Semifinal Neutral Sites

[Lehigh Football Nation]

The weekly release of the Top Ten teams has illustrated the unbalancing effect home field advantage offers teams through the semifinals. We have also seen three different combinations of the No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 teams that would have an enormous potential effect on the playoffs. Depending on what the FCS committee ate for lunch that day, NDSU is 4, 3, or 1, SHSU is 1, 3, or 4 - and these moves in the Top 10 are enormous. They potentially could be the difference between NDSU playing on the road at SHSU, or SHSU travelling to Fargo. Home field advantage is exactly that - an enormous advantage.

So why not start thinking about having rotating sites to have neutral semifinal games, or perhaps, a three-site rotation for the national championship game? (Ex. Frisco, Chattanooga, and, say, Yankee Stadium.) While it will cost more money, it could make the semifinals a bowl-like atmosphere, and have the happy aftereffect of having the 1-4 seeds not be such a competitive advantage over each other.

Certainly the way things are now, having the No. 1 seed is a huge advantage of having the No. 4 seed. Neutral sites would eliminate that as a problem.

[Daytripper]

Good idea, but a non-starter. Attendance would go down and costs would rise.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Good idea, but a non-starter. Attendance would go down and costs would rise.

Costs would rise. Attendance however is what you make of it. If JMU were playing Youngstown in Yankee Stadium on December 18th, I think that could be, very conservatively, 20,000 fans in the stands.

[GetEmGriz]

No way. Homefield advantage in the playoffs is what makes our system so great. I think that even the FBS should award homefield advantage to the higher seeds until the championship.

[Bisonator]

Why the hell even play for home field advantage if you aren't going to get it? So you would rather have the semi-final games in places nobody cares about in front a sparse crowd? I'm sure that would be just awesome for showcasing great college football. WTF don't we just give out participation trophies to everyone too! Just stop already.xrolleyesx

[Lehigh Football Nation]

People are saying this as if two home games in the playoffs is somehow chopped liver xconfusedx

[Bison56]

Delete thread.

[clenz]

What's the cost of renting Yankee Stadium.

What's attendance going to be like at Yankee Stadium when it's Big Sky vs Southland.

Complete non-starter.

Why not neutral all the way through as home field is an obvious advantage.

Get over it.

[clenz]

Costs would rise. Attendance however is what you make of it. If JMU were playing Youngstown in Yankee Stadium on December 18th, I think that could be, very conservatively, 20,000 fans in the stands.
YSU can't even fill their own stadium half full in a year they are ranked in the top 10.

No way in hell they travel 6.5 hours to a semi final game in any numbers

[Uncle Rico's Clan]

Costs would rise. Attendance however is what you make of it. If JMU were playing Youngstown in Yankee Stadium on December 18th, I think that could be, very conservatively, 20,000 fans in the stands.

Neutral site semi-final games are tough because fans have a very short time frame to plan that road trip. Your example of using Frisco, New York and Chattanooga makes travel a huge barrier to a lot of fans. When you consider purchasing plane tickets, hotel accommodations, and other necessary travel expenditures, with less than a weeks notice, you will lose a lot of people. Additionally, I could see a lot of fans saving a potential trip of that magnitude for the actual championship game. When you throw in the fact that its right in the middle of the holidays it makes things even more difficult.

[BisonTru]

First off to give fans time to arrange travel plans you would need at minimum a 2 week stretch from the quarters to the semi's, and really I don't think many fans will travel for a semi unless it happened to be easily drive-able.

[UNIFanSince1983]

Well why even have a Championship that is at a neutral site? Just look at the neutral site Championships where NDSU or App State were not involved and tell me those are great showcases of how many people care about FCS football...

If you argue against neutral site for semis you should argue against it for the Championship too.

[Bisonator]

Well why even have a Championship that is at a neutral site? Just look at the neutral site Championships where NDSU or App State were not involved and tell me those are great showcases of how many people care about FCS football...

If you argue against neutral site for semis you should argue against it for the Championship too.
Well it's a little different IMO. There is plenty of time to make travel arrangments, people are more inclined to go to a "Championship" game rather then just another PO game like a semi would be and when's the last time there were less then 10,000 at the championship game?

[JayJ79]

Should the NFL go to neutral site games for the conference championship games (i.e. their semifinals)?

[CHIP72]

LFN - outside of pockets of fans, most people don't care about FCS football. Most of those fans aren't going to travel hundreds of miles to watch a neutral site playoff game, particularly if they may need to do the same thing the next week. Besides, having home games is a reward for teams that had the best seasons. The current system is better than what you are proposing from a cost and revenue standpoint.


