Ask Andy: Expansion likely for college football
Jul. 29—Question: How many teams should make the College Football Playoff?
Man, it's awesome we're debating how many teams should make the playoff, when only a few years ago we didn't even have a playoff. I miss the BCS era of college football about as much as waking up after a night of downing too many adult beverages.
The FCP announced last month that it will consider expanding from four to 12 teams. A proposal was written by multiple conference commissioners, along with Notre Dame's athletic director, where the four highest-ranked conference champions would be seeded 1-4 and earn a first-round bye.
Teams 5-12 would play in the first round. The neat thing is these games would be played on campuses, with the higher-ranked team hosting.
The rest of the playoffs would be bowl games, presumably at neutral sites.
This proposal doesn't sound horrible. But do we really need to pursue this path already?
It seems like we just got a playoff, and now we're already tweaking it? Seems a tad premature.
And when is enough actually enough?
It's human nature to always want more. We always want more money, more strokes off our golf game, more instant replays that make the game take longer. (OK, maybe we've gotten a little too carried away with that last one.)
Expanding the CFP could bring more excitement, with more fan bases thrilled to be a part of the prestigious event.
What it won't do is appease the teams on the fringe. Those who just miss out and aren't selected are always going to feel snubbed.
Many players and coaches have stated they're against expanding the CFP to 12 teams. However, one coach is for expanding it even more.
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach was asked if 12 teams are enough.
"It's never enough," Leach said.
Just how many teams is Leach in favor of having?
"I think 12 teams is a huge step in the right direction. I personally would like to see 64, and you could map it out pretty easily," he said.
Only 64? Might as well not even have a regular season and make the playoffs take two months.
Leach has always been a little out there, so it's not surprising he's the one providing a take nobody else was even thinking about.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney isn't in favor of expanding the playoffs. Go figure. The Tigers are pretty much guaranteed a spot every year anyway, so letting more teams in and creating more games could hurt their national title chances.
I anticipated the playoffs would expand next to include six or eight teams. Jumping straight to 12 just seems greedy.
Money makes the sports world go round, so the thinking is why increase the size of the playoffs slightly when expanding it considerably should mean even more money?
Just like Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, it seems inevitable that the CFP will expand to 12 teams.
