The future of college football has been a hot topic the last few days and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
A proposal to expand the college football playoffs to 12 games is on the table and is about to be heavily debated. I’m not a big fan of change but it is time for the playoffs to be more inclusive.
I remember when there were just a handful of bowl games with it being common that seven- or eight-win teams were routinely left out of the postseason. That wasn’t a good format, but now you can have a losing record and still get an invite. That’s not good either.
I have long been a fan of bowl games and think it’s important that they be there for programs and conferences who may not get as much exposure as others. That being said, most of us love the underdog, or at least the opportunity for somebody other than the same handful of teams to have a shot at winning it all.
The current proposal is actually pretty solid, and puts even more emphasis on conference championships while also allowing other top tier teams who may have had “one bad Saturday or two” from being left out of the mix.
The top six highest-ranked conference champions all make the field, along with the next six teams that are ranked highest by the committee.
The top four seeds go to the four highest ranked conference champions, who will receive a first-round bye. Teams five through 12 will play in the opening round with seeds five through eight hosting seeds nine through 12. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in traditional bowl games, with the title game being at a neutral site.
There is plenty to like about this set-up. It is intriguing that should Memphis have a strong team out the American Athletic Conference, the University of Southern Mississippi out of Conference USA, or Coastal Carolina out of the Sun Belt have a strong season they could actually get in as one of the top six conference champions. That’s certainly a needed change.
It’s also important that if there are three or even four strong teams ranked among the top dozen from the same conference that they all can make it.
The idea is to have an interesting playoff system, allowing worthy teams the opportunity to compete for a championship.
While I’m a little surprised the committee is considering jumping right past an expansion to six or eight teams and leaping all the way to 12, It seems like a good number that achieves the desired results — an entertaining playoff set-up that opens up opportunities for a wider variety of teams, while also allowing the deserving traditional powers to participate whether they are conference champions or not.
I am very pleased they didn’t go all the way to 16 teams. That’s just too much too soon.
What doesn’t seem fair is that the top four seeds will not be allowed to host a game at home. While it would cut four bowls out of the running to host the quarterfinals it seems fair that those teams worthy of getting a top four seed should host the second round.
If you have paid any attention to the NCAA Baseball Regionals and Super-Regionals at all, you can just imagine the atmosphere that would be provided for the first and second rounds of the football playoffs if they were played on campus. That’s just part of what college sports is about.
While you may argue that the NCAA men’s basketball tournament has neutral sites all the way through, it must be noted that the women’s hoops tournament does not, allowing the top 16 seeds to host the rounds of 64 and 32. Yes, I understand that one of the main reasons is to improve the attendance for those games, but it does indeed work. In fact, I wold suggest the men’s tournament do the same. Make it really mean something to get a top 16 seed.
Even if the committee approves an expansion of teams participating in the football playoffs it will likely be at least five years before the change take place due to contractual obligations made by the NCAA.
One thing I have learned over the years in the sports world is that one thing you can be assured of is that change is coming. The only thing to be determined is how much change and how long it will take.
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia, Miss. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com.
