Starting next season, college football will move to a 12-team playoff system. This new format will add 8 extra teams and two extra rounds to the playoff. This is a big change that has been debated among college football fans and executives for years now. Like it or not, the expansion has come. Will this be good for college football?
I've got a couple pro's and a couple con's for this new system that I would like to put out there...
PRO'S
-It raises the stakes for regular season games. With the current system, after teams lose just one game, they've essentially been eliminated from playoff contention. Most one-loss teams aren't considered unless they play a strong strength of schedule and beat some really good teams. Because of this, teams that drop one early in the season feel like they've lost all hope regarding making it to the postseason. A 12-team playoff will allow multiple one-loss and maybe even a few two-loss teams in, and this will raise the stakes for big games throughout the season. These one and two-loss teams will still be competing for a playoff spot, which will make the games that much more exciting.
-It will allow the best teams to compete in the playoff. Often times, there's a group-of-five team or a team with a weak schedule that went undefeated during the regular season that you just can't leave out of the playoff. Everyone knows they really don't belong over some of the one or two-loss juggernauts, but they're unbeaten, so you have to include them. This new format will allow both the undefeated group-of-five schools and the juggernauts their chance to compete in the playoff.
-You can never be upset with more football. These extra two rounds will add excitement to the postseason. This new format will break up the dreaded wait between the conference championships and the first round of the playoff. Anyone that doesn't appreciate this simply doesn't like football.
-The first round of the playoff will feature on-campus games. A postseason game on a college campus will be absolutely electric. Think about how difficult it is to play a night-game in a place like Death Valley, The Swamp, Bryant-Denny, or Jordan Hare. Now think about a playoff game in that environment. The noise might register on the richter scale. I can't wait to see one of these games.
CON'S
-More games = more opportunities for guys to get hurt. Football is a rough game. With the first four seeds receiving bye's, they will only have to play one extra game (3 total) if they go all the way. The 5-12 seeds will all have to play four games if they make it to the championship. That's a lot of extra hits for these young guys to take. I think they'll be able to handle it, but I'd hate to see somebody with a bright future go down in one of these extra games.
-No matter how much you expand the playoff, there will always be one or two teams that feel like should have been included. Currently, the fifth and sixth seeds always feel like they belong over the fourth seed. With the 12-team format, the 13th and 14th ranked teams will feel like they belong. This proves to be true in march madness, where 64 teams are selected to play in the tournament. Those first four out always argue that they belong over the last four in. It never fails. This new format will not solve the issue of certain teams feeling wrongfully excluded. In fact, it will probably make it worse, as the middle of the top-25 rankings often gets a little foggy.
-The first four seeds are almost punished for their success. For starters, they don't get the opportunity to host a playoff game on-campus. They will move straight to the neutral-site games, business as usual. I would also like to point out that an extra game often allows teams to get hot and "in a rhythm." Let me give you an example. The MLB playoffs include a wild card round in which teams that are on the verge of playoff contention get to compete for the final spots. In the 2023 playoffs, 3 of the 4 wild card winners ended up winning the divisional round as well, with two of those three winners sweeping their opponent. I feel like this extra time off for the top seeds often leads to them mentally checking out, while their opponents are forced to stay locked in for the extra game action.
Overall, I think expanded playoff will be a good thing for college football. Fans will appreciate the extra games, teams will appreciate the extra opportunities, and the NCAA will appreciate the extra revenue. I'm excited to see how it turns out.
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