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[Lehigh Football Nation]

LFN - outside of pockets of fans, most people don't care about FCS football. Most of those fans aren't going to travel hundreds of miles to watch a neutral site playoff game, particularly if they may need to do the same thing the next week. Besides, having home games is a reward for teams that had the best seasons. The current system is better than what you are proposing from a cost and revenue standpoint.

1. Since it would be the semifinals, there would be a significant gap between the semi's and the finals, two weeks.

2. The seeds have home field advantage through Round 2 and Round 3, so if they win out, they would have to make at most trips to 2 bowl-like destinations instead of one (which, incidentally, is exactly what the CFP people are doing for fans of the Top 4 teams in FBS).

3. Remember, seeding in the playoffs gives you a huge boost over the rest of the field. Assuming home field advantage plays out, those fans get to sleep in their own beds for 2 weeks and plan for weekend games at dear old Home Field advantage already.

4. Visiting teams and their fans are much, much more inconvenienced by home field advantage. Let's say Lehigh goes on the road and upsets North Dakota State and Eastern Washington on consecutive weeks. There is little way an average fan is making that trip, and a third, on back-to-back-to-back weeks when it involves flights. People are saying that neutral-site games are major inconveniences; they're only inconveniences for one fan base who potentially has had two home games already, and would be getting a third.

[IBleedYellow]

This is a non-starter.

The NCAA is all about SAVING costs, not creating costs.

Having the burden of $ on the schools hosting the game saves the NCAA ever having to worry about costs, because guess what: If a school hosts, they are 100% paying the NCAA for what their bid is, or at least 80% of their ticket sales.

For being "so smart" about the FCS scene, you seriously let your bias cloud your judgement for how the committee will do things (IE: Based on money! Not on being "fair.")

[BisonTru]

particularly if they may need to do the same thing the next week. k

This is another good point. It'd be tough on a lot of people to make two trips, especially that close together. I think most would wait and make a plan to go to the championship if forced to choose.

[REALBird]

Nah.....to the victor goes the spoils. As others have stated, I wasn't traveling to Washington State for a Quarterfinal game from Illinois, and I wasn't traveling to New Hampshire from Illinois for the Semi-Final game. But I DID go to Frisco, Tx because it's the championship game.

Regardless of what you believe, and most ISUr fans believed we should have been seeded in EWU's #4 spot that year, we went on the road and won in two very difficult places. Home field didn't guarantee a W, if it did I guess we should just take the top 4 like in FBS and play two neutral site games to decide who gets to play for the championship.

FCS doesn't have the resources to spend on this type of venture, not sure there is really that level of interest, plus unlike FBS which rotates between bowl games - which are heavily sponsored by Corporations, who funds this grand plan???? Certainly not the NCAA.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. A few years from now the FBS will be following our model and they'll make it sound like they've discovered Fire, Gold, the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, the Lindbergh baby and Amelia Earhardt all at the same time. What a novel concept an 8/16/24 team playoff?

[thebootfitter]

The weekly release of the Top Ten teams has illustrated the unbalancing effect home field advantage offers teams through the semifinals. We have also seen three different combinations of the No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 teams that would have an enormous potential effect on the playoffs. Depending on what the FCS committee ate for lunch that day, NDSU is 4, 3, or 1, SHSU is 1, 3, or 4 - and these moves in the Top 10 are enormous. They potentially could be the difference between NDSU playing on the road at SHSU, or SHSU travelling to Fargo. Home field advantage is exactly that - an enormous advantage.

So why not start thinking about having rotating sites to have neutral semifinal games, or perhaps, a three-site rotation for the national championship game? (Ex. Frisco, Chattanooga, and, say, Yankee Stadium.) While it will cost more money, it could make the semifinals a bowl-like atmosphere, and have the happy aftereffect of having the 1-4 seeds not be such a competitive advantage over each other.

Certainly the way things are now, having the No. 1 seed is a huge advantage of having the No. 4 seed. Neutral sites would eliminate that as a problem.
Didn't you propose this (or something like it) a few months ago too? Note that I'm not calling you dumb... but this is a dumb idea. For many of the reasons listed here already.

Now, if money was no object... it may be worth considering.

[Sammy94]

This is a non-starter.

The NCAA is all about MAKING money, not creating costs.

Having the burden of $ on the schools hosting the game saves the NCAA ever having to worry about costs, because guess what: If a school hosts, they are 100% paying the NCAA for what their bid is, or at least 80% of their ticket sales.

