Which Sport Has the Most Exclusive Playoff System?

The answer, of course, is Division 1-A college football, where only two out of 119 teams are eligible for the two team end of year playoff.

Here is the list of all the major sports and some minor college sports:

Percentage of League Eligible for Playoffs:

2%  NCAA 1-A Division Football (2 teams out of 119)

18%  NCAA Division 1 Baseball (64 teams out of 342)

19%  NCAA Division 1 Basketball (65 teams out of 342) ( 33% if you include the NIT and CBI post season tournaments)

22%  NCAA 1-AA Division Football (20 teams out of 90)

27%  Major League Baseball (8 teams out of 30)

38%  National Football League (12 teams out of 32)

53%  National Basketball Association (16 teams out of 30)

53%  National Hockey League (16 teams out of 30)


Every single one of these sports started with much more exclusive playoff systems, but expanded the percentage over the years for one of two reasons:

1) To be more "fair" to the fans of the left outs

2) To generate more revenue for the sport

Most playoff advocates in college football want a four, eight or 16 team playoff. Yet there is no example in the sporting world of a playoff system that excludes such a large percentage of the league from participation.

This is why the minimum number of teams in college football playoff must be 24, with all 11 conference champions and 13 at-large bids. This would represent 20 percent of the league.

The BCS conferences know this and that's why they won't allow an expanded playoff, which would force them to distribute the current postseason revenue more equitably across the league.