Ratings for College Football Playoff down 36 percent

Now only two bowl games (the national semifinals) have any impact whatsoever on who gets a championship ring.

Boy, did they get that one wrong. As he is wont to do, Colin Cowherd has some controversial thoughts about the games, which includes a pretty big knock on Alabama.

The Clemson-Oklahoma matchup in the Orange Bowl drew a 9.7 rating in the overnight metered markets.

But the most important distinction was the day the video games have been performed.

The Clemson-Oklahoma game was up 158% in digital impressions from last year’s early playoff game.

Michigan State struggled mightily against Alabama on Thursday night.

Last year’s Rose Bowl generated a 15.5 rating and the Sugar Bowl a 15.3 rating, according to SportsBusiness Journal’s John Ourand.

The whole fabric of the college bowl season is out of whack.

The determination was principally to guard the pursuits of 4 conferences and two bowls. Last year’s game also aired on January 1. The other major bowls should serve as worthy prelims, not meaningless consolations.

This is, after all, the sport that nonsensically resisted a playoff until last season.

College football’s move to create a new tradition with semifinal matchups on New Year’s Eve drew ratings about 36 percent lower than last season, when the matchups were held on New Year’s Day.

Hancock said it was “just not appropriate to talk until all the results are in”.

Well, let’s throw out the talking points we know so far.

The Michigan State-Alabama Cotton Bowl drew a 9.9 rating for ESPN compared to 15.3 for Ohio State-Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last January 1.

That change, combined with tiresome games that were essentially over by the end of the third quarters, led to a big dropoff in ratings from a year ago.

Asked about the situation during Cotton Bowl week, the competing coaches shrugged with indifference.

But there’s no way to sugarcoat this debacle.

The semifinals rotate via six bowl video games – the Sugar, Rose, Cotton, Orange, Fiesta and Peach. But that was like Custer trying to put a positive spin on Little Bighorn.

For now the system calls for the semis to be held on December 31 again next season, but Thursday’s poor ratings already have reignited the debate.

Despite two years’ warning, a relentless onslaught of Jimmy Kimmel ads and some shameless Disney cross-promotion, TV ratings for the first New Year’s Eve semifinals were even worse than the most dire industry predictions.

In retrospect, that decision is roughly akin to casting Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs.

Those games included a face-off between Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston in the Rose Bowl.