Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

August Offers Unlimited Opportunities & Sensibilities for the Start of the College Football Season

Rock Westfall explains why College Football must start early to end earlier and avoid clashing with the NFL Playoffs.

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The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy makes an appearance at the NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Kentucky on Saturday
The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy makes an appearance at the NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Kentucky on Saturday

By Rock Westfall

College football must start early to end earlier and avoid clashing with the NFL Playoffs to gain additional revenue.

A Dumb Schedule Gets Dumber

As recruiting and the Transfer Portal rage on, the potential of an earlier start and finish to future college football schedules merits serious consideration.    

The College Football Playoff semifinals (Final Four) will take place on Thursday, January 9, 2025, and Friday, January 10, 2025. The national championship game is scheduled for Monday, January 20, 2025.

Although the dates do technically avoid direct conflicts with the NFL Playoffs, the reality is that there is no getting around the fact that most of the attention will be on pro football. Also, those dates are not advantageous for fans to take time off to attend, especially after just coming off holiday vacation and Christmas gift shopping a few days before.

Just as bad, if not worse, is that college football is falling into the trap of other sports and dragging out its season by nearly one month. One of the ingredients to college football’s secret sauce is that its regular season had the most meaning and that it was over in the blink of an eye. Starting with the 2024-25 season, that is no longer the case.

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The Fans Lose… AGAIN!

This space has pointed out how the players are making great gains and have total freedom with nearly no enforceable laws. And while coaches are making more money than ever, they earn it by being on call 24/7/365 with a ludicrous and unsustainable calendar. But, ultimately, it is the fans who lose. And next season’s College Football Playoff schedule runs up the score and the tab against fans.

The first round of the College Football Playoff is the most fan-friendly, taking place in on-campus stadiums on December 20 and 21, 2024. But from there, things begin to get unrealistic and unaffordable for fans.

The quarterfinals are on December 31, 2024 (Fiesta Bowl) and January 1, 2025 (Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl).

Bowl game trips are never cheap, but that is only the beginning of the fan’s potential financial pain.

As previously noted, the semifinals and CFP Championship are after the traditional holiday vacation period for millions of fans—the entire process drones out past mid-January. 

The tradition of New Year’s Day bowl games, already eroding, becomes increasingly less important. And the Behemoth of the NFL emerges as the ultimate shadow over the most important college football games of the season. Additionally, for college football programs still care about academics, the playoffs will bleed into the start of new semesters.

Once again, when you think college football’s Conclave of Clods cannot get any more oblivious, they double down.

There is a perfect solution to all of this. College football should start early and end early with the benefit of having an entire month of the calendar to itself. August offers a solution to everything.  

August Offers Nothing But Growth Potential for All

Major League Baseball calls August the “dog days of summer.” And with plenty of good reason. The 162-game campaign is a slog that wears down fans, gamblers, media, and players. Of the four major US sports, it is the only one going in August if you discount the nearly unwatchable NFL preseason games. TV executives hate August for its lack of compelling programming. August is a dark hole, as well as a lost opportunity for viewership and increased revenue.

Now, imagine if college football kicked off in the early stages of August. It would have the month to itself. With that would be the excitement of football-starved fans wanting meaningful games to watch and bet on. The weather, while ranging from very warm to insufferably hot, still beats the cold. And in hot weather locales, TV executives could schedule prime-time classics at sundown instead. Also, southern teams could travel up north for compelling interconference matchups. 

The possibilities are endless, starting with additional media attention, TV viewership, significant revenue increases, and betting handles. College football would take full ownership of the month.

Additionally, August is the traditional American vacation month. Thus, college football road trips can be combined with time off and more dependable traveling weather.

A New Tradition Unlike Any Other 

By starting the season in August, not only would college football generate momentum for the entire season by dominating the month, but it would end at its former traditional date of New Year’s Day. Imagine the Rose Bowl being the final game of the season for all the marbles before the NFL Playoffs start. The entire nation would be off on holiday and tuned in. It would be the perfect traditional ending to the season. And a TV ratings blockbuster.

By starting College Football in August, everyone wins, and nobody loses. 

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