College football playoff expands to 24 teams

Jonah Karp is here to apparently change my mind on a topic that we just discussed with Amy Caulfield, and that is going to be the college football playoff expansion. First of all, Jonah, what's up? I was listening in, and I was like, I have to come in and talk to Hayden. You know I'm very passionate about this. I know. So what's your position? Why are you so upset? Okay, here's why I'm upset. First of all, the sanctity of college football. The tradition of it. I think getting rid of the power for conference championships is a little bit insane considering I know I always look forward to the SEC championship game. Now I know what you're thinking. Has my team gone a lot? No. That's not what I was thinking. That's very sweet of you because that's what I was thinking. We're not that great, but it's okay. Okay. What's your team? Ole Miss, go Rebs. I would like to see them win an SEC championship, but I guess not now. So I think I don't want this to turn into March Madness. And I think that's my concern and a lot of other people's concerns. And I don't think there are that many teams that are good enough to go to a championship. I disagree. Okay, well, you are the expert. Let's hear Jonah Karp's take. Well, to that last point, why do you think that there aren't 24 teams that could compete? Now, you've raised a great, but I think if you look at the AP poll, and you go all the way to 25, some of those teams at the bottom are just okay. But look at the parity in this year alone. Ohio State has three losses. They were my pick to win it all this year. Really? They were a lot of people's pick. Oh, yeah. Oh, interesting. Ohio State has three losses this season. What are some other big losses? BYU lost to UCF. Who saw that coming? Not me. Georgia lost to Auburn. I didn't see it coming, but I loved it. That's what I'm saying. You don't think that any given team in the Power Four could win on any given Saturday? There are some where that's maybe not the case. Yeah, I was going to say Georgia Tech. But it happens. But it happens. So you put the 24 best teams, or say the 23 best teams and then the best of the group of six, in a playoff. Sure. You don't think there will be some upsets? I guarantee you there will be some upsets. I think there would be upsets. Now I will say a lot of the positive stuff that I've seen is at least some other teams will get in there. So we're not seeing the same Georgia, Alabama, all of these same teams in the college football playoff national championship. Sure, you're giving other people more chances. I don't know, I just. I feel it's going to kind of muddle everything and make some games not mean as much. I don't know. Do you concede the point that there will be upsets? Yeah, oh, absolutely. I mean, we see upsets all the time, like you said, Georgia and Auburn. So in theory, there are more than just 12 teams that could compete for a national title, yes? Oh, I hate admitting that I agree with you on that. Okay, so you concede that point. Don't change my mind, Jonah. What's your other concern? No, just like the sanctity of college football. It's been, and this is going to sound like I'm a stickler and I don't like change. But when it comes to my sports, I really don't like change. Because I think these games are important. These Power Four Conference championships, those are important games. Amy and I were just discussing, people look forward to them. You know, it's a pretty big deal to win an SEC championship. So I think by taking that away, it's a little bit of that tradition that gets lost. Would you rather Ole Miss be the SEC champion or the national champion? What do you think I'm going to say? What would mean more to you? A natty, obviously. There you go. Okay, wow. So, no, but I understand the tradition point. Right. But we've been moving away from the sanctity of the traditions for years now. Sure. I mean, the college football playoff moved to four teams, what, over a decade ago. Then it expanded, and now it's continuing to expand. The sanctity has been going away for a long time. You throw in the NIL and transfer portal stuff, right? You throw in the conference realignment, the dissolution of the Pac-12. The sanctity, the tradition, the college football that you, Hayden, grew up watching is long since gone. That's fair. Now, I know a point that Amy and I were discussing and one that Luann mentioned last night on the news was this seems to be all about the money. What is your take on that aspect of this? Well, it's always about the money. Well, yes, but... It's always about the money, but it's also, I think, about giving more teams the opportunity to do the thing that they actually want to do, which is win a national title. I personally, as a sports fan, would prefer less debate Over... Teams not getting in, teams feeling like they deserve to get in and miss the cut because of a few opinions in a room and more proof that they deserve to be in by playing and leaving it out