Hamilton: The playoffs expanded, key coaches are gone and the Power 5 ain't the Power 5. Get over it. (2024)

The Atlantic Coast Conference’s name is now pretty bogus; the Power 5 isn’t really the Power 5; and the coach of the defending national champs was run off partly because of a cheeseburger.

Partly.

Welcome to College Football 2024.

Flipped on its head? It sure seems that way. Not “Is-this-the-same-game?” different. Yet the landscape has altered enough to cause some confusion.

And anger. After all, change is a heckuva thing for most folks to accept, let alone embrace.

That’s especially true when it comes to something like college football, steeped in traditions and rituals and history. It doesn’t matter if most of that is as outdated and antiquated as the single-wing and the idea of the student-athlete. Folks want what they’ve known and get testy when people tinker with it.

The reality, however, is that nobody should feel blindsided or really even mildly surprised.

Then and now

Conversations regarding paying players, conferences shuffling rosters (or even collapsing) and the fiddling with on-the-field rules have been percolating for decades. The College Football Playoff was always destined to be more than just four teams; cries for that began before it even kicked off in 2014. And good luck finding one person even within the state of Michigan who didn’t see Jim Harbaugh someday splitting for the NFL.

Change is inevitable even for a sport that celebrates the likes of Touchdown Jesus, the Heisman Trophy and when a team rubs a rock.

So as we enter the end of a 227-day stretch without college football, now is a good time to peek at three big changes, and strive for clarity as to what they mean going forward.

What was then: A four-team playoff. Fifteen different teams made the CFP over the past 10 years, producing six different national champions. Alabama’s three titles were the most during that stretch, followed by Clemson and Georgia each winning two.

What’s now: A 12-team playoff that provides automatic bids and first-round byes for the top-four conference champions; opening-round home games for teams ranked 5-8; and a guaranteed seat at the table for the highest-ranked Group of 5 league champ annually.

What it means: So long as it clutches onto its precious independence, Notre Dame can never do better than an opening-round home game. There is no limit to how many teams from one league can make the playoffs (hello, SEC and Big Ten). Late-season strategy should be interesting for teams seemingly locked into the field with regards to resting players for the CFP— perhaps to the point of making conference championship games almost immaterial.

Power number?

What was then: A Power 5 of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

What’s now: A Power 5 in name only, or maybe just a Power 4. The ACC now goes from Boston to Northern California, having absorbed Cal, Stanford and SMU. Texas and Oklahoma are officially in the SEC; Southern Cal and UCLA are members of the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah bolted for the Big 12, leaving only Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12.

What it means: No one can be trusted. The shuffling came in 2021 after Oklahoma and Texas said they were heading to the SEC. A year later, the so-called Alliance— a drum circle formed by the ACC-Big Ten-Pac-12 allegedly to stop further realignment— disintegrated when the Los Angeles schools said they were changing leagues.

That left a bunch of conferences with dishonest names. The Big 12 really has 16 schools; there are actually a whopping 18 schools in the Big Ten; and the Pac-12 is the Pac-2 because nobody wanted the Beavers or Cougars. Now a good chunk of the ACC has members based in states outside the Eastern Time Zone, never mind butting against the Atlantic Ocean. Texas and Oklahoma are kinda-sorta-not really in the southeast, either. And more changes are sure to come.

What was then: Last season ended with six different coaches having won a total of 13 national championships, led by seven from Nick Saban. Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney have two apiece, while Mack Brown and Jimbo Fisher won one each. Jim Harbaugh joined that group on Jan. 8 when Michigan beat Oregon, 34-13, in the CFP Championship Game.

What’s now: And then there were three. Saban announced his retirement on Jan. 10, impacting not only the Crimson Tide staff, but setting off a wave of coaching dominoes all the way to the high-school level. About two months prior, Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher despite owing him a $77.5 million buyout, the largest in college sports history. That set off a weird coaching search in which Kentucky’s Mark Stoops appeared to have been offered and accepted the job, only to have the Aggies change course following an outcry from fans. Harbaugh is also gone, finally going back to the NFL after openly flirting with pro teams nearly every offseason during his nine years at Michigan.

What it means: That some coaches know when to hang it up, some folks will pay enough to win and the NCAA is a clown show.

Saban’s retirement was understandable given his age (71) and open distaste for the direction of the sport. Fisher’s firing proves that money is no object these days, especially at title-starved places such as Texas A&M. And Harbaugh’s departure was inevitable— both the result of him wanting to chase the pro game and out-run a posse.

The NCAA suspended him for a year and slapped him with four-year show-cause order stemming from recruiting violations during a COVID-19 dead period in 2021. That included, most notoriously, buying a cheeseburger while with recruits. And more punishment looms, as the NCAA sent Michigan a Notice of Allegation regarding the case of a former assistant who allegedly fronted a scheme to illegally steal signals of future opponents.

The reality is that the NCAA could banish Harbaugh, now the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, for life. What does he care? He’s never coming back. And what fan wouldn’t take some forfeited games, postseason bans and even a stripped title in exchange for a championship season? Just ask the 2005 Southern Cal team or the 2013 Louisville men’s basketball team. Michigan beat Oregon in the championship. Good luck, NCAA, trying to make them unsee that.