Who wins if the College Football Playoff isn’t expanded?
– The Bowls. Maybe. It would be a bigger deal if the College Football Playoff expanded into the bowl system, but now the bowls maintain their footprint in December and early January while the CFP is its own thing.
– Keepers of the regular season flame. I’d argue that an expanded College Football Playoff makes the regular season even stronger and more interesting
12 teams doesn’t screw things up into something like March Madness or the pro leagues with half the teams getting in – but for those who love the regular season of college football as the be-all-end-all, this keeps that.
– Again, the ACC. The Pac-12 wants in on the expansion, and the Group of Five conferences really want to be in, but the ACC is in a bit of a no-man’s land here revenue-wise with 12 teams.
– The Big 12 … for now. While it still has Texas and Oklahoma, it still has the upside and power to have one powerhouse – at least from a national standpoint – to make a push for a four-team playoff. Once they’re gone, an Oklahoma State or Iowa State or UCF or Cincinnati could get in, but that might be it.
Who loses if the College Football Playoff isn’t expanded?
– Athletic departments. That’s about a half billion dollars the conference commissioners are leaving on the table … for now.
– The non-traditional powerhouses. Here’s the fun of a 12-team playoff – Pitt is in last year. So is Utah. So is Baylor. Instead of the stupid “should Cincinnati be in?” debate, it would be in along with other worthy teams.
In 2020, Cincinnati AND Coastal Carolina would’ve been in. Indiana would’ve been in, and so would Iowa State. This year, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss would’ve made it.
– ESPN. An expanded College Football Playoff would up the revenue by about a gajillion over the current cash machine that is the bowl season. - The fans. 12 teams would be FUN.
Yeah, the tournament itself might not be all that great with a slew of early blowouts, but that’s not the point. More teams equal more fan bases mean more interest. It’s not that a Cincinnati or a Baylor or a Pitt could actually win the whole thing, but they would’ve wanted the chance.
– The mid-range bowls. As the last two years showed, they’re disposable. If they don’t go, they don’t go – no big whoop. If the star NFL prospects opt-out and coaches bolt for other gigs, then that’s the deal and the bowls are bad. Make the mid-tier non-New Year’s Six bowls part of the playoff, and the top players stick around.
However, remember …
These things can and will change in a snap
There was NO WAY we were getting a true college football national championship – and then the BCS Championship was created.
There was NO WAY college football would ever have a playoff – there once was a press release claiming that a playoff would hurt the bowls, which would mean sick kids and the troops would lose. And then the College Football Playoff was created.
Yeah, this whole expansion thing has been tabled for a few years, but the CFP isn’t locked into sites a few year from now, and this can all but turned on a dime.
Oh, we’ll get our College Football Playoff expansion. Don’t you worry.
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