Our radical idea for college football

Yes, it's two weeks before Labor Day.

And admittedly, the concept is a tad radical.

None of that matters. Week -1 is the future the sport needs. It offers a means of maximizing exposure, dodging the NFL and solving the complicated calendar issues that have created a preposterously long playoff.

Now, regular readers of this space might recall the Hotline spent years opining that college football needed to schedule games on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving.

The conferences repeatedly passed on the chance -- logistical issues were frequently cited -- but the NFL recognized the value of the open TV terrain and hunger for football: It scheduled Packers-Rams for Thanksgiving Eve this season.

Let's start by addressing the latest developments with the sport's competition calendar, because they provide helpful context.

For years, the college football season has started in full force on Labor Day weekend, with a smattering of teams permitted to play the previous weekend -- on what has come to be known as Week 0 -- if they received a waiver from the NCAA.

But this spring, Division I executives approved a recommendation that will allow all teams to begin competition on Week 0 starting in 2027. In total, the 12-game regular season will span 14 weeks, from late August to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

That change, while necessary, doesn't go far enough.

Week -1 is screaming for attention with wide open broadcast windows and a solution to one of the sport's most vexing problems: The late-January conclusion of the College Football Playoff.

But before we examine the back end of the calendar conundrum, here are three words about the front side: National Football League.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made no secret of his desire to add an 18th regular-season game. Several college sources well versed in football operations believe the NFL will slot the game in early September (i.e., Labor Day weekend), not in the middle of January.

College football's complete ownership of the holiday weekend -- it has failed to maximize the opportunity, by the way -- will disappear if (when) the NFL plants its flag on Labor Day Sunday.

Moving the start of the season to Week -1 improves product placement, creating what is tantamount to a competition-free weekend for the sport. By our count, the third Saturday in August features NFL exhibition games, Major League Baseball, the WNBA and a golf tournament (non-major), and that's about it. Those are eyeball matchups that regular-season college football can win.

What's more, the entire weekend would be available. Teams could play on Thursday and Friday if desired. Our ideal scenario? USC vs. Notre Dame becomes the anchor to Week -1, an unofficial kickoff to the season.

And guess what: The change would allow a 12-games-in-14-weeks regular season to end the Saturday before Thanksgiving. That move would enable a 24-team, five-round College Football Playoff to begin in early December and end in ... early January.

If you have read this far, well, we can hear the pushback: Playing Week -1 would require schools to start their four-week training camps in late July, and nobody wants that -- not the coaches, not the players, not the practice-field grounds crew.

Actually, it wouldn't require camp to start earlier. Traditional spring practices are headed the way of the Dodo, to be replaced by a version of NFL mini-camps. Schools are expected to be allowed two training sessions (21 total workouts) that can be spread across the spring into June.

With eight or 10 practice sessions in June, teams could eliminate one week from training camp in August to accommodate the Week -1 opening without backing into July.

For schools on the academic quarter system, the Week -1 start adds to the percentage of games played before students are on campus. That is hardly ideal, but the benefits to the Week -1 shift make the pain worthwhile.

Lessing the impact of the NFL's 18th game is critical over the long haul.

So, too, is moving the CFP calendar.

Start the season on Week -1 and conclude the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Take the holiday weekend off (except for Army-Navy).

Slot the opening round of the 24-team playoff on the first weekend in December, followed by the second round and then the quarterfinals (just prior to Christmas).

The semifinals would be New Year's Day, with the championship game in the Jan. 8-11 window.

How would the TV networks feel? We suspect a full load of games on this barren third weekend of August would work well enough to offset the loss of inventory on Thanksgiving Saturday.

It all fits perfectly using the Week -1 master key. And it would even provide flexibility if the sport ever decides to add a 13th game.

But that's a topic for another day.