For being "so smart" about the FCS scene, you seriously let your bias cloud your judgement for how the committee will do things (IE: Based on money! Not on being "fair.")

I fixed it for you, the NCAA would never allow these costs.

[dewey]

I fixed it for you, the NCAA would never allow these costs.

^^^^Agreed! This would really drive down the attendance for these semifinal games.

Dewey

[van]

well a geographically central site in the east and one in the west might ally some of the issues noted above, say something like Wash DC and KC or Denver

[clenz]

well a geographically central site in the east and one in the west might ally some of the issues noted above, say something like Wash DC and KC or Denver
So, back to regionalizing...even more so....then.

**** that

[IBleedYellow]

I fixed it for you, the NCAA would never allow these costs.
Correct. My bad.

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[PantherRob82]

How did this thread even go 3 pages? Seems like the 2nd post should have been "no. /end thread"

[Lehigh Football Nation]

How did this thread even go 3 pages? Seems like the 2nd post should have been "no. /end thread"

I dunno, but it obviously struck a nerve since people were threatened by it or else it would have been ignored

[BisonTru]

I fixed it for you, the NCAA would never allow these costs.

xlolx

How much money do you estimate the NCAA makes off this tournament?

[walliver]

A "neutral site" for a December game would need to be somewhere warm. How many people would travel to Miami to see NDSU vs. SDSU. Chatty and Charleston could be good venues, to to make them neutral would require sending Chatty and the Citadel out west.

In fact the semifinal games for the "College Football Playoffs" last year were poorly attended and had bad ratings. These were blamed on the dates of the games, but that fact is that many people have the money and time off to attend only one destination game.

On the other hand, die-hard NDSU fans would buy up all the tickets to both semifinals in September ... just in case.:D

[PantherRob82]

I dunno, but it obviously struck a nerve since people were threatened by it or else it would have been ignored

Threatened by a random posters suggestion? That's just an obnoxious suggestion.

[PantherRob82]

xlolx

How much money do you estimate the NCAA makes off this tournament?

How much do you think the NCAA would lose if they didn't have the bidding process?

[BisonTru]

How much do you think the NCAA would lose if they didn't have the bidding process?

Meh, the minimum bids are pretty low. If they seeded the whole tournament and got rid of regionalization they would take quite the bath, tho.

[Sammy94]

xlolx

How much money do you estimate the NCAA makes off this tournament?


This tournament they probably lose a little as they do with the lower divisions. The big boys is where they make a killing but they won't throw more money to FCS for this neutral sites idea and take away their profit.

[BisonTru]

This tournament they probably lose a little as they do with the lower divisions. The big boys is where they make a killing but they won't throw more money to FCS for this neutral sites idea and take away their profit.

They make a ton of money off March Madness. Some of that is used to subsidies the rest of the NCAA tournaments, but if they take all or even most of that profit away from the schools and conferences that participate in that tournament, they will all just walk.

[PAllen]

1. Since it would be the semifinals, there would be a significant gap between the semi's and the finals, two weeks.

2. The seeds have home field advantage through Round 2 and Round 3, so if they win out, they would have to make at most trips to 2 bowl-like destinations instead of one (which, incidentally, is exactly what the CFP people are doing for fans of the Top 4 teams in FBS).

3. Remember, seeding in the playoffs gives you a huge boost over the rest of the field. Assuming home field advantage plays out, those fans get to sleep in their own beds for 2 weeks and plan for weekend games at dear old Home Field advantage already.

4. Visiting teams and their fans are much, much more inconvenienced by home field advantage. Let's say Lehigh goes on the road and upsets North Dakota State and Eastern Washington on consecutive weeks. There is little way an average fan is making that trip, and a third, on back-to-back-to-back weeks when it involves flights. People are saying that neutral-site games are major inconveniences; they're only inconveniences for one fan base who potentially has had two home games already, and would be getting a third.


I think that's the first time I've heard Chattanooga, TN referred to as a bowl-like destination.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I think that's the first time I've heard Chattanooga, TN referred to as a bowl-like destination.

Chattanooga hosted the I-AA National Championship for many years and despite some complaints about turf, etc., nobody who went to those games seemed to complain that the championship didn't feel like a major event.

[dgtw]

I would be fine with a neutral site SF in Chattanooga. The fact I can get there in two hours nothing to do with that, of course.


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[clenz]

Play them in Cedar Falls and Fargo.

