The 12 Team College Football Playoffs

6/10/2021

- Dawson Haywood

The 2014-2015 College Football season introduced fans to a four team playoff format which was hated by some but loved by many. We have given teams that were right there the opportunity to compete for a title and in it's short history we have seen two teams win a National Title who would not have had the chance if we were still sitting with a two team Title Game (Ohio State 2015, Alabama 2018). This does make for some exciting football. Recently news has broken that the NCAA is exploring a 12 team playoff format.

What does this do to College Football? Some would argue that a 12 team format would be bad for the sport and those that take that stance have valid reason to believe so. With the number of spots open in the playoffs each game in the regular season is essentially a playoff game. Only the best of the best are able to compete for a National Title at the end of the season. Being in a Power 5 Conference and losing two games is an impressive feat to accomplish for any team, but losing one or no games is even more impressive and for the most part these were the only teams that were given a shot at the National Title. It's for this reason that people that have been fans of College Football for a long time may not be on board with the 12 team layout, but there are some reasons to be on board.

So while we would see teams in the playoffs that have lost 2, maybe 3 games, in a season, we would still be witnessing good football programs go up against one another. The Top 4 would still get a bye week so there is an incentive to be a Top 4 program. Like March Madness, there would be a few teams from smaller conferences that would be able to compete for a title. For example, this year Coastal Carolina finished the season undefeated and finished at the #12 spot. Whos to say they couldn't have made a run in a 12 team playoff? Cinderella stories like this would likely come out of this format and it is for that reason that I find it exciting.