How Did We End Up With NFL, College Football Playoff Games On At The Same Time?

There's always been a tacit understanding between the NFL and college football to not step on each other's territory. It's a symbiotic relationship, since many sports fans follow both sports very closely.

That's why the NFL typically doesn't play games on Saturdays, at least until the college football season has ended. 

But all of that is out the window this weekend. Not only are both college football and the NFL set to have games on Saturday, but the NFL has two marquee matchups going directly against the first round of the new expanded College Football Playoff. 

The NFL's desire to start having games on Christmas Day every year trumped its desire to avoid putting games against college football. 

You see, Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, which made scheduling two games rather difficult. They couldn't have a team play on Sunday and then turn around and play on Wednesday, so they had to have the four Christmas Day teams play on the preceding Saturday. 

Thanks to the NFL Christmas Day doubleheader, the league is going directly against the first round of the College Football Playoff 

Thus, we have the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon, kicking off at 1 p.m. ET. 

That's a direct competition for the College Football Playoff match between Penn State and SMU, which begins at 12 p.m. ET. 

The NFL is going head-to-head with the College Football Playoff on Saturday, which is a massive disservice to sports fans.

(Imagn Images)

But, we're not done! The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, bitter AFC North rivals battling for division supremacy, start at 4:30 p.m. ET. 

That'll go nearly head-to-head with Clemson facing Texas, which starts at 4 p.m. ET. 

The only game played in a vacuum is the game between Ohio State and Tennessee, which starts at 8 p.m. ET, and there's no NFL game that night. 

TNT gets the short end of the straw in the NFL vs. College Football Playoff battle

Coincidentally, or perhaps not (more likely not coincidental), the only CFP game carried by ESPN is the night game that faces no NFL competition. 

In fact, the biggest loser in all this is TNT, which is paying millions of dollars for College Football Playoff games and the first two it gets as part of the new deal are going up against the NFL. 

The other ESPN game happens on Friday night when Indiana takes on Notre Dame. Unsurprisingly, there are no NFL games on Friday night to compete against. Funny how that works. 

So, what are the ratings going to look like? That's the multi-million-dollar question, literally. 

The NFL is king when it comes to television ratings, but this might be the biggest test it has ever faced. Not only are Saturday's college football games the first of the expanded 12-team playoff, but there are some big names playing. 

Penn State is a big draw, as is Texas. Of course, saving Ohio State-Tennessee for the night game was the smart move, as was giving Notre Dame its own night. ESPN probably had a say in how these games would be scheduled. 

But it still begs the question: which games are football fans going to choose? Regular season NFL games between likely playoff teams or the first round of the College Football Playoff? 

We're going to find out, soon enough.