Weather won't be a factor, at all. The UNIDome is always between 68 and 72 degrees at kick off (I assume the FargoDome is similar). No wind. No snow. No rain. No ice
Facilities (locker rooms, training rooms, video rooms, etc...) are at/near the top of the FCS
Venues big enough to hold 99% of possible crowd match ups (19k in Fargo and can do 17K in Cedar Falls)
A 6 minute drive from Hector International Airport to the FargoDome (hell, can see the Fargodome from the airport)
A 10 minute drive from Waterloo Regional Airport to the UNIDome (2 total turns)

Done.

FCS semifinals permanently played in Fargo and Cedar Falls.

[thebootfitter]

Play them in Cedar Falls and Fargo.

Weather won't be a factor, at all. The UNIDome is always between 68 and 72 degrees at kick off (I assume the FargoDome is similar). No wind. No snow. No rain. No ice
Facilities (locker rooms, training rooms, video rooms, etc...) are at/near the top of the FCS
Venues big enough to hold 99% of possible crowd match ups (19k in Fargo and can do 17K in Cedar Falls)
A 6 minute drive from Hector International Airport to the FargoDome (hell, can see the Fargodome from the airport)
A 10 minute drive from Waterloo Regional Airport to the UNIDome (2 total turns)

Done.

FCS semifinals permanently played in Fargo and Cedar Falls.
Perfect! I love it!

[Professor Chaos]

Play them in Cedar Falls and Fargo.

Weather won't be a factor, at all. The UNIDome is always between 68 and 72 degrees at kick off (I assume the FargoDome is similar). No wind. No snow. No rain. No ice
Facilities (locker rooms, training rooms, video rooms, etc...) are at/near the top of the FCS
Venues big enough to hold 99% of possible crowd match ups (19k in Fargo and can do 17K in Cedar Falls)
A 6 minute drive from Hector International Airport to the FargoDome (hell, can see the Fargodome from the airport)
A 10 minute drive from Waterloo Regional Airport to the UNIDome (2 total turns)

Done.

FCS semifinals permanently played in Fargo and Cedar Falls.
Also, all tickets go on sale in August except for 2500 ticket allotments for each team.

[ST_Lawson]

Perfect! I love it!

I'd make a point to get up to the CF one every year even though we probably wouldn't even be in them....like ever.

3 1/2 hour drive to watch an FCS semifinal...count me in.

[JayJ79]

wouldn't have to worry about UNI getting a home match in the semis since they always seem to find ways to piss seasons down their leg.

And a semifinal is already played in Fargo each year as it stands.

[walliver]

Play them in Cedar Falls and Fargo.

Weather won't be a factor, at all. The UNIDome is always between 68 and 72 degrees at kick off (I assume the FargoDome is similar). No wind. No snow. No rain. No ice
Facilities (locker rooms, training rooms, video rooms, etc...) are at/near the top of the FCS
Venues big enough to hold 99% of possible crowd match ups (19k in Fargo and can do 17K in Cedar Falls)
A 6 minute drive from Hector International Airport to the FargoDome (hell, can see the Fargodome from the airport)
A 10 minute drive from Waterloo Regional Airport to the UNIDome (2 total turns)

Done.

FCS semifinals permanently played in Fargo and Cedar Falls.

How many people would be in the stands in the FargoDome while NDSU was playing their semifinal game in Cedar Falls?:D

[PantherRob82]

How many people would be in the stands in the FargoDome while NDSU was playing their semifinal game in Cedar Falls?:D

The craziest thing about that situation is that they would sell out the UNI-Dome....

[clenz]

How many people would be in the stands in the FargoDome while NDSU was playing their semifinal game in Cedar Falls?:D
19K

Then 17K in Cedar Falls.

Wouldn't it be some **** if the situation ever came up where UNI played the semis in Fargo and NDSU in Cedar Falls?

LET'S PUMP IT UP AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[IBleedYellow]

19K

Then 17K in Cedar Falls.

Wouldn't it be some **** if the situation ever came up where UNI played the semis in Fargo and NDSU in Cedar Falls?

LET'S PUMP IT UP AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Omg

I almost went this to happen xlolx

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[citdog]

lfn has said some VERY stupid things on this site before, as have I, but this may be "hillary in a landslide" stupid...

[No_Skill]

Also, all tickets go on sale in August except for 2500 ticket allotments for each team.

This idea is starting to make sense!

[Bisonoline]

Costs would rise. Attendance however is what you make of it. If JMU were playing Youngstown in Yankee Stadium on December 18th, I think that could be, very conservatively, 20,000 fans in the stands.

How do you know attendance would make up for it. Youve got many teams who dont travel well. Even if they are in the playoffs. Hell Towson couldnt get fans to go to the Natty.
You can pack this thread up.