on the football field. That's what I would prefer as a football fan, as a sports fan, less debate in a room, more prove it on the football field. And that's what this gives us. Well, and I do agree with that because I know that I look at the AP poll every weekend and I go, huh? I don't agree with half of the things on there. I said this yesterday. I don't think UGA should be number one, but that's just me being biased. But will we see reform with the AP and coaches poll because of this, do you think? I know I'd like to see that. Well, I mean, those polls, because the college football playoff committee comes out with their own poll, that's the poll that ends up mattering. And it'll matter especially now that this has expanded to 24 teams. It's who they determine. Are the 24 best teams in the country, not who the AP determines, not who the coaches determine. That's where we've been going. And now it's even more so. So you're you're for it. Oh, yeah, I'm for it. But you're a college football fan. And this is what it is. So are you going to not watch? Of course you're going to watch. Of course I'm going to watch. Right, especially if Ole Miss is in it. And this is even more opportunity for Ole Miss to prove why they deserve to be in it. And, I mean, look, you grew up rooting for SEC football. You know how competitive it is. These are the best teams in college football. I think you and I can both agree, Hayden, if you miss the cut in a 24-team field, you didn't have a good enough college football season. Fair. Right? 12 teams, I get. Four teams, super exclusive. 12 teams, still a debate. If it's a 24-team field and you didn't make it, you didn't deserve to be in. That's fair. And that's where the debate ends. Now I have another point for you, that we've eliminated the Power 4 championships. Do these conferences even matter anymore? That's a great question. They do matter for the purpose of this. The conferences do get to handpick. Which teams get represented in the college football playoff? It's determined based on who has the best record. Of course, these teams will still compete against each other, and it is part of the requirement. Now you say, okay, well, if there are no conference championships, are we going to see 12 weeks of Georgia versus Merrimack? No, because there is a requirement that at least 10 games need to be played against conference opponents and other Power 4 opponents. Conferences do matter, not to the extent that they used to, but they do. Yeah. Sort of a half answer to your question. A half answer. Well, I mean, I feel like we've been seeing some shakeup in the conferences recently already with the additions to the SEC and Big Ten and Big 12 not even having that number in them anymore. So I think, yeah, it's been changing and shifting, but I'll be interested to see. What happens? You might have influenced my opinion a little bit. Did I really? Yes. I didn't think I would be able to. Oh, why? Because I'm stubborn? Not because you're stubborn, because you're passionate and you care a lot. And I'm, thank you, Johnny. Johnny said good answer, good answer. That's a good answer. That's, that's what's called being in a relationship, does to you. No, look, if I wasn't expecting to change your mind. No. However, I think there are some points that you raise that are super valid. And those are sticking points for a lot of people. People who grew up watching college football, people who grew up watching sports don't like seeing changes in their sport. But you look at the sport of baseball, right? There were two sides. Baseball is too slow, it's losing fans, and a change needs to happen. There's the other side. Well, if you don't like baseball, you're never going to like baseball. Baseball doesn't need to change its tradition. What did baseball end up doing? They changed some rules to speed up the game. And there are some people who still don't like it, but what are you going to do? The game has changed, and it's also worked. It's sped up the game. And as a baseball fan, someone who grew up loving baseball, watching baseball, doesn't miss a Mets game, it's been wonderful. And it's only attracted more fans. And the traditional fans haven't been like, I'm not going to watch baseball anymore, right? So you're still going to watch your Ole Miss football games and just get on board. Do you think this will bring more fans in? I don't think fans will go away. So, yeah, I mean, I think... I think there's potential for more fans to be drawn in. And, um... Certainly there's more interest if your team is competing for a national title versus a team getting into a bowl game because they got to six wins by Halloween. Yeah. I think there is potential there. I think it's only a good thing for college football. I do believe that. Well, we'll see what happens. Fox 35 sports reporter Jonah Carp, thanks for coming in here to try and change my mind. I will say you did influence it a little bit. So that's a win for Jonah. That's a win for Jonah. Awesome.