College Football Inc. finally found a change it could pursue without getting sued.
The FBS oversight committee wants to make the season longer. Yes, really.
Apparently, a longer-than-ever season that’ll end in 2027 one week after Martin Luther King Jr. Day isn’t quite long enough.
The oversight committee last week recommended starting the regular season in what’s currently known as Week 0. This would standardize a 14-week regular season featuring 12 games and two open dates.
If approved, the season’s natural start date would shift starting next year to the weekend prior to Labor Day weekend.
Because, if there’s one thing this sport lacks, it’s season openers on a 100-degree August day in Texas, right?
Earlier this offseason, prominent stakeholders like Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and Alabama AD Greg Byrne spoke of a desire to condense the calendar by dumping conference championship games and ending the season earlier in January.
That sounded like a sharp idea, but not so fast. Here comes the oversight committee on an end-around to lengthen the season and cement a second open date for precious prep time.
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Starting the season in Week 0 wouldn't accelerate the playoff, either. The regular season still would end on Thanksgiving weekend, and conference championships stubbornly retain their place on the first weekend in December.
If this proposal from the oversight committee gains approval, the season would stretch to a full five months, starting in late August and ending in late January.
That’s not to mention the winter conditioning programs, spring practice, summer workouts, and preseason practice.
But, go ahead, tell me these athletes aren’t employees.
Well, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea told ESPN it’d be good for player “health and safety.”
"To go through a season without two bye weeks is challenging to a roster," Lea told ESPN.
You know what would be better for players’ health and safety?
Shortening the season by cutting out conference championships and reducing the games certain teams play.
Those conference championship games are a sacred cash cow, and so they persist.
Speaking of cash cows, kicking off the season in Week 0 would give college football an additional weekend of exclusivity before the NFL starts. So, the TV executives who fund the enterprise might like this proposal to turn Week 0 into Week 1.