The NFL is trying to steal the College Football Playoff's spotlight

The NFL just can't let College Football get a win, can they? The first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff begins this weekend when Indiana plays at Notre Dame on Friday night and the action explodes on Saturday, featuring a triple-header of the remaining first-round games: SMU at Penn State at noon, Clemson at Texas at 4 and Tennessee at Ohio State at 8.

However, the NFL will be taking some viewers from the CFP, with a doubleheader of their own on Saturday. Texans at Chiefs kicks off at 1 and Steelers at Ravens kicks off at 4:30. ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter took to X to promote all five Saturday games, but fans weren't having it.

Saturday is one of the all-time great football-watching days:

🏈12 PM: SMU @ Penn St.
🏈1 PM: Texans @ Chiefs
🏈4 PM: Clemson @ Texas
🏈4:30 PM: Steelers @ Ravens
🏈8 PM: Tennessee @ Ohio St.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 19, 2024

"We not watching the NFL Saturday lil bro", one user wrote.

"I love the NFL but I’m definitely gonna watch the college games over them," another said.

"Ain’t nobody watching the NFL on Saturday," a third wrote.

While football fans in Adam Schefter's comments might be glued to the College Football Playoff rather than the NFL, the NFL will still probably dominate the ratings. In 2023, 93 of the 100 highest rated television programs in the United States were NFL games while just three of the top 100 were College Football games. Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Georgia and TCU-Georgia made the list in 2023.

In the past, the NFL and College Football have avoided this kind of competition thanks to a piece of legislation. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 dictates that the NFL has to avoid scheduling games from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Sunday morning from the second Friday in September through the second Saturday in December. That window has passed.

There are two potential outcomes. When other leagues have gone up against the NFL in years past, they've lost. NFL viewership was 10 times higher on Christmas last year than the NBA, whose Christmas Day games are a regular season staple. The same might happen on Saturday. On the other hand, the NFL has never competed with the College Football Playoff, and an expanded playoff providing three games against the NFL's two could give College Football a boost.

We won't know for sure who won the ratings war until at least Monday morning, but the CFP is going up against a heavy favorite. When you compete with the NFL, you almost always lose.