Football is America’s favorite pastime; that’s irrefutable. Add stakes to the game, and the fervor around it exponentially goes up. With the National Championship game beckoning, the collective mind and eyes of the populous should be peeled on it. That’s true in theory and in most years. However, things aren’t quite transpiring that way for this iteration. The CFB verse is onto CFP committee head and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and the rest of the powers that be. This is owing to a glaring oversight in the scheduling. More important affairs than Ohio State vs Notre Dame may be taking precedence.

The Natty is front and center when it comes to captivating the nation this time of year. Problem is, not every year does it coincide with the POTUS being sworn into office. It’s not as if Donald Trump’s inauguration day is in proximity to the championship, taking away a portion of the proverbial spotlight. It fell on the exact same day! Now, football’s important, but it’s fair to say the inauguration takes the cake. However, Warde Manuel and anyone involved with this fixture, including the broadcasters, cannot be absolved of this scheduling conflict. Fans think it’s taken the sheen off the occasion, and there’s truth to this.

A post on X pertaining to this sentiment gained major traction. “I don’t think I’ve seen a CFB National Title Game be so poorly advertised…Just feels like there’s zero hype for it nationally.” it read. A gush of fans echoed the same, as well as discerned the reason why. It didn’t take much to reach the conclusion that the inauguration was pulling media coverage away from the game. However, one more school of thought was prevalent in the discourse.

The NFL Divisional Round threw up 4 instant classics over the weekend. Might one suggest, people are still riding this high and aren’t ready to move to another football game. It’s a fair rationale. The Natty was meant to serve up as the dessert to this footballing spread that America is feasting on. The piece de resistance to this glorious exhibition . But maybe the appetisers and main left no space for dessert. Again, this isn’t something that’s just happened unexpectedly. This scenario of the “hype” being subdued was always possible because Warde Manuel and co. left the door open to it. He’s caused a storm, a glimpse of which is detailed below.

National CFB Analyst Joel Klatt and a plethora of others have alluded to this problem without the help of hindsight. Klatt recently suggested the National Championship should be played at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. The sports calendar around that time is relatively clear, and the full focus after a night of celebration will be on the Natty each year. Alas, the social media sphere will certainly hope this doesn’t fall on deaf ears. Because they’re livid with how things have turned out. The most prestigious day in collegiate sport has been rendered lacklustre, and people aren’t mincing their words.

College Football fans are in unison that Warde Manuel made a lapse of terrible proportions

The comments and quotes to the aforementioned post summed up the sentiment of the consensus. No matter what team you root for, people were in unison about the fact that this year’s Natty isn’t creating the usual buzz. “I’ve never seen such lack of interest in a CFP championship game in its history,” remarked one person.  In accordance, another said, “Who’s idea was it to fix a National Championship game on inauguration night in the middle of the NFL playoffs?” These weren’t the only issues floated, though.

One person commented, “S–t is taking too long. Nowhere near the juice this would have had 2 weeks ago. All I hear is CBB and NFL Playoffs and it’s what I’ve been watching. Gotta fix this for next yr. Jan 20th is too long.” This sentiment aligns with what Joel Klatt was suggesting. “There’s zero hype because it should have been played two weeks ago before the NFL playoffs got insanely good, and there’s a presidential inauguration taking up all the TV airtime,” said another, encapsulating all the prevalent notions. The conspiracy theorists also followed suit.

“It’s intentional. since there is no SEC team in it, ESPN wants ratings to tank so they can force playoff expansion and inclusion of at least 4 SEC teams,” wrote one person. It’s not far-fetched to say there is some truth to all of these reasons. Whatever perspective you hold, the powers that be have to resolve this going forward. The buck will stop with Warde Manuel. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.