Since its inception in 2014, the College Football Playoff has seen three renditions with none of them seemingly appeasing the masses. The main holdup now is that the Big Ten and SEC each went a certain amount of automatic qualifiers. Lincoln Riley said there are “a million reasons why we should adopt the automatic qualifier” model and he cited the continuation of the rivalry with Notre Dame as a reason why.
College Football World Blasts Lincoln Riley for Notre Dame, College Football Playoff Remarks originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Since its inception in 2014, the College Football Playoff has seen three renditions with none of them seemingly appeasing the masses.
It started with a four-team playoff, which ran from 2014 to 2023 before switching to 12 teams last season, with the top four conference champions receiving a bye. This year's format will still feature a bye, but only for the top four teams, which doesn't have to be a conference champ.
While we've yet to see this format, many are expecting the playoff to expand to 16 teams in the future. The main holdup now is that the Big Ten and SEC each went a certain amount of automatic qualifiers.
Something USC coach Lincoln Riley touched emphasized during Thursday's Big Ten Media Day, while also indicating he'd feel more inclined to preserve the USC-Notre Dame rivalry if it came to fruition.
Lincoln Riley said there are “a million reasons why we should adopt the automatic qualifier” model and he cited the continuation of the rivalry with Notre Dame as a reason why. He spoke passionately about the meaning of the rivalry but also said it’s tied into the CFP decision.
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) July 24, 2025
A remark fans didn't love, as the near 100-year-old rivalry is not on the schedule after 2026.
"Credit to all the Big Ten coaches for sticking to the company line but they all look like gigantic losers and Big Ten fans should be ashamed at how dumb they look," wrote one user.
"Lincoln Riley is a loser and so is anyone supporting automatic qualifiers," added a second.
"Coward needs automatic qualifiers to play a historic rivalry. Just disgusting and cowardly," said another.
"I don't understand how he feels like a step in keeping one of the sport's best rivalries special is removing ramifications for losing," commented On3's Ari Wasserman.
Riley later elaborated that playing against Notre Dame is something he looks forward to.
"Do I want to play the game? Hell yeah, I want to play the game," Riley said. "Absolutely, it's one of the reasons I came here. But also, my allegiance or my loyalty is not to Notre Dame and it's not to anybody else. I'm the head football coach at USC, and I'm gonna back USC."
While he seems to at least somewhat treasure the rivalry, it may be a bit too late to express that. Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman has been far more vocal about continuing the rivalry, whilst Riley has been very lukewarm about the situation.
Only time will tell if another college football rivalry will die, but true college football fans are vehemently against it.
Related: USC Dealt Unfortunate Alijah Arenas News on Wednesday
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
