Expansion of College Football Playