Round 1 of the inaugural 12-team CFP is in the books, and it was…good…we think? The games themselves were pretty anticlimactic by all accords. Barring the Texas-Clemson game showing some signs of life down the stretch, the weekend threw up one-sided affairs. Blowouts and splatterings galore. However, the glass-half-full crowd would say this weekend of CFB served as a bit of a litmus test.

A test to infer which fans are new to the sport and which ones embrace the traditions and histrionics. Post-season games in College Football have often been one-sided, going back to the BCS era. But there was still something to cherish from a consensus-dissatisfying weekend. We witnessed the first-ever round of home playoff games. For a sport built around the novelty of more electric atmospheres and passionate fans than any other, this was a watershed moment. Safe to say that it did deliver on that aspect, at least. CFB’s biggest proponent in the national media, Joel Klatt, concurs with this notion.

Klatt echoed his delight at how much of a spectacle each of the 4 venues presented. The backdrop of these games managed to somewhat cover the dullness with a layer of sheen.  Dissecting this on his namesake YouTube channel, Joel Klatt said, “If you love this sport like I do, then this weekend, even without the most competitive games, was still awesome. I was so excited for these games and, in a lot of ways, they delivered because of some of these environments.”

He proceeded to lay forth a plea to the powers that be. Klatt asked for more home-field games in later iterations of the playoffs. “Home CFP games, they’re electric. More of these. Please, more of these. In fact, in the future, as the CFP grows and maybe expands, tweaks or whatever it does-more home playoff games. That’s the biggest takeaway from what was an incredible day of College Football,” he said.

Oregon Ducks’ HC Dan Lanning has advocated for a tweak too. By virtue of winning the Big 10 championship, Lanning and co. were afforded a bye into the next round. This means Oregon fans up in Eugene couldn’t witness their team in a playoff game at Autzen. Not to mention, his team’s success works reciprocally, as they can’t benefit from that atmosphere.

After learning of his team’s fate, Dan Lanning said, “You know, the NFL’s been playing playoff games for a long time. So is FCS football. Right now, in college football, we’re trying to make a lot of things, and a lot of people are happy. Part of that is the bowl process. But it certainly makes sense to have playoff games at home until you get into that Championship game.”

Going forward into round 2 and beyond, the games will move to neutral venues. The traditional Bowl games are now tenants of the revamped playoffs. As much as the Rose, Sugar, Peach and Fiesta Bowl are etched in CFB tradition, so are the White Outs in Happy Valley and the “12th Man” down in College Station. The fans showing out was not only a pleasant experience to witness but had a tangible effect on the games, too. 

Dan Lanning proven correct as home-field has a tangible bearing on results

It is noteworthy that every home team won their matchup comfortably. Sure-they were heavy favorites from the onset. Some of the talent discrepancy and roster strength were substantial, too. But every game was more one-sided than even the oddsmakers expected. Why was this? For starters, the sheer noise that crowds made when the opposition team was on offense put them off rhythm. Analyst Chris Vannini echoed a takeaway along these lines.

Vannini took to his X account to say, “I do think the impact of home field in the CFP has been HUGE. Some lopsided scores became *more* lopsided because of crowds. SMU had three false starts inside the PSU 10-yard line facing the student section. They could not hear anything. It’s what CFB is all about.”

Touche, Chris Vannini. The effects went beyond SMU. It is reasonable to say that the energy permeating over from the crowd after Ohio State scored on their opening drive carried through to their next two. Before Tennessee knew what hit them, the game was essentially over.

This doesn’t even factor in the advantage that the home team perceivably had, owing to the weather and the elements. A plethora of factors conjured into one certainty-programs will take home field even more seriously next season onwards. Whether or not Joel Klatt gets his wish of a higher volume of such games or whether Dan Lanning gets his wish of taking a leaf out of the NFL’s proverbial book and eradicating neutral-site games altogether. The magnitude of these currently one-off occasions will only get bigger as if that was even possible.