[Bisonoline]

1. Since it would be the semifinals, there would be a significant gap between the semi's and the finals, two weeks.

2. The seeds have home field advantage through Round 2 and Round 3, so if they win out, they would have to make at most trips to 2 bowl-like destinations instead of one (which, incidentally, is exactly what the CFP people are doing for fans of the Top 4 teams in FBS).

3. Remember, seeding in the playoffs gives you a huge boost over the rest of the field. Assuming home field advantage plays out, those fans get to sleep in their own beds for 2 weeks and plan for weekend games at dear old Home Field advantage already.

4. Visiting teams and their fans are much, much more inconvenienced by home field advantage. Let's say Lehigh goes on the road and upsets North Dakota State and Eastern Washington on consecutive weeks. There is little way an average fan is making that trip, and a third, on back-to-back-to-back weeks when it involves flights. People are saying that neutral-site games are major inconveniences; they're only inconveniences for one fan base who potentially has had two home games already, and would be getting a third.

So after all the positioning and BS you finally get around to the reason for the burr under your saddle.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

So after all the positioning and BS you finally get around to the reason for the burr under your saddle.[/B]

I also noted the tacit "by George, you're right" you added at the end

[WeAreThePride]

The current system guarantees that at least one of the teams will put butts in seats. At least until Frisco. Leave it be.

[CHIP72]

FWIW, IMO the FBS playoffs should expand to 16 teams with automatic conference champion bids (or at a minimum expand to 8 teams) and if that happens, I'd advocate for higher seeded teams hosting games until a neutral site national championship game.


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[PAllen]

The current system guarantees that at least one of the teams will put butts in seats. At least until Frisco. Leave it be.

This. I much prefer the on campus atmosphere for as many games as possible leading up to the championship. This is coming from the fan of a team that's been on the road much more than not.

[PAllen]

FWIW, IMO the FBS playoffs should expand to 16 teams with automatic conference champion bids (or at a minimum expand to 8 teams) and if that happens, I'd advocate for higher seeded teams hosting games until a neutral site national championship game.


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agreed with expanding FBS to include conference champions. I'm OK with FBS semifinals at neutral sites because FBS is a completely different animal. An FBS semifinal would sell out an 80K seat stadium in Nome, AK or Tokyo, Japan in January on less than two weeks notice.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

agreed with expanding FBS to include conference champions. I'm OK with FBS semifinals at neutral sites because FBS is a completely different animal. An FBS semifinal would sell out an 80K seat stadium in Nome, AK or Tokyo, Japan in January on less than two weeks notice.

There is no way on God's Green Earth that Alabama would agree to travel to Ohio State for an FBS Playoff semifinal game. It only would be barely acceptable for the early rounds.

[Hammerhead]

Weather in Denver can be snowy in December. Northern Colorado is probably the only FCS team closer than an 8-hour drive.


well a geographically central site in the east and one in the west might ally some of the issues noted above, say something like Wash DC and KC or Denver

[BisonBacker]

Nah.....to the victor goes the spoils. As others have stated, I wasn't traveling to Washington State for a Quarterfinal game from Illinois, and I wasn't traveling to New Hampshire from Illinois for the Semi-Final game. But I DID go to Frisco, Tx because it's the championship game.

Regardless of what you believe, and most ISUr fans believed we should have been seeded in EWU's #4 spot that year, we went on the road and won in two very difficult places. Home field didn't guarantee a W, if it did I guess we should just take the top 4 like in FBS and play two neutral site games to decide who gets to play for the championship.

FCS doesn't have the resources to spend on this type of venture, not sure there is really that level of interest, plus unlike FBS which rotates between bowl games - which are heavily sponsored by Corporations, who funds this grand plan???? Certainly not the NCAA.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. A few years from now the FBS will be following our model and they'll make it sound like they've discovered Fire, Gold, the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, the Lindbergh baby and Amelia Earhardt all at the same time. What a novel concept an 8/16/24 team playoff?

Great Post and agree!!!

[BisonBacker]

Threatened by a random posters suggestion? That's just an obnoxious suggestion.

Not threatened just amazed at how ridiculous the idea is.


I dunno, but it obviously struck a nerve since people were threatened by it or else it would have been ignored

LOL you give yourself way to much credit. No nerve was struck at all. People are just amazed at how dumb the suggestion is/was.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

60 posts and counting... including a personal response from BB saying how "amazed" at how ridiculous it is... yet he responded, which begs one to ask, if it were so ridiculous, why did he respond?

