Watchlords

The College Football Playoff announced Thursday a proposed expansion of the size of its field from four teams to 12. There are a few surprising elements of the proposed new structure and the number of teams is only the beginning.

The creation and expansion of the championship structure in college football traditionally happens a glacial pace. The Bowl Championship Series was the first iteration of a playoff, albeit one with only two teams, and even that ended up with a "split" national championship in 2003. The BCS lasted for 16 seasons. The College Football Playoff came next with a four-team format beginning in 2014 on a 12-year contract.

So for the powers that be to suddenly have a thirst to triple the field to 12 -- skipping right past six- and eight-team models -- is unusually progressive.

The second biggest surprise of the expansion proposed by this CFP working group is the format, which calls for the field to be made up of the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams with the top four champions receiving byes.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... ar-season/

Still going to have Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and most likely, somebody else from the SEC in the top 4. That's what happens in the lower college divisions that have had playoffs for a long time. The same teams keep showing up and winning.


The top 4 teams get a bye the first week but then have to travel. The 5-8 teams get to host their opponent in their home stadium. The second round of games go to bowls. The top 4 teams' towns would love to host those games; they make a lot of money with all the visitors coming to see the game.

The Big 12 will need to pick up a couple more teams. Ironically, the Big 12 conference only has 10 teams while the Big Ten conference has 12 teams. BYU and Boise State would be interested. They wouldn't mind joining the PAC-12, either.

Roll Tide!