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This afternoon after consideration, the College Football Playoff committee released their consideration for a larger field, one that would include 12-teams. Under their proposed guidelines, the first four teams would get a bye.
𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: 12-Team Playoff Proposed by College Football Playoff Working Group
Details on the proposal » https://t.co/pbRJKkQ1Zc#CFBPlayoff 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/JRSrfur0Rq
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) June 10, 2021
Sounds like that could work, but what about the Irish? Well, a bye wouldn’t be something Notre Dame could achieve, due to not having a conference affiliation.
I double-checked this and because the 12-team CFP proposal's four first-round byes are for conference champions, Notre Dame would not be eligible for a bye.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) June 10, 2021
First off, this is a terrible rule. If there is an expansion of the CFP, then it shouldn’t matter which of the top-4 teams gets a bye, regardless of conference affiliation. If two teams from the same conference are ranked inside the top group, does that mean that they would get knocked down for not having won their conference?
I am all for having conference champions getting an automatic bid, it makes plenty of sense. What I don’t like is if they aren’t viewed as a top-4 team that they could get bumped into that range due to the Irish not having a conference crown.
For example, this past year saw Texas A&M as the fifth-ranked school, with the Irish in the four spot. Under the new proposed guidelines, neither team would have been eligible for a bye, it would have gone to sixth-ranked Oklahoma.
Fair, I think not. If this new proposal does go into effect, it should be the top-4 teams regardless of a conference title to have a bye. The committee’s oversight of the issue is alarming. It makes no sense, much like having a 12-team format. Personally, I believe that 8-teams is more than enough, the Power-5 champions along with three at-large bids but that’s a rant for another time.
Either way, expansion looks like it is on the horizon and the committee needs to review this policy. If they’re looking for fair play, they haven’t found it with this proposal.