automatically get three or four teams in, that changes the dynamic.

Pete few seconds here, college football news.com. Knowing that there's a potential to have this change again, in about I don't know what, how many years will we have to wait to they might expand, they might be said, I know, first of all, to kind of take a step back, I don't think they're going to do anything big yet. I think they're going to let this rumble as is. I think what the big 10 SEC are doing is, at the end of the day, it's about money. And I think they're going to say, you know, we want this, we want guarantees for that, blah, blah, blah. And then they'll say, Hey, look, we'll compromise, we just want a bigger share of the pie. And they'll probably get it for that. So I do think at the end of the day, they're going to compromise at least for a year or so.

And just say the big schools, big conferences get a little more money or something. But I don't think they're going to actually go to this yet. I think this is just kind of a thing that's thrown out there that they're not really going to do. They know it's going to be unpopular, along with the other thing that neither profits is going to break away. The SEC is not going to go rogue, the big 10 is not going to go out on its own. They just kind of say that everyone goes crazy. But you're not going to do that just because you're not going to do that. Because most of your members schools are going to go four and eight every year.

And then everyone will be mad. So all this stuff that they say, just take it with a grain of salt for now. Well, one school that we know does operate independent because they get that nice, I guess, Peacock Comcast, NBC check. Friends with Benefits deal is what you're talking about. Oh, with Notre Dame, is that what we call it?

Friends with Benefits? Oh, that's their deal with the ACC, yes. How do things change for them moving forward?

Do they ultimately kind of stand alone or is the landscape changes? Could you see them joining a conference or is it not fruitful enough for them? Not yet, although it might be because the money for the big 10, if they join the big 10, it's money for the big 10 going forward is going to be so astronomical.

I mean, you're talking about the changes in college athletics. In two or three years, once the big 10 really locks down their deals and their finances, you're going to be getting 90 ish, 100 million ish per team, as opposed to maybe the SEC, which is going to get about 80 ish million a team. The bigger ones like Texas and Alabama are going to find ways to make more.

So the money is just going to be too big to not at least think about it. Where this pertains to the college football playoff is that you have to be a conference champion to get one of the four buys and be a top four seed. Because they go by the college football playoff rankings, they'll take the top four ranked champions or one, two, three, four seeds.

They get a buy in that first week. Everyone else five to 12 has to play a week one game. So if you're Notre Dame, you could blast everyone 64 to two every game, go 12 and O, and you're still going to be a fifth seed and have to play an opening game no matter what. Now, the difference being is that, okay, let's say that happens, which it probably won't, but let's say it happens and they are the five seed. They get to play the 12 seed, which would probably be the group of five champion, which whatever they should blow out.

Yeah, that gets smacked. Exactly. And it's a home game for Notre Dame. Not only that, they play it, they give out three weeks of rest because they're like, oh gosh, Notre Dame's going to miss the bye week. Well, while all these other teams are playing for conference champions, Notre Dame's going to be sitting on the couch playing NCA 25. So they don't have to play that conference championship game. So instead of say, going to a neutral site and playing Clemson or Florida State for the ACC championship, they would get, like you said, a group of five champion at home three weeks later that they would smack around. And then they would get a four seed that would not be a deserving four seed, which on a neutral site. So it's actually not that bad for all the screaming and crying that some Notre Dame fans are doing.

Not all, a lot of them seem to get it, but for the ones that are kind of complaining, it's just not that bad a deal. Yeah. Pete, few seconds here. When I think about the landscape and all of the news that we have and what takes place, and we know coaches are moving and players are moving around and teams are moving around and conferences are changing. What is the PAC 12?

It's not even 12. It's just, it's just two. At what point, let's hit the fast forward button because it feels like everybody is just kind of doing this, like by the seat of their pants. Like it's like, hey, let's try this.

Let's try this and let's try this and let's try this. But is it consolidation? If I have to think about college football in 10 to 15 years from now, what are we having? Is there such thing as a power five, like power five and big, what is it? Are we moving towards like one system, like the pros?

What the hell is going to happen? Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how this does because we already have kind of this system and everyone says the same thing. Oh my gosh, we don't want an NFL like thing where we only have a few really good teams and a few really good conferences.

And my argument is, well, what do you think you got now? I mean, as we have done, there's 134 teams playing college football this year and how many of them are really big giant teams? You know, there's the 25 ish or so we can aim off the top of our heads. We can throw in, you know, whether you think of Indiana or, you know, a Kentucky or big football programs, which they are money wise and revenue wise. So yeah, there's probably about 40 ish or so teams that really, really matter in the college football landscape.

So that's not going to really change. And the thing I keep reminding everyone when it's like, oh my gosh, it's the end of college football as we know it. Yeah, that is interesting. I'm a diehard NFL fan too. I like the separation and I like the fact that it's just a different field, different sport.

