When your dog is named "Dog"

April 2013. 

 

The name of the new four-team college football postseason tournament was about to be unveiled. 

 

As the project leader and a key team member in the naming and positioning of this new event, it was a sweaty palms moment.

 

The “College Football Playoff.” 

 

The name landed with a dull thud.

 

One national sportswriter said, “Now we know the name of Bill Hancock’s dog (Bill was the Executive Director of the Bowl Championship Series and would take on that same role for the new tournament)…it’s ‘Dog.’”

 

Twenty years later, I’d like to ask that writer what he thinks now. A group of journalists was waiting for the college football equivalent of the “Super Bowl” name. Instead, they got a name that expressly indicated what this new event would be, remaining true to the authenticity of college football – a sport with a legacy of marching bands, cheerleaders, unique traditions, and fierce rivalries – as well as now crowning a national champion decided on the field of play instead of by a vote of journalists.

 

I’m blessed to have led that naming and brand launch effort in 2012 and 2013 while serving as a consultant to and then president of Premier Sports, Overland Park, KS. Our small team, comprised of hand-selected administrators from various collegiate conferences, plus representatives from ESPN and Ari Fleischer Communications (yes—that Ari Fleischer, he of press secretary to George W. Bush fame), investigated various naming options and conducted fan research to hone in on the best naming and positioning solution for this four-team event. Tradition, winning on the field of play (versus through media votes), authenticity, and maintaining the legacy of the (arguably) oldest organized sport in the United States—all were key considerations in the naming decision.

 

The name, coupled with a brand identity solution that is unique and differentiated in the world of sports, has helped propel college football and its postseason to where we are today.

 

This season’s 2024-2025 College Football Playoff marked a historic transformation in collegiate athletics, as the tournament expanded from four to 12 teams for the first time. The expansion created unprecedented excitement and opportunities for programs that previously would have been left out of championship contention. The two final teams – Notre Dame and Ohio State – were seeded 7^th and 8^th, respectively. They would not have made the College Football Playoff in the prior, four-team format.

 

The new format was designed to give more teams a legitimate shot at the national title while maintaining the regular season's importance. Under the expanded system, the top four seeds received first-round byes, while seeds 5-12 played in first-round games on campus sites for the first time. 

 

The expansion addressed long-standing criticisms of the four-team model, often leaving out worthy conference champions and creating controversial selection decisions. Now, with automatic bids for conference champions and at-large spots available, the path to inclusion became clearer while still rewarding excellence with those valuable first-round byes.

 

This new format also provided significant financial benefits to more schools through playoff revenue sharing, helping to support athletic programs across the country. Additionally, it gave NFL draft prospects more meaningful games to showcase their talents before making decisions about their future.

 

The playoff expansion represents college football's ability to evolve while maintaining its unique traditions and passionate fan base. (I’ll never forget the oddity of seeing a guy wearing a Texas sweatshirt sitting beside a woman wearing an Oklahoma hoodie, talking about their love for football in one of our focus group sessions in early 2013.) Whether looking at attendance figures, television ratings, or social media engagement, the evidence suggests that bigger has indeed been better for college football's premier event.

 

The number of average viewers nearly doubled from this year’s first round of games to the semifinals. Ticket prices for last night’s championship game were well above $2,000 in the secondary ticket market. Sportsbooks have reported heightened interest from gamblers. 

 

The new format is not without opportunities for improvement. The seeding of the 12 teams has been criticized, as evidenced by the lack of competitiveness in first-round games. Yet, that first round also produced unique, on-campus matchups, including Indiana playing Notre Dame and Tennessee versus Ohio State. (This year is only the second time the Vols and Buckeyes have met in football.)

 

In addition to seeding, other issues like compatible scheduling with the NFL will need to be addressed to achieve the ratings potential of this event. It’s also a challenge for fans—do you travel to a first-round game on another school’s campus…or wait in hopes that your team makes the semifinals or championship game?

 

Other key moments are on the horizon—a new media deal in 2026 that grants more governing power to the Big Ten and the SEC and – surprise – discussions about expanding even further to 16 teams from the present 12.

 

Regardless, this year’s playoff teased out the potential for the future of college football.

 

This new version of the playoff gathered momentum over the month of games and media attention. The games became more competitive. The average viewership climbed from 10.6 million in the first round to 16.9 million in the next to 19.2 million in the semifinals.

 

The ratings were higher in last year’s semifinal of Michigan-Alabama in the Rose Bowl (27.7 million), but that game happened on New Year’s Day in a bowl game that always pulls a monster ratings number. The 2025 semifinals occurred on Thursday, January 9, and Friday, January 10, so as not to compete with NFL Wild Card Round postseason match-ups on Saturday-Monday, January 11, 12, and 13.

 

The national championship game ratings are not yet in, but the expectation is that the 2025 edition will surpass last year’s 25 million for Washington-Michigan given the nationwide brand appeal of Notre Dame and Ohio State.

 

Will college football surpass the NFL? It’s highly unlikely. The NFL has a stranglehold on key Sunday afternoon, evening, and Monday night viewing windows. The NFL has also created a product made for television with shorter halftimes, commercial breaks where play continues (via split-screen), more cameras to record the action, and timely play reviews. This past season, the average NFL regular season game was three hours and 12 minutes compared to three hours and 24 minutes for college.

 

This first expanded playoff indicates a sport's potential to extend its appeal while remaining true to its most loyal advocates—the avid fans. A sport that has seen massive change given NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and conference realignment tapped into the opportunity to grow the sport, given the success of this first expanded postseason. 

 

As an architect of the original version, I’m excited to see what the future holds for the College Football Playoff.