College Football Playoff Expansion

I really think that the college football playoffs need to expand because 4 teams is just way too few, however, I also realize that expanding too far and getting too big is not favorable as well. Which option do you think is the best? I will post what each option would look like this season. I used the College Football Playoff Rankings when possible and Sagarin rankings for teams outside of the Top 25.



Here is the 6 team playoff with the 1 & 2 seeds getting a bye:
CFP 2019 6 Teams.PNG

Here is the 8 team playoff:
CFP 2019 8 Teams.PNG

Here is the 12 team playoff with teams 1-4 getting a bye:
CFP 2019 12 Teams.PNG

And here is the 16 team playoff which yes includes Utah and I had to move them (down) because the original matchup was against Oregon:
CFP 2019 16 Teams.PNG

Make the P5 Conference Championship games essentially a playoff game with the winner moving on. Put the top two (or even top four) G5 teams against each other in early bowls with the winner(s) advancing as well.

Other

I like 14.



Include all 10 conference champions, but the lower champs have to play each other and the wild cards have to play each other, for the right to make the quarterfinal field.



PLAY-IN

Miam(OH) v. Boise State

Florida Atlantic v. Appalachian State



ROUND 1

8-Seed game: Play-In at Memphis

7-seed Wild Card game: Florida at Baylor

6-seed game: Play-In at Oregon

5-Seed Wild Card game: Wisconsin at Georgia



QUARTERFINAL BOWLS

Sugar: (1)LSU v. 8-seed

Rose: (2)Ohio State v. 7-seed Wild Card

Orange: (3)Clemson v. 6-seed

Cotton: (4)Oklahoma v. 5-seed Wild Card



[OR, you could go 12 or 13, with fewer Wild Card games - ie, (4)Oklahoma v. (5)Georgia, without a Wild Card game...]

Until we fix the strength of schedule problem, where P5 schools schedule each other and cupcakes, there's no point in expanding the playoff. OOC games need to be leveraged as part of determining a champion at the end of the season, rather than a form of preseason tune up.

My ideal scenario is 12 teams, but I don’t think the 12 team playoff described above is exactly right. The 8 team playoff you describe is exactly what I have in mind for an 8 team playoff.

I think they should cut the regular season back to 10 games and do a 24 team playoff seeding the teams according to ranking. All conference champions get in as well as teams can get at large bids. The top 8 get a 1st week bye.

Meh. This is overcomplicating it. Just keep the same system and expand it to a field of the top 8.

snoscythe wrote:

Meh. This is overcomplicating it. Just keep the same system and expand it to a field of the top 8.

Nice thought. If the p5 conferences would go along with it (they wont). There is no way they would allow losing that much control.

I'm for ANY system that doesn't involve at large bids, and gives every team a known path to the playoffs. I like the P5+1 idea and would extend it to having a second playoff for all remaining g5 conference champs. Sort of an NIT-like championship.

Without any at large bids, no independent is able to qualify (Notre Dame, BYU, Army, others)

What about just using the current system, but expanding to 8 teams?



That seems the easiest and fairest IMHO.



All of these proposals go beyond just "expansion" and instead rewrite the qualifications entirely.