Again, the FBS would never adopt home field advantage through the semis simply for competitive reasons. Imagine the uproar if Alabama lost a semifinal to Ohio State because they were on the road. Yet at the FCS level, we accept this as some sort of spoils of war. People also erroneously think the 1-4 seeds are awarded based on merit. Now we have proof (the FCS committee has published their 1-10 ratings) that the seedings of 1-4 are shockingly fluid, and this also holds true at the FBS level. At the FBS level, this doesn't matter, because everyone plays a neutral-site game. But at the FCS level, this is a massive competitive advantage. Which really hasn't been rebutted by anyone.

[AmsterBison]

I'm not going to say that it wouldn't work, but it would be a challenge. There'd have to be cities eager to host and there'd have to be another week between quarters and semis. I'd certainly be pissed if both semis were located in the SE USA.

Still not sure what is broken with the current system though.

[POD Knows]

I'm not going to say that it wouldn't work, but it would be a challenge. There'd have to be cities eager to host and there'd have to be another week between quarters and semis. I'd certainly be pissed if both semis were located in the SE USA.

Still not sure what is broken with the current system though.

Butthurt from the fans that have to travel for the semi's to "hostile" environments or something.

[PAllen]

There is no way on God's Green Earth that Alabama would agree to travel to Ohio State for an FBS Playoff semifinal game. It only would be barely acceptable for the early rounds.

Isn't that what I said?

[gsf23nd]

60 posts and counting... including a personal response from BB saying how "amazed" at how ridiculous it is... yet he responded, which begs one to ask, if it were so ridiculous, why did he respond?

Again, the FBS would never adopt home field advantage through the semis simply for competitive reasons. Imagine the uproar if Alabama lost a semifinal to Ohio State because they were on the road. Yet at the FCS level, we accept this as some sort of spoils of war. People also erroneously think the 1-4 seeds are awarded based on merit. Now we have proof (the FCS committee has published their 1-10 ratings) that the seedings of 1-4 are shockingly fluid, and this also holds true at the FBS level. At the FBS level, this doesn't matter, because everyone plays a neutral-site game. But at the FCS level, this is a massive competitive advantage. Which really hasn't been rebutted by anyone.

The difference with the FBS though is the semi-final games are tied to bowls with an already rich history so it won't matter who the teams are, the stadium is going to sell out. You will have thousands of people there that aren't fans of either team but are just there because it is the FBS semi-final. Seriously, what do you think the attendance would be for a semi-final between say, NDSU and Eastern Washington in Chattanooga? You really think that NDSU and EWU fans could fill that stadium because I seriously doubt you are going to get many people in that area with no ties to either team to come watch that game.

[gsf23nd]

There is no way on God's Green Earth that Alabama would agree to travel to Ohio State for an FBS Playoff semifinal game. It only would be barely acceptable for the early rounds.

What would they boycott the game?

[Professor Chaos]

I'm not going to say that it wouldn't work, but it would be a challenge. There'd have to be cities eager to host and there'd have to be another week between quarters and semis. I'd certainly be pissed if both semis were located in the SE USA.

Still not sure what is broken with the current system though.
Mm-hmm... and that would mean semifinals on or very near Christmas. We know how well playoff games draw on Thanksgiving weekend at home sites. I'm sure they'd draw fabulous at a neutral site on Christmas weekend. xrolleyesx

[BisonBacker]

A personal response would haven been a PM. A post calling you out on how foolish the notion is, is a public response. But carry on this is entertaining. xcoffeex

[Lehigh Football Nation]

The difference with the FBS though is the semi-final games are tied to bowls with an already rich history so it won't matter who the teams are, the stadium is going to sell out. You will have thousands of people there that aren't fans of either team but are just there because it is the FBS semi-final. Seriously, what do you think the attendance would be for a semi-final between say, NDSU and Eastern Washington in Chattanooga? You really think that NDSU and EWU fans could fill that stadium because I seriously doubt you are going to get many people in that area with no ties to either team to come watch that game.

This is contrary to the actual evidence. When there used to be a 7-8 days in between the semifinals and finals, a significant number of local people in the Chattanooga area showed up for the FCSNCG. Frisco, too, gets not an insignificant number of locals that attend the game.

Montana has filled Chattanooga on a week's notice. Is NDSU not up to that challenge?

[AmsterBison]

This is contrary to the actual evidence. When there used to be a 7-8 days in between the semifinals and finals, a significant number of local people in the Chattanooga area showed up for the FCSNCG. Frisco, too, gets not an insignificant number of locals that attend the game.

