Our plan to fix the crazy college football calendar (unless the NFL offers a solution)
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reached out to college football earlier this week, offering the league’s resources “to get some clarity” on all the “disruption.”
The list of problems at the senior college level includes a messy calendar, not during the normal three-month period but during the remaining nine.
The College Football Playoff is much longer — next year, it will last 39 days — and overlaps with the NFL postseason. The transfer portal is open during the CFP. The imposition of the early signing period (for high school prospects) in December encourages schools to fire coaches during the season. And everything can get messy and confusing if the CFP expands to 16 or 24 teams in two years.
If the NFL knows anything, it’s how to make money. But it is also adept at running a season where major events are moved in a way that gives each area the space it needs for high media exposure and fan consumption.
Early February: The Super Bowl
Late February/early March: test combination
Mid-March: free agency
Late March/early April: league meetings
At the end of April: the draft
Mid-May: schedule release
June is the only month without high dramas and endless headlines. Another part of the rest of the season is a professional draft that provides a model for college football.
The NFL’s not-so-secret sauce is the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with players that allows the league to control events without the threat of lawsuits. College football doesn’t have a CBA because the players don’t have a union, and they don’t have a union because they aren’t workers (by law).
We doubt sports will accept Goodell’s offer. The Big Ten and the SEC are focused on consolidating power, not giving others a seat at the table.
(That said, the NFL recently received regulatory approval to take a 10% ownership stake in ESPN in exchange for the NFL Network and other assets. Technically, the NFL owns 10 percent of CFP’s media deal for the next six years.)
Whether Goodell and his administration are involved or not, college football has to adjust its calendar. Fortunately, the Hotline has a plan. It is based on the NFL model of splitting marquee events during the off-season with the ultimate goal of shortening the CFP.
Next season, CFP starts on December 18 and ends on Jan. 25. There will be approximately two weeks between the opening round and the quarterfinals, two more between the quarterfinals and semifinals, and then 10 days between the semifinals and the championship. Enough time for Phileas Fogg to make it to the center of the world.
And that’s not a single plan, folks. The 2027-28 deadline will last 39 days, and … unless it’s longer to bear the extension.
The NFL itself presents one of many challenges. While Goodell extends an olive branch in one hand, he hides a knife in the other. His plan to add an 18-game regular season — and push the Super Bowl to the Sunday of President’s Day weekend — will expand the NFL’s slate of games in January and create more competition in the later CFP rounds.
The goal of our calendar overhaul is to reduce the January overlap and increase the CFP championship by a few weeks, all this counting on the inevitability of an extension in 2027 and beyond (preferably 16 teams, not 24).
Here they are:
February
The early signing window in December only adds clutter and encourages coaching changes during the season. It needs to go the way of the Dodo.
Force all high school seniors to wait until February to sign letters of intent whether it’s the first Wednesday (regular day) of the month or another day.
This change will prevent recruits from graduating early and enrolling in January. That’s right. They can be high school students for five more months.
March
College football should go dark that month while players and coaches sit back and enjoy the NCAA Tournament.
There is no spring ritual – not in March, not in April, not again.
This incredible move is being discussed by influential executives throughout the FBS, and they are. Remove the spring ball completely. It does not work with the transfer portal.
April
For years, college football schedules have been released in categories: opponents and dates in the winter; preseason kickoff and Friday games in May. Why not do everything at once?
Of course, campuses can complain because they want to advertise home games and sell tickets as soon as the season ends. But a delay of several months would be significant if it meant that the start times of the game could be delayed six or eight weeks earlier than what is currently happening.
The game must be blocked for a week to show up after the Final Four but before the NFL Draft. Give each power conference its own day and leave one for the Group of Six.
May
College football executives have spent months debating when to establish a single transfer portal.
The Big Ten pushed it to April or May. Everyone else likes January because the coaches didn’t want to practice in the spring with the players who will enter the portal on the day it was finalized. The majority prevailed, and the portal opened Jan. 2 this offseason.
Guess what? The Big Ten was right.
It makes no sense for sports to allow free agency during the CFP. Bring it back in the spring.
Under our plan, there would be no spring training, so the staff wouldn’t waste time training the players who would enter the portal.
June
It’s time to take a page straight from the NFL playbook.
Instead of spring practice, allow each program to conduct one or two pre-summer training sessions, similar to OTAs (Organized Team Activities) in the NFL.
Depending on the academic calendar, schools will be able to hold workouts in late May, early June or late June.
July
A holiday for players and coaches.
At least until the last week of the month.
August
Our plan calls for training camp to last two weeks instead of the usual three – June OTAs will help ensure players are ready to practice – followed by one week of regular game preparation before the start of the season.
But when would the camp start? What about the regular season?
The game should turn what is now Week 0, the Saturday before Labor Day weekend, into a new Week 1, with full games. And we have a twist: College football needs to use what would be considered Week -1 right now.
In 2027, that would mean teams could play Aug. 22 if rivals, conferences and TV partners agree.
Why? Because in the middle of August it does not have to establish the Prime Minister. MLB grinds on dog days; NFL play shows; the NBA is closed.
We suspect that ESPN and Fox would be interested in leaving college football games in the wilderness. There is not much real estate left. The game is to take what you can get.
September to Nov.
Play the regular season, as usual, but with the flexibility created by opening Week 0 to a full slate of games.
December
Eliminate conference championship games on the first weekend of the month, creating a much-needed break for all teams.
Start the CFP on the second weekend, play the quarterfinals on the third weekend – that’s when the opening round takes place – and then rest for Christmas.
The semifinals (Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl) will be played on New Year’s Day, with the championship game on the first Tuesday at least one week after Jan. 1.
This will allow the CFP to conclude before the NFL playoffs begin. Sure, ESPN might be bummed about losing the playoff series on New Year’s Day, with two semifinals instead of three quarterfinals, but the best non-CFP games can come in.
Heck, enter the Pop-Tarts Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The main problem with our schedule is easy to see: The Orange, Fiesta, Cotton and Peach Bowls will balk at the idea of moving to Christmas Eve to host the quarterfinals.
In our view, college football is past the point where four bowl games should prevent a calendar change that would unlock many benefits for the sport.
It is time for leadership to act. Or step aside and let Goodell do it.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716
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