MIAMI— Yes, we still have a national champion to crown on Monday night inside Hard Rock Stadium between Indiana and Miami, even though the college football calendar makes it feel as though two weeks have passed since the semifinals.
All the while, coaches across the country are scrambling to finish their transfer portal saga, as the madness continued into the final hours on Friday.
As CFP officials prepare to meet on Sunday in Miami to discuss what the future format will look like for the playoff, it’s the actual calendar that needs to be examined moving forward. We all know that there will be some sort of expansion in the next few years, whether that’s 16 or 24 teams is still left to be determined.
CFP Expansion Standoff: SEC, Big Ten Battle Over Future Format As Critical Decision Looms In Miami
What we are seeing right now regarding college football fans’ interest in the postseason should be a tad alarming to the folks paying for the television rights. A dip in the ratings from the quarterfinal round obviously had advertisers scratching their heads.
But, that should not have been the reaction. In reality, the calendar is all sorts of messed up right now, considering the Indiana versus Miami game will not be played until Monday night.
Fans have moved on, if they aren’t cheering on either the Hoosiers or Hurricanes, more worried about what their roster will look like next season or just taking a mental break from watching the sport.
The other problem is that the CFP title game will not kickoff until 7:50 p.m. ET on Monday night, meaning this game isn’t ending till somewhere around midnight. College Football does not have the same luxury as the NFL, who actually play the Super Bowl at a decent time on a Sunday night.
In reality, the season should come to an end around New Year’s Day, or at least the weekend right after. So, while CFP conference commissioners sit in a ballroom on Sunday to discuss how many teams should be allowed in over the next few years, they also need to figure out how to start the season earlier, for the sake of the game.
CFP Title Game Ticket Prices Continue To Hold Steady
Oh, so you saw a dip on the secondary market and thought ticket prices would continue dropping as we inch closer to Indiana and Miami playing for a title on Monday night?
As the great Lee Corso would say, ‘Not So Fast My Friend’.
Sure, we were hovering around the $2700 mark on Wednesday, as ticket allotments were dispersed to both fan bases. But, once the market was done being flooded with inventory, we were back around $3,000 just to get into this national Championship game.
CFB Notebook: CFP Calendar Needs Fixing, Ticket Prices Aren’t Leveling. Lane Kiffin Creates Drama For Ole Miss Via: Trey Wallace
According to ‘TickPick’, who put together a geographical breakdown of where inventory is being snatched up, this game might not see much more of a drop when kickoff rolls around.
“32.2% of tickets being purchased from Florida, 17.4% from Indiana and 11.6% from Illinois,” the website told OutKick.
And, this game is 44% more expensive than last year’s matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
On Friday morning, there were just 4,424 tickets remaining on the site, while StubHub had 1,160 listings. And, I don’t know how much further these are actually going to drop.
A lot of you hoping to attend the game on Monday are playing the market right now, hoping to see ticket prices settle off, but I don’t know how much you’re going to save by waiting.
Given that inventory is not dramatically high, you might be able to squeeze some juice by waiting, but that might only save you a few hundred dollars.
So, since you all know that I have a fascination with the secondary market, for some odd reason, I’ll keep you updated on what I find over the next few days. Make sure to follow me on social media for the latest.
Transfer Portal Coming To An End, With A Lane Kiffin Bang
It seems as though the LSU head coach is ruffling some feathers with his former Ole Miss Rebels in regard to the portal.
Look, once Kiffin bolted for Baton Rouge just as Ole Miss was preparing for the college football playoff, and in the manner in which it transpired, you knew there was going to be some problems arising with the portal.
Not only is Lane Kiffin putting the hammer on his former Rebels, he’s also trying to drive up the price for Ole Miss to retain talent. Luckily for Pete Golding, he was able to retain a number of players, including running back Kewan Lacy. But, that might have set Kiffin off even further.
CFB Notebook: CFP Calendar Needs Fixing, Ticket Prices Aren’t Leveling. Lane Kiffin Creates Drama For Ole Miss Via: Trey Wallace
Ole Miss had announced that defensive star Princewill Umanmielen had resigned with the school, but that did not stop him from taking a visit to LSU this week, along with entering the transfer portal. TJ Dottery also decided to enter the portal, with his sights set on Baton Rouge, but it’s the way in which this is all transpiring that has caught the attention of folks in Oxford.
The Most Awkward CFP Run Ever: Ole Miss, LSU, Lane Kiffin, And A Transfer Portal About To Explode
One report suggested that Lane Kiffin was leaking contract details regarding current Ole Miss players to set off a war in the locker room over how much each player was making compared to another. But, these financial figures are well-known within the agency world, so it should not come as a surprise to the athletes.
What I do know is that if Kiffin does not persuade these Rebels to jump ship and head south to Baton Rouge, he’s offering a lot of money so that it forces Ole Miss to spend even more to retain them.
This entire ordeal is worth watching until the final whistle sounds at 11:59 p.m. ET tonight, as I’m sure Lane Kiffin has a few more tricks up his sleeve to agitate his former employer.
Continue following OutKick, and myself on social media, for the latest out of Miami, as we inch closer to the national championship game on Monday night!!