Montana has filled Chattanooga on a week's notice. Is NDSU not up to that challenge?

Suppose you are right and NDSU does send 20k to Chattanooga. If the problem you are trying to solve is that home field is too much of an advantage*, then what have you accomplished other than increasing costs while reducing revenue?

And, btw, Alabama will do whatever the television networks tell them to do - and FCS teams would too if there was that much money involved. If TV money and host site money aren't going to flood in, then this makes very little sense.

* and I'd argue that home field is not that huge of an advantage in the FargoDome since the majority of NDSU's losses occur there, often against mediocre teams.

[PAllen]

This is contrary to the actual evidence. When there used to be a 7-8 days in between the semifinals and finals, a significant number of local people in the Chattanooga area showed up for the FCSNCG. Frisco, too, gets not an insignificant number of locals that attend the game.

Montana has filled Chattanooga on a week's notice. Is NDSU not up to that challenge?

It was the championship game! Do you honestly think more than 300 locals would come to a semifinal in DC involving Northern Iowa and the Citadel?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

It was the championship game! Do you honestly think more than 300 locals would come to a semifinal in DC involving Northern Iowa and the Citadel?

You mean, a game in a neutral location with national championship implications broadcast on ESPN? Yes, I do.

[Professor Chaos]

A good question would be if there was a poll on this topic on this board would having neutral site semifinals get more than 1 vote?

[bisonboone11]

60 posts and counting... including a personal response from BB saying how "amazed" at how ridiculous it is... yet he responded, which begs one to ask, if it were so ridiculous, why did he respond?

Again, the FBS would never adopt home field advantage through the semis simply for competitive reasons. Imagine the uproar if Alabama lost a semifinal to Ohio State because they were on the road. Yet at the FCS level, we accept this as some sort of spoils of war. People also erroneously think the 1-4 seeds are awarded based on merit. Now we have proof (the FCS committee has published their 1-10 ratings) that the seedings of 1-4 are shockingly fluid, and this also holds true at the FBS level. At the FBS level, this doesn't matter, because everyone plays a neutral-site game. But at the FCS level, this is a massive competitive advantage. Which really hasn't been rebutted by anyone.
I think the FBS would learn to live with playing semifinal games at the site of the higher seed if it came down to that. It wasn't that long ago that they dealt with the #3 and #4 seeds not having any chance at a national championship. I don't see why semifinal games at the site of a higher seed would be so far-fetched.

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[PAllen]

You mean, a game in a neutral location with national championship implications broadcast on ESPN? Yes, I do.

Very few in DC, or many other places around the country, even know what FCS is. You certainly aren't going to get more than a few hundred unaffiliated locals showing up for what most would consider a high school matchup. I would bet Philly, Boston, and definitely Baltimore are the same way.

[dgtw]

I'm not going to say that it wouldn't work, but it would be a challenge. There'd have to be cities eager to host and there'd have to be another week between quarters and semis. I'd certainly be pissed if both semis were located in the SE USA.

Still not sure what is broken with the current system though.

I agree. If it was any further away than Chattanooga or Atlanta I probably wouldn't make it.


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[Bisonoline]

60 posts and counting... including a personal response from BB saying how "amazed" at how ridiculous it is... yet he responded, which begs one to ask, if it were so ridiculous, why did he respond?

Again, the FBS would never adopt home field advantage through the semis simply for competitive reasons. Imagine the uproar if Alabama lost a semifinal to Ohio State because they were on the road. Yet at the FCS level, we accept this as some sort of spoils of war. People also erroneously think the 1-4 seeds are awarded based on merit. Now we have proof (the FCS committee has published their 1-10 ratings) that the seedings of 1-4 are shockingly fluid, and this also holds true at the FBS level. At the FBS level, this doesn't matter, because everyone plays a neutral-site game. But at the FCS level, this is a massive competitive advantage. Which really hasn't been rebutted by anyone.

Competitive has nothing to do with it. The bowl system AKA the old boys network is all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Its so pervasive that the NCAA doesnt run the FBS championships or bowl games.

[UNHWildcat18]

I feel at a subconscious level this post was really just meant to mean, "anyone else done with watching 1/2 semi finals games at the Fargo dome every year? me too"

[Bisonoline]

I feel at a subconscious level this post was really just meant to mean, "anyone else done with watching 1/2 semi finals games at the Fargo dome every year? me too"

Then the other teams need to up their game. Build a dome. Out bid the other schools. Have your teams get better so they control their own destiny.

