8 Reasons College Football Needs to Expand the Playoff
There’s no questioning that the inaugural College Football Playoff was a smashing success. Following years of controversy over the Bowl Championship Series, the first true four-team playoff created a result that never would’ve happened in the BCS system: No. 4 seed Ohio State rolling to a national title in impressive fashion, bashing past both Alabama and Oregon.
New Year’s Day truly mattered again in college football, with the Rose Bowl-Sugar Bowl national semifinal doubleheader creating must-see TV for ESPN and creating a true buzz leading to the Ohio State-Oregon national title game. Now the only question is: How long can it stay at four teams?
By nature, we’re a society that wants more from our playoff. In recent years, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, NFL playoffs and MLB playoffs have all expanded, and the NBA playoffs have shunned their best-of-five first-round series for a best-of-seven opening set.
Expanding the College Football Playoff to six or eight teams is a natural move, right? Not so fast, CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock told John Talty of AL.com.
"I'm not hearing the drum within our business," Hancock told AL.com. "I'm hearing it from journalists. I think we need to give this a chance. It's such a remarkable new innovation for the game. There is no talk in our group of expanding."
Let’s face it: Hancock and BCS leaders said similar things about starting a playoff, and look where we are. It’ll happen eventually. Here are eight reasons why expanding the CFP is a smart move.
Give Each Power Five League Playoff Access
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The math of the four-team College Football Playoff is simple: five Power Five leagues; four playoff spots. Someone is always going to be upset. Last December, the Big 12, Baylor and TCU were left holding the bag.
While the Big 12 touts “One True Champion” with its nine-game league slate, the Bears and Horned Frogs finished just outside of the mix at No. 5 and No. 6 with matching 11-1 records, jumped by Ohio State following its 59-0 blowout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship.
While the Texas teams and the Big 12 were upset, it didn’t change much this spring. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the league still has no plans to start a league title game and give its teams a potential 13th game.
With an eight-team playoff, that wouldn’t matter. The Power Five league champions would automatically qualify, and it would make room for three at-large teams as well. That would placate leagues like the SEC, which perennially have multiple deserving teams, while also opening the door for an underdog run.
And doesn’t everyone in college football love an upset?
Money, Money, Money
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Running a college athletics department isn’t getting any cheaper these days. Coaching salaries, especially at the highest level, show no signs of decreasing, and programs across the nation are constantly racing to upgrade their facilities at huge costs.
What’s more, the NCAA recently lost the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit, which could potentially generate thousands of dollars in revenue sharing for athletes once they leave school. Power Five programs also recently passed cost-of-attendance measures, which will cover the expenses that fall outside of those covered by athletic scholarships. They’re expected to give each athlete between $2,000-$4,000 in additional revenue annually.
In other words, while ESPN’s College Football Playoff contract is lucrative (believed to be $5.64 billion for 12 years, per Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal), athletic departments can always use more money.
Renegotiating the deal for an extra round of games would surely make the contract more lucrative over the next decade, and it would cover the increasing costs that are streaming in from all sides.
The Ratings Support an Expanded Playoff
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ESPN put a huge investment into the College Football Playoff, but its debut showed that the CFP was worth the money. The national semifinals brought home ESPN’s largest overnight rating ever and were the most-watched programs in cable television history.
Twelve days later, the Oregon-Ohio State final beat those games, drawing an average of 33.4 million viewers. In other words, a lot of people tuned in and enjoyed the first College Football Playoff.
Put an extra round onto the playoffs, and people would be even more excited. Imagine these quarterfinal matchups, as set by the final pre-playoff rankings: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Michigan State; No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 7 Mississippi State; No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 TCU; No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Baylor.
The games would provide another level of excitement without robbing the regular season of any of its patented thrills.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
An Expanded Playoff Would Work for Players' Academics
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One of the biggest concerns from the academic side of college football is the added strain an eight-team playoff would place on players academically. Here’s a solution, as proposed by TCU coach Gary Patterson to Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com: Eliminate the Power Five conference championship games and play the quarterfinals the first weekend of December instead.
Think about it: How compelling were the league title games last season? Alabama-Missouri? Oregon-Arizona? Florida State-Georgia Tech? Ohio State-Wisconsin?
Teams outside the Power Five, as well as Army or Navy (which play their annual rivalry game the following week), are unlikely to have the power to crack even an eight-team playoff. Last year, Boise State was the only non-Power Five team in the final regular-season Top 25, and the Broncos ranked only No. 20 with an 11-2 record.
Let the non-Power Five teams play their league championships as scheduled, and allow the big boys to start the College Football Playoff with an incredible quadruple-header on that first Saturday in December.
You Can Make Everyone Happy
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Let’s be real. Even if you expand the College Football Playoff to eight teams, you’re still going to sow some discontent. The No. 9 and No. 10 teams will be unhappy, and even if you expand to 16 teams, No. 17 will be upset. You’re never going to make everyone happy unless you let all 128 teams in.
Running an eight-team playoff is the closest you’re going to get to giving everyone in college football who truly matters a shot at a national title while also preserving the integrity of the regular season. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Underdog Runs Are Even More Possible
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Under the BCS system, the national title game would have been set the first Sunday in December 2014: Alabama vs. Oregon. Ohio State would’ve likely gone to the Rose Bowl, its amazing run following an early-season loss to Virginia Tech ultimately for naught.
The four-team playoff proved that the Buckeyes were the nation’s best team, rolling past Alabama and Oregon en route to a national championship. With an eight-team playoff, a team like Michigan State, Mississippi State or TCU could have authored its own special ending.
If a pair of wild-card teams like Kansas City and San Francisco can make the World Series, why can’t college football expand the fun for its fans?
Even the Losers Get Lucky in an 8-Team Field
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Gary Patterson’s proposal to get rid of conference championship games doesn’t mean that seasons would end with a quarterfinal loss. Patterson proposes that quarterfinal losers still advance to a bowl game, while the winners would still be part of the bowl system—as they are in the current four-team system.
Motivating players to play in a bowl game following a quarterfinal loss might be difficult, but it gives everyone involved a true reward for an excellent season with all the trappings of a bowl trip. It’s also an opportunity for teams to end the season on a high and dream of taking the next step in their quest for a national title.
More College Football Is a Good Thing
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America seemingly can’t get enough college football. One year after 76 teams qualified for the postseason, the bowl season will get even bigger this season with two new bowls, meaning 80 teams will qualify for the postseason.
And who doesn’t love watching so-bad-it’s-good college football while avoiding spending time with your family during December? An eight-team College Football Playoff would accomplish that, giving the postseason another dimension of fun.
Relax. Let college football’s postseason joy envelop your soul.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
