Josh Pate addresses TV ratings potentially playing a part in College Football Playoff

The 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is currently being discussed, with potential alterations to the structure. There have been rumors that TV ratings may be utilized to choose which teams advance to the College Football Playoff.

CFB insider Josh Pate talked about this on Wednesday’s episode of his show. He says that on the surface, the situation seems like a ridiculous idea; teams should be chosen based on how good they are, and not how many people watch them on TV. But the problem goes deeper.

“It’s also crazy because the very networks that have deals with the SEC and the Big 10,” Pate said. “They also determine the time slots and they could just put all those teams in prime time, which they’re going to do one way or the other anyway, and therefore those games will be the highest rated.” (Timestamp: 2:00)

The games slated in prime time will always have higher ratings, creating a cycle where the most popular teams get the most attention and therefore always look more “worthy” of being in the playoffs.

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Josh Pate on the tactic used by College Football Playoff power brokers

Josh Pate believes the situation is a “sweater vest college football power broker tactic.” He says that when the people in charge want to make a change that fans probably won’t like, they first suggest a really ridiculous idea – like picking playoff teams based on TV ratings. Pate said (Timestamp: 3:05):

“Let them marinate on it for a good week. Let them talk about how terrible it would be. And then let’s proceed to pretend like we acquiesce to their concerns and we table the ridiculous request that we were never going to entertain to begin with. And then we’ll toss them the real concept.

"And at that point, they’ll be so worked up about the ridiculous concept we put out there, that by comparison the real one we were going to go along with doesn’t seem so bad. Guys, they’ve done this several times before. They’ve done this a million times. This is just a million in one. They’re not going to let TV ratings determine how they see the playoff.”

The College Football Playoff will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 with the Cotton Bowl, which will host one of the quarterfinal games. This will be followed by three quarterfinal games on New Year’s Day.