The College Football Playoff’s board of managers voted to expand the college football playoff bracket from four teams to 12 on Friday. The expansion could take place as soon as 2024, or be implemented in its current timetable of 2026.
The playoffs will have the four highest-ranked conference champions earn a first-round bye and will be the top four ranked in the bracket. Teams five through 12 will play in the first round, with the quarterfinals and semifinals taking place at bowl games before the national championship game that will remain the same as it always high, the final two teams.
Fewer Talks Of Biasness
One of the most common topics that are always talked about once the four college football playoff teams are announced, is the college football playoff board of managers’ bias towards one conference or another. Many college football fans find the SEC or Big Ten teams get far too many chances and have accused the board of being biased towards these conferences due to the big-name football teams.
The new expansion gives the board an opportunity to give more opportunities to other conferences instead of allowing a nonconference champion a shot at the national championship while a conference champion such as the Pac-12 champion has to sit out.
Small Conferences Get A Shot
A 12-team format will finally give smaller conferences a chance to prove their worth. Over the last few years, the likes of BYU, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, and UCF have all missed out on the playoffs but had much better records than some of the teams in the playoffs.
These teams are typically not given a shot due to the competition that they faced and due to the conferences that they’re in. The new expansion allows for more of the smaller conference teams to prove if they are capable of being a national championship side.
It has always felt wrong to have a conference champion, that is undefeated, miss out on the playoffs due to their strength of schedule. If the smaller conference teams are not able to withstand the powerhouses of Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson, then let them prove that on the football field instead of by committees.
Less Pressure On Perfection
One of the worst things in college football is the feeling as though the rest of the season is meaningless if a team loses a game or two. It feels as though to make the college football playoffs, most teams have to be nearly perfect.
It is only the biggest college football teams in the nation that can afford to have one to two losses before their season begins to look over. The likes of Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State can afford to maybe lose two games, but the rest of the nation typically can not.
Now under this format, there is less need to have a perfect season to be in the playoffs, and college football can rely on putting the 12 best teams against each other for this tournament. This is the best way to keep fans invested for the entire season and give hope to most college football fans.
