2025-2026 College Football, Now the Minor Leagues of the NFL.

That's a bold, intriguing blueprint for overhauling college football—essentially turning it into a more merit-based, NFL-style league with built-in excitement and fairness. I like how it addresses revenue disparities, scheduling monotony, and playoff access while keeping some traditions alive. Let's break it down, weigh the pros/cons, and I'll even mock up a sample structure using the current top 64 programs (based on Athlon Sports' end-of-2025 rankings, which reflect on-field performance). This assumes we're starting fresh, grouping teams into 8 geographically themed clusters to minimize travel and preserve regional rivalries where possible.

Pros of Your System​

• Competitive Balance: Salary cap and revenue sharing would level the playing field, reducing the dominance of blue-blood programs that hoard NIL deals and TV money. No more "haves vs. have-nots"—everyone starts on equal footing.
• Scheduling Excitement: The 12-game slate (7 intra-cluster, 4 rotating inter-cluster, 1 flexible rivalry) ensures variety without overload. Rotating halves of another cluster every two years means fresh matchups, and the rivalry slot keeps classics like Michigan-Ohio State or Alabama-Auburn intact.
• Playoff Meritocracy: A 24-team postseason (8 cluster champs with byes + 16 wildcards) rewards consistent excellence while giving underdogs a shot. It's expansive but structured, avoiding the current CFP's subjectivity.
• Relegation Potential: Adding Tier 2 (next 64 teams) with promotion/relegation injects drama—think European soccer vibes. Bottom 8 from Tier 1 drop down, top 8 from Tier 2 rise up annually. Going to 5 tiers could create a full pyramid, but it'd require massive infrastructure (e.g., shared facilities, standardized rules).
• Season Length: Starting mid-August fits a 12-game regular season into the calendar, ending around Thanksgiving, with playoffs through January. More games for fans without dragging into February.

Cons and Challenges​

• Logistics and Tradition: Uprooting 64 teams from existing conferences (Big Ten, SEC, etc.) would face massive resistance from alumni, boosters, and TV networks. Travel for cross-country games could be brutal, even with clusters. Plus, schools like Notre Dame love their independence.
• Player Impact: Salary caps might limit NIL earning potential, potentially driving talent to pros earlier. Revenue sharing helps smaller programs in the 64, but what about the 70+ FBS teams left out? They'd need their own leagues to survive.
• Selection Drama: Deciding the initial top 64 (and annual relegations) could spark endless debates—use all-time wins, recent performance, or revenue? Your "next best 64" for Tier 2 is smart, but enforcing it fairly requires an impartial governing body (not the NCAA, probably).
• Wild Ideas Scaling: 5 tiers sounds epic for a true merit system (Tier 1: elites, down to Tier 5: emerging programs), but it'd need buy-in from 320+ schools, plus handling academics, scholarships, and Title IX compliance.

Overall, this could make college football more watchable and sustainable long-term, especially with the portal and NIL chaos. It borrows from pro sports without losing the college essence. If implemented, TV ratings would skyrocket from the relegation battles alone.

Sample Implementation: The "Elite 64" League​

Using Athlon's 2025 top 136 rankings, I've selected the top 64 teams and assigned them to 8 clusters of 8. I prioritized geography for travel efficiency and rivalry preservation (e.g., keeping SEC heavyweights together), with some balance for competitive parity. Ranks are shown in parentheses for reference—these would reset annually with relegations.

Cluster 1: Midwest Powerhouse​

1. Indiana (1)
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Michigan (17)
4. Notre Dame (9)
5. Illinois (36)
6. Northwestern (51)
7. Minnesota (52)
8. Penn State (53)

Cluster 2: Southeast Elite​

1. Georgia (3)
2. Alabama (10)
3. Ole Miss (7)
4. Tennessee (24)
5. LSU (40)
6. Kentucky (58)
7. Florida (59)
8. Auburn (60)

Cluster 3: Texas Frontier​

1. Texas Tech (4)
2. Texas A&M (6)
3. Oklahoma (8)
4. Texas (13)
5. Houston (27)
6. TCU (39)
7. Baylor (63)
8. North Texas (21)

Cluster 4: Pacific Coast​

1. Oregon (5)
2. USC (16)
3. Washington (31)
4. Arizona (23)
5. Arizona State (35)
6. California (56)
7. Utah (15)
8. Boise State (47)

Cluster 5: ACC Legacy​

1. Miami (12)
2. Vanderbilt (11)
3. Pitt (28)
4. Georgia Tech (29)
5. Louisville (34)
6. Duke (37)
7. Clemson (38)
8. Wake Forest (43)

Cluster 6: Heartland Hustle​

1. BYU (14)
2. Iowa State (32)
3. Iowa (33)
4. Nebraska (49)
5. Kansas State (55)
6. Missouri (25)
7. Cincinnati (50)
8. UConn (44)

Cluster 7: Southern Surge​

1. Tulane (18)
2. South Florida (26)
3. Navy (22)
4. SMU (30)
5. Memphis (54)
6. East Carolina (46)
7. NC State (45)
8. Old Dominion (57)

Cluster 8: Western Outlaws​

1. James Madison (19)
2. Virginia (20)
3. San Diego State (42)
4. UNLV (48)
5. New Mexico (41)
6. South Carolina (64)
7. Mississippi State (61)
8. Florida State (62)

Sample Scheduling Example (Year 1)​

• Intra-Cluster (7 games): Play all 7 others in your cluster.
• Inter-Cluster Rotation (4 games): Cluster 1 plays half of Cluster 2 (e.g., Indiana vs. Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee).
• Rivalry Flex (1 game): Up to coaches—e.g., Ohio State schedules Michigan State (if they're in Tier 2) or a non-league foe, but must be from the 64 to count.

Playoff Bracket Sketch​

• Cluster Champs (Byes): Top team from each cluster auto-qualifies with a Round 2 bye.
• Wildcards (16 teams): Next best 16 overall (based on record, strength of schedule, etc.) play single-elimination Round 1.
• Round 2: 8 wildcard winners vs. 8 champs.
• Subsequent Rounds: Standard bracket to a national champion.

For Tier 2 relegation: Bottom 8 from above (e.g., based on records: say UConn, Old Dominion, etc.) swap with top 8 from a secondary league (e.g., current mid-majors like App State or Liberty).


If you tweak the clusters or add details (e.g., salary cap specifics), I can refine this further. What do you think—ready to pitch it to the commissioners?