The College Football Playoff format has been the subject of much complaining in the past few years. Despite recent changes, the committee and the NCAA can do a lot more to improve the quality of college football’s postseason tournament.
16 Teams
College football is a unique sport. In Power Four conferences, even two losses can eliminate a team from playoff contention. In Group of Five conferences, that number can drop to one. With so little room for error, many teams that rightfully believe they are good enough to win a national title do not get the chance to prove so. This year, that cluster includes Notre Dame, Texas and Vanderbilt.
Simultaneously, since the best five conference champions qualify, inferior teams sometimes sneak into the playoffs. This year, that cohort includes Tulane and James Madison, both of which would probably get dominated by any of the three aforementioned teams.
The most clear-cut way to avoid leaving out deserving teams is to expand the playoffs. Sixteen teams is a sweet spot where the teams at the edge have a small-but-still-legitimate chance to make a run.
What 16 Teams Would’ve Looked Like This Year
Under this policy, Indiana and Ohio State would be playing James Madison and Tulane, respectively, in this year’s first round. They deserve to play the easiest opponents, which didn’t happen for last year’s undefeated top seed, Oregon.
No one can claim with a straight face that Georgia versus Vanderbilt and Texas versus Texas Tech wouldn’t have been fantastic first-round games this year. Vanderbilt had a strong win against Tennessee, the same team Georgia just barely beat earlier this year, to close out the regular season.
Georgia has also struggled mightily at times. They finished the season at 12-1, but were two calls away in games against Auburn and Florida from being 9-3 (not 10-3, as they wouldn’t have made the SEC Championship game) and missing the playoffs (under the current 12-team format).
With the way Texas has improved over the course of the season, they would have had a legitimate chance to knock off Texas Tech. A 16-team playoff means more football, competitive games and a fair shot for all who have earned it.
No Byes in College Football Playoff
With a 16-team format comes no first-round byes. Byes equal less football featuring the best teams. In addition, the math with byes in a 16-team format would be extremely difficult. And, in any case, do byes even help?
While extra rest can certainly help a banged-up team, it can also cause rust. Teams with first-round byes this year will go close to a month without a game. Therefore, an easy first-round game may actually be a reward for the top four teams.
Four Conference Champions
The ACC had a messy tiebreaker situation this year. Despite being a Power Four conference, their champion, Duke, didn’t make the playoffs because it wasn’t one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.
However, the ACC’s highest-ranked team, Miami, did make the playoffs. This made room for James Madison and Tulane, both Group of Five teams, to get into the playoffs.
The college football universe does not need two playoff Cinderella teams. Having four conference champions instead of five can fix this by ensuring more competitive games without devaluing conference championships entirely.
The world needs no further proof beyond this year’s first round. JMU and Tulane got utterly demolished by Oregon and Ole Miss, respectively, losing by a combined 48 points.
If all four Power Four champions are great, they will likely all make the playoffs. Any great non-Power Four teams can still contend through at-large bids. If there are only three good Power Four champions, America gets a Cinderella team without ending up with two wastes of first-round matchups.
Home Games Until The Championship Game
The college football home environment is the best at any level of any sport. The fanfare, passion and marching bands, among other factors, set it apart. Games at college stadiums make for much more raucous and exciting crowds, and the playoffs need more games in those environments. Neutral sites make it harder for teams’ fans to get to games and take away much of the excitement.
The format shouldn’t punish fans of the top four teams. Under the current format, those fans never get to witness a home playoff game because their team is bypassing the only round with home games.
The College Football Playoffs should follow the same model as the NFL Playoffs, where there are no neutral-site games until only two teams remain. This method makes the most out of the magic of the sport while providing a level playing field in the final showdown. Since each round of the playoffs is best-of-one and comparing teams in a 136-team FBS subdivision is difficult, it’s important to maintain the neutral site for the last game.
But just think about it. Would you want to watch two teams travel far from their fans to a quieter neutral environment hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away? Or would you like to see teams compete in front of their friends, classmates and most passionate fans in a stadium measuring over 100 decibels?
The Dates Around The CFP
While this isn’t exactly related to the format itself, this affects the College Football Playoff: National Early Signing Day MUST be moved.
Because that day takes place in early December, the coaching carousel must finalize before then so players know who they’re committing to. This means coaches are leaving their schools for new ones before the season and playoffs wrap up. As a result, situations like that of the Ole Miss Rebels’ can occur, where they end up without their head coach in the playoffs.
The transfer portal window must also be moved, as it is a distraction for teams still in the playoffs when it opens in early January. Both coaches and players will be distracted when they’re in the midst of the most important part of their season. The transfer portal should not open until at least two days after the championship game.
Re-Ranking And Re-Seeding After Each Round
Here’s one to spice up the playoffs. Currently, once the CFP bracket is made, it’s set in stone. If seeds No. 9-12 beat seeds No. 5-8, the No. 1 team will play the No. 9 team in the second round. They don’t get to play the worst team despite being the best team in the bracket. Re-seeding would mean that, depending on the seeds of the teams remaining, a new bracket would be made to make sure the highest-ranked team still plays the lowest-ranked team.
But stopping there would be too boring. After each round, the CFP selection committee should re-rank teams depending on their performance. That would make for a very entertaining show after each round. No one would be able to predict the next-round matchups until the new rankings are announced. If the 10th-place team blows out the 7th-place team and seeds Nos. 5, 6 and 8 all struggle to win, maybe the No. 10 seed becomes the new No. 5 seed. Not only would this bring another unique excitement factor to the sport, it would also ensure that the best teams get what they earned.
The Rundown
The College Football Playoff is already entertaining as it is. But there are certainly parts of the format that can and should be changed to make it even better.
With 16 teams, there’d be just the right amount to make sure all teams with a fighting chance get in. With no byes, there’d be more football and no rust for the best teams. Four automatic conference champion bids would eliminate excessive, pointless matchups. More home playoff games would mean better atmospheres. Changing the timeline of the National Early Signing Day and transfer portal would prevent distractions and keep the coaching carousel in check. And re-ranking and re-seeding teams would make things fair while bringing an unparalleled level of unpredictability.
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