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I feel at a subconscious level this post was really just meant to mean, "anyone else done with watching 1/2 semi finals games at the Fargo dome every year? me too"

Then the other teams need to up their game. Build a dome. Out bid the other schools. Have your teams get better so they control their own destiny.

[clenz]

I live an hour from the UNIDome.

Depending prices I might go depending on the match up.

[UNHWildcat18]

Then the other teams need to up their game. Build a dome. Out bid the other schools. Have your teams get better so they control their own destiny.

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Then the other teams need to up their game. Build a dome. Out bid the other schools. Have your teams get better so they control their own destiny.

.....duh

[CHIP72]

There is no way on God's Green Earth that Alabama would agree to travel to Ohio State for an FBS Playoff semifinal game. It only would be barely acceptable for the early rounds.

If the higher seeded teams could keep much of the revenue associated with home playoff games and ESPN's profits would increase because of lower logistics costs due to less travel and higher attendance, I think both the schools and ESPN would be very interested in non-neutral site playoff games.

The long-outdated bowl system is the primary factor holding back playoff expansion at this point; it would be hard to justify three straight neutral site games for the championship game participants. But when the playoffs expand to 8 teams (and IMO that will probably happen within 5 years and definitely within 10 years) and the schools see the benefits of home playoff games, you'll see a push for more home playoff games over bowl games.


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[Lehigh Football Nation]

Then the other teams need to up their game. Build a dome. Out bid the other schools. Have your teams get better so they control their own destiny.

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Then the other teams need to up their game. Build a dome. Out bid the other schools. Have your teams get better so they control their own destiny.

I can't wait until NDSU is the 3 seed on Sunday and has to play at No. 2 SHSU in the semis

[Lehigh Football Nation]

If the higher seeded teams could keep much of the revenue associated with home playoff games and ESPN's profits would increase because of lower logistics costs due to less travel and higher attendance, I think both the schools and ESPN would be very interested in non-neutral site playoff games.

The long-outdated bowl system is the primary factor holding back playoff expansion at this point; it would be hard to justify three straight neutral site games for the championship game participants. But when the playoffs expand to 8 teams (and IMO that will probably happen within 5 years and definitely within 10 years) and the schools see the benefits of home playoff games, you'll see a push for more home playoff games over bowl games.


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If the home teams keep the lion's share of the revenue and a No. 2 team magically becomes a No. 3 seed after a win in their conference championship game, do the P5 really want to undergo that level of fratricidal warfare? Especially because the way they divvy up the spoils now everyone gets loads of money and nobody cares about the order of 1-4.

[NDSUtk]

I can't wait until NDSU is the 3 seed on Sunday and has to play at No. 2 SHSU in the semis
we already take an annual trip to Texas. I guess if we need to take a second, so be it. However, I don't think your scenario is likely at all. If we lose to USD, we won't be a 3 seed. If we beat USD, we won't be a 3 seed. Your hatred of NDSU is cute though. I hope you have a safe place you can go where you can talk about your feelings.

[Bisonoline]

I can't wait until NDSU is the 3 seed on Sunday and has to play at No. 2 SHSU in the semis

I would welcome that trip.

But what does it have to do with my post?

[Bisonoline]

I can't wait until NDSU is the 3 seed on Sunday and has to play at No. 2 SHSU in the semis

You wanna bet on that scenario?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

we already take an annual trip to Texas. I guess if we need to take a second, so be it. However, I don't think your scenario is likely at all. If we lose to USD, we won't be a 3 seed. If we beat USD, we won't be a 3 seed. Your hatred of NDSU is cute though. I hope you have a safe place you can go where you can talk about your feelings.

Nothing to do with hatred, more to do with NDSU fans being blind, the time when vision is restored to you guys it's gonna be awesome

[Thumper 76]

If the home teams keep the lion's share of the revenue and a No. 2 team magically becomes a No. 3 seed after a win in their conference championship game, do the P5 really want to undergo that level of fratricidal warfare? Especially because the way they divvy up the spoils now everyone gets loads of money and nobody cares about the order of 1-4.

As a fan of a team who constantly gets sent to Montana and NDSU, you have an extremely serious case of the dumb with this idea.


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[Bisonoline]

I can't wait until NDSU is the 3 seed on Sunday and has to play at No. 2 SHSU in the semis

How did that work out for you?

You really need to stop with your hopeful wish-predictions. Your batting average isnt too good.

[Bison06]

Anyone ever stop to think that maybe the reason the higher seeded, home team seems to win more often than not in the semifinals is because, wait for it...they are actually the better team which is why they were seeded higher to begin with?