The tug of war continues amongst the power brokers of college football about what size playoff is just right and how the pie will be cut.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Big Ten has floated an idea of expanding the College Football Playoff (CFP) format up to a potential 28 teams.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti began floating the idea internally of having the Big Ten and SEC each get seven auto bids while the ACC and Big 12 would each receive five.
There would be two auto bids for the non-Power 4 conferences and two at-large teams.
Pettiti’s key points with the 28-team format would eliminate conference championship games and put 20 playoff games on campus, capitalizing on the success the CFP First Round had a season ago.
While I feel the Big Ten is on the right path, it still has ways to go to make it better for college football.
The first step is going to have to be a brave and selfless step the SEC and Big Ten would have to take in these negotiations.
That would be to recognize the Big XII and ACC as equal partners in their proposals.
By doing this, the Big Ten and SEC are looking beyond their self interests and creating stability in college football by having equitable access to the CFP.
As crazy as it sounds, I don’t feel 28 teams are enough and it needs to be 32 teams.
In a turnabout, I have felt in the past and continue to believe the playoffs need to be only teams from the Power 4 conferences.
While I respect the Boise State program for what they have achieved on the field, Penn State was in a “lose-lose” in the Fiesta Bowl last year.
They defeated the Broncos 31-14, but look at the perception of the game.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo was immediately dismissive of Penn State’s two CFP wins from a season ago.
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I feel in a 32-team format, each Power 4 conference gets 8 bids with each region of the bracket being a conference tournament for a championship.
The way it all would fall in a schedule:
- Last Saturday of November is the final regular season game of the season
- First Saturday of December is dedicated to Army/Navy and giving playoff teams each a bye wekk
- Second Saturday of December is the CFP First Round at home stadiums of the higher seed
- Third Saturday of December is the CFP Second Round at home stadiums of the higher seed.
- Between New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and January 2 (depending on the year) is the CFP Quarterfinal for conference championships. The bowls in the mix would be Rose (Big Ten), Sugar (SEC), Peach (ACC), and Cotton (Big XII).
- Second week of January will be the College Football Playoff Semifinals held at the Orange and Fiesta Bowls.
- College Football Playoff National Championship is held the third Monday and the site either rotated at the NY6 sites or any neutral site decided.
The most any team would play is 17 games – had Penn State won their matchup in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, the national championship in Atlanta would have been Penn State’s 17th game of the season.
The other benefit is it forces Notre Dame to finally align itself in a conference.
Former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick mentioned, on an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show in 2023, if Notre Dame’s access to the College Football Playoff was threatened, if they couldn’t compete financially without a conference, and if all their Olympic sports needed a home to compete at a level they are accustomed to they would join a conference.
Through this proposal, James Franklin gets his wish towards a greater goal of standardization across the sport.
At some point, the Group of 5 teams and Notre Dame cannot be influencing the direction of the Power 4.
The Big Ten and SEC have to hedge their signature brands will continue to deliver fruitful media contracts and give them that edge over the ACC and Big XII.
I have no doubt in my mind that the brand power advantage lies with the Super 2.
The Big Ten has to get the others to dream as big as they are, but also make them equitable partners if they want this to work.
