With college football expanding the playoffs, should the season be 11 games?

Yes — 10 league games and one non-con enough

Right up front, this is Delaware week, and there are no slam-dunk topics.

Cory and I both saw nothing overly flagrant about the late touchdown with six seconds left last week, which happened to cover the spread, but West Virginia had been using timeouts to prolong the game, and the Nittany Lions' backups were in.

So that was off the table.

But what about this game? I'm sure you're excited about it - if, that is, you were able to sell your tickets. And how many of you have a subscription to Peacock in order to see the game?

Thought so.

Maybe you can somehow pirate it from your kids' account.

The point -- there is one -- is this week's matchup with Delaware is Exhibit A on how college football does not need a 12-game regular season.

And Penn State isn't the only one. If you look at ESPN's "crawl," its list of games involving Top 25 teams that scroll across the bottom of your TV screen, almost all of them have a 99% chance to win Saturday.

I'm not saying schools should go back to a nine-game schedule and open the season in mid-to-late September, like they did 60 years ago.

But gradually over the years, the sport has bludgeoned from nine to 10 to 11 to what is now a 12-game regular season - 13 for those that make the conference championship games.

Remember - cough, cough - these are student-athletes. There are even some without NIL deals.

Since college football kicked down its drawbridge to enlarge a playoff field to 12 teams, beginning next year, now is the time to evaluate how the sport can better serve itself.

With the windfall of revenue continuing to pour in, it can lose a non-conference date the heavyweights interpret as a chance to play a Western Carolina, and it won't be missed.

With regrets to my friends at, say, Saint Francis, the Power-5 conferences - or four when all the movement shakes out - can play 10 league games and one non-con date.

To win a 12-team playoff will require another three or even four wins, and then you're talking about 15- or 16-game season.

As it stands now, at least some of the elite players are disinterested, sitting out bowl games - including New Year's 6 games - and counting the minutes until the NFL Draft. Will their posture change for a first-round game in December at Beaver Stadium?

Actually, shaving a game against an FCS opponent will be well received, even if it means another open date during the season.

Because let's be clear: Once the playoff is upon us, coaches (translate: James Franklin) will be less inclined to use a non-conference date to schedule an ambitious meeting with a Pitt or a West Virginia.

"I think everything we literally talk about as the Big Ten needs to be based on how we do get the most teams in the playoffs," Franklin said at Big Ten Media Days. "And all of your strategy needs to be based off of that."

Even after thumping Auburn last year, Franklin questioned the wisdom of putting the Lions in that situation, subtly blaming Sandy Barbour.

Aside from WVU, the Lions' two non-cons this year are Delaware and UMass - glorified scrimmages.

Please raise your hand if going forward, you object to playing only one of them.

Rudel can be reached at 814-946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.