Two days ago, out of nowhere, news broke that the College Football Playoff Committee was considering a proposal to expand the Playoff from four teams to twelve, potentially in time for the 2022-23 season.
As a longtime advocate for Playoff expansion, I figured I’d provide my take on this unforeseen development for y’all.
In short, I feel like Senator Palpatine: “A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.”
The proposal accomplishes most of what I wanted from an expanded Playoff. As I noted in another article, the gigantic and obvious problem with the Playoff from the beginning was this: there are five Power 5 conference champions and only four Playoff slots. This means one conference will be entirely left out every year. This bug in the Playoff’s format devalues conference titles, slights supposed lower-tier Power 5 conferences like the Big 12 and PAC 12, concentrates talent at a few perennial contender schools, and completely rules out any chance of a Group of 5 team making it in.
The proposed changes to the Playoff solve this problem by giving bids to the six highest-ranked conference champions. This means that all the Power 5 champions will likely reach the Playoff every year, and at least one Group of 5 champion will make it. This would be, unquestionably, a fantastic development.
My sole issue with the proposal comes down to the size of the expansion. By allowing six at-large bids, the proposal swings the pendulum too far in the opposite direction. Before, there were too few bids. Now, there may be too many. The Playoff may lose importance in the short run as too many mediocre teams get in.
This is precisely why I advocated for an 8-team playoff with two at-large bids. That format maintains relative scarcity (and therefore value) of Playoff berths while fixing the Playoff’s major flaw mentioned above.
Still, a 12-team Playoff formatted this way would be an unquestioned improvement for the current system. It wouldfostering fun and top-tier matchups from across the sport, potentially spreading out talent in recruiting among more schools, and catering to diehard fans like myself who crave more college football at year’s end.
Well, that’s my perspective. And to top it off, I have some exciting news about the future of Watching College Football. My verbal stylings are on the move. I’ll provide more info soon, so be sure to follow me on Twitter at @WatchingFB.