I like the fact that there are college kids out there and this is being professionalized, which I don't like too much because they screwed up how you're supposed to do NIL. But you have to also remember that we're talking about this now and whether it's February 21st or whatever it is. And the 90% of the fans out there aren't going to really pay attention until late August. And then the ball is kicked off. And then XYZ states where there was, they're putting on their sweatshirts and go out there, watch the games and then, you know, forget about it a week later.

So the money is there, the interest is still there. So it's just for people like us who are going to shake our fists and say that college football should still be different, shouldn't be the NFL. But if everyone else, they're just going to watch the games.

When the ball is kicked off, they don't really care what happens outside of that. Pete, a few seconds here with us as we start to wrap things up. You're a big NFL fan, as I know. We've had a lot of talk about the Chicago Bears and Justin Fields letting everybody know, I just want to take a break from football. What are your thoughts on what's going on with Chicago and where Fields might end up? Yeah, as I live here in Chicago, so I'm knee deep in it with all the hype and talk about, what are you going to do with Caleb Williams? Do you trade Justin Fields?

All that. My thought, and it's not going to happen, there's nothing more valuable or important in all of sports than a very, very, very good NFL quarterback, especially one on a rookie contract. And I know the idea that you'd want to trade Fields now because you'd get all these draft picks and you'd still build for the future.

And obviously he's a very, very valuable guy for a whole lot of quarterback star teams. But if I'm the Bears, you've got Fields this year for around $3 million. You can't get a good veteran backup for that. You can't go out there and get a Flacco or a Baker Mayfield or a Gardner Minshew for anything less than four. And you already have a dynamic player who might just be better than Caleb Williams already on your roster.

The Bears aren't winning the super bowl this year. If I'm Chicago, I draft Caleb Williams. I keep Justin Fields and I spend a year with both of them in my building and I figure it out, you know, cause you can tell obviously sometimes that, okay, maybe Caleb Williams doesn't have it.

Or maybe he's just missing something. Or maybe he's the next Patrick Mahomes, but you don't know this until you get them there. And so why risk the fact that you're training a guy in Justin Fields who might just be that good in a different situation. So I think keep them, draft him, keep Fields, keep them both and figure it out. And then you trade one of them next year. And then you can get a haul that's coming in because you've got all the cap space in the world. You've got your draft picks.

You've got everything. You got to lock down who that quarterback is going to be for the next 10 years. Hmm. I like the fact that you said they're not going to do it. If they do that, Pete, you got to call back and we're going to have to have a full conversation.

I may have to ask you for lottery numbers, okay? This is a franchise that traded away Dale and Carter willingly for a right tackle. So it's the Bears. They're going to mess it up. And I'm not a fan, but just as someone who lives here, I'd kind of like to see them be well, be better than they are. But I hope that they do this right. Or I hope they see something Caleb Williams, that he is the next really big thing and they get this right.

Well, last question for you, Pete. We know that we move into the NFL draft combine next week. Anyone in particular that you're really looking forward to seeing what they do?

Anybody that we should pay attention to? Get ready for the receivers because it's going to be a big quarterback draft. And who knows if these guys are actually going to work out or they're just going to do their pro days between Drake May and Caleb Williams probably isn't going to work out the combine.

You'd be crazy to do that through the Michael Pennix juniors right there. Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy, Jane Daniels. I mean, everyone's going to be all about the quarterbacks, but this is a loaded class of receivers. And as we know from draft history, receivers do not always work out.

You're rolling the dice. And if you get another Jamar Chase or if you get some sort of a bust in the top 10 and these receivers are going to go really early and particularly for the Bears, they want what they need. They're going to go kill Williams at the one. And depending on if they trade out or not, they're going to have a really good receiver there to one of the LSU receivers when we do this from Washington and a whole slew of other good ones. And then the real guy who's going to be the kingmaker in this is Brock Bowers at the tight end. So if you're thinking if you're the Bears and you could somehow get Caleb Williams and Brock Bowers and you're saying, hey, dream of all dreams. We just got our Mahomes and Kelsey for the next 10 years, which they're not going to be Mahomes and Kelsey, but we just got our combination. Look at the NFL title for this year.

Mark Andrews, George Kittle, Kelsey. I mean, they likely I mean, they had you had great tight end among the four finals. You need a great tight end. And Brock Bowers is probably the guy that they're going to target. Yeah.

Everybody needs that that escape hatch as well. Hey, Pete, thank you so much for taking the time to educate us on what's going on with this wild system in college football. Where can people follow you and all your work, man? Yeah.

Please educate me on the way, too. We're all trying to figure this out on the fly. All of this stuff. Collegefootballnews.com. And it is off season, but there is lots of crazy and fun stuff happening right now. And it just gets even crazier with March Madness, which we cover.

And then the NFL draft coming up to sons and sons and sons. Well, thank you, Pete. Let's let's stay tuned and see what happens over the next couple of months. OK, enjoy everything.

All right. You have a good one. A peanut butter M&M's production in a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring. But the runners up get nothing. One retired top return. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. OK, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever, or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available track, all wheel drive and three row seating.

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