Regulation in CFB, in other words: Promotion and demotion. For instance, take the English soccer league: Premier League 20 teams Top flight teams Championship League 24 teams Rest of the best League 1 24 teams Either dying or growing League 2 24 teams Nowhere to go but up… Basically, programs who would do well would rise in the ranks, while teams who struggle drop down a league to face against lower tier competition in hopes of getting back into the higher leagues. Now while Soccer has nearly 100 teams, and CFB having hundreds, this would surely be expanded. Division 1(West, South, Central, East for a 4 team playoff). Division 2 Division 3 Division 4. Teams who do well would have a chance to rise up a division and be able to prove themselves against top tier competition. For instance, Mount Union, Grand Valley State, and North Dakota State would easily climb up a division as they do so well consistently, where as schools struggling like Idaho, Kansas, or Colorado would fall a division if they struggle consistently. this would allow the best of the best to compete for the national championship. Division 1 Championship is the big prize, the be all end all. A Division 2/3/4 Championship would guarantee entry into an upper division, and runner ups would as well. However, entry into an upper division requires 3 or more consistent years in a division, like playoff entries and runs and championships. I think this would stockpile the best talent in the country to compete against one another and would give CFB fans something to drool over. This can also allow teams to go over to places, like say, Oregon vs. Mount Union, and have better access to recruiting in a certain state(like North Dakota State vs. Alabama). It would also allow lower tier teams to get their act sorted together playing against lower talent and get better, as well have a shot of taking over a lower-Upper division team. What would you think of this?
I say good luck recruiting to lower-tier teams. Besides, there already is a quasi-EPL system, in that a team like a Boise State, a Hawaii, or a Utah can get to play the big boys in bowl games. TV and conference affiliations make your idea impossible.
Well what about conferences. That would pit the Hawaiis, the Boises of the world against better competition so we could see how they would do. And besides, teams who go below a .400 winning percentage over 3-4 years would get demoted to a lower division. You can have 4 different national champs! That's quite exciting! Affiliations? How so? And wouldn't TV just love the promotion and regulation stuff?
Other than I like the idea of regulation, and think MLS should consider it with NASL being the second-tier (how nice would it be to see DC United moved down, while the Tampa Rowdies take their spot?), the money involved in major conferences' TV contracts makes your idea impossible. Hypothetically, sure, it's OK, but it has literally zero chance of ever becoming reality.
What if the TV signs contracts with these new divisions? Think about it. The best teams playing would gain the attention of all the fans, and ratings would surely come in.
True, but the networks will never know what markets they will be serving. There's value in long term deals in pre-defined markets that would be thrown away.
I think you mean "relegation" rather than "regulation". Interesting idea but not sure it would fit in college sports. It seems like more of a pro thing.
