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Every once in awhile, a terrific idea will surface and warrant closer attention.
On Wednesday, the two big power conferences in college football – the SEC and Big Ten – will meet in New Orleans to hold another round of secret talks.
These two conferences are usually the top television draws for Saturday’s college football games. Now, they want to flex their TV muscles to change the format for future years of the College Football Playoffs.
The top brass of the SEC and Big Ten each want a minimum of four guaranteed spots when college football increases the playoff field from 12 to 14 (or perhaps 16) teams before 2026.
Didn’t they just expand from four playoff teams to 12 last year?
Pardon my naivete, but I thought the idea was to select the top 12 (or 14 or 16) teams from that particular season regardless of which teams they were or what conference they were affiliated with.
If the SEC fielded five teams for the playoffs in one season but had just two or three the next year, that’s fine with me.
The same goes for the Big Ten Conference. Many years, the Big Ten has basically been Michigan, Ohio State and, perhaps, one other competitive team like Penn State or Wisconsin.
The “losers” in this latest playoff discussion appear to be the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big 12.
While the SEC and Big Ten discuss their own future, the ACC and Big 12 Conferences are being handed a smaller bone with a proposed guarantee of two playoff teams.
Let’s pause for a moment and add up the numbers:
SEC 4
Big Ten 4
ACC 2
Big 12 2
Total: 12
If the CFP expands from 12 to 14 or 16 teams soon, that leaves space for just two or four more teams.
Let’s not forget about Notre Dame!
The Irish (which is an ACC member in every sport except football) just finished as the national runner-up this season. They also want a guaranteed spot if they finish in the top 14 (or 16) national rankings by the end of each season.
Let’s face it. Notre Dame’s football schedule is not exactly very hard in some seasons.
In 2025, the Fighting Irish look to play a more competitive schedule. A road trip to Miami (FL) plus home games against Texas A&M, Boise State, and USC will provide a little tougher competition for Notre Dame.
What about a representative from the so-called “Group of 5” conferences?
This week’s SEC/Big Ten talks appear to retain the top-ranked team from the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sunbelt Conferences in the playoff mix.
Last season, 12-1 Boise State was selected to the playoff field. The Broncos played a competitive game but still lost to Penn State of the Big Ten 31-14.
It’s only fair to leave the door open for at least one team from the smaller conferences if they have an exceptional season.
Updated Math:
Sub-total from earlier: 12 teams
Plus Notre Dame 1
Plus Group of 5 1
New total: 14
Would there be any “At-Large” teams?
If the College Football Playoffs becomes 14 teams, there is a good chance that Notre Dame will finish in the top 14 in most years. That would effectively eliminate the need for any “At-large” selections from the highest ranked teams still available.
I’m fine with that. (Do we really even need more than four teams anyway?)
Other than for money, why is there a need to play conference championship games?
Aha! We have now reached the first really good idea I have seen coming from the SEC and Big Ten power brokers.
If the SEC and Big Ten were guaranteed four playoff teams apiece, why should the leagues pit the #1 and #2 teams to play a relatively meaningless championship game?
Last year, the SEC featured Texas and Georgia in the title game. Even though Texas lost, the Longhorns still made the 12-team playoff field.
In the Big Ten, Oregon defeated Penn State but both teams made the 12-team playoff field. Clemson won the ACC with a win over SMU, but both teams were selected for the playoffs.
What if…???
If the SEC were to receive four guaranteed spots in the playoffs, why not give the #1 and #2 team an automatic bid? They could match the SEC’s #3 regular season team against #6 and the #4 regular season team against #5 for the right to play for the other two SEC spots in the College Football playoffs?
The higher seeded team would host each of these games.
Instead of playing a relatively meaningless #1 vs. #2 game where both teams are likely to advance, this play-in model would allow four teams to battle for the two remaining playoff spots.
The SEC title weekend would create two meaningful games instead of one low-drama snoozer.
I would like to stipulate that any team which loses one of these play-in games would become ineligible to receive an “at large” bid for the College Football Playoff field.
For example, let’s say Alabama finished #4 in the regular season but loses to #5 LSU on Championship weekend. The Tigers move on to receive a playoff berth, but the Tide cannot receive an at-large playoff berth. They didn’t finish first or second in the regular season race and then lost in an SEC play-in game.
No rewards for losing teams – regardless of how many TV viewers they bring!
Let’s expand this stipulation to the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 Conferences!
What’s good for the SEC should be good for the other three major conferences.
The Big Ten should adopt the same play-in strategy, too.
The top two teams in the regular season would get a free pass into the College Football Playoffs. Teams #3-6 would conduct a play-in game with Team 3 hosting Team 6 and Team 4 hosting Team 5 for the two other Big Ten playoff spots.
The ACC and Big 12 would receive just two guaranteed spots under the still-being-discussed new College Football Playoff guidelines.
If the top regular season team in the ACC and Big 12 automatically qualifies for the playoffs, a #2 vs. #3 game for the other playoff invitation would make for very compelling television for America’s college football fans.
Why not have a Play-in game for the guaranteed “Group of Five” spot?
Last year, the top regular season teams from the “Group of Five” conferences were:
American Athletic Conference – Army Black Knights (11-1)
Conference USA – Jacksonville State Gamecocks (8-4)
Mid-American – Ohio Bobcats (9-3)
Mountain West – Boise State (11-1)
Sunbelt-University of Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2)
Under my idea, the higher nationally ranked team would host this play-in game.
In 2024, a play-in game would have featured 11-1 Army traveling to 11-1 Boise State (the higher ranked team after Thanksgiving weekend’s games).
The week of “Play-in Playoffs” would be a big improvement for college football!
The first weekend in December full of conference championship games turned into a big dud in 2024. With the former four-team college playoff format, the conference title games became quite relevant in determining the top four teams.
Not anymore.
With last year’s new 12-team format, three conference runner-up teams (Texas from the SEC, Penn State from the Big Ten, and SMU from the ACC ) made it into the playoff field. Only the Big 12’s championship game runner-up (Iowa State – then 10-3) failed to receive an invitation into the 2024’s playoffs.
It’s time for an extreme makeover!
I would prefer the college football regular season to be limited to ten games before the playoffs begin. That is simply not going to happen given the financial greed of all parties involved (schools, media partners, and now the players).
The expanded playoffs genie has already left the bottle.
If some college football teams must play up to five extra games (conference championship plus a maximum of four playoff games), this extended format needs to be customer friendly, too.
Changing the conference championship weekend to feature a multitude of play-in games seems like a terrific idea to create even more fan interest.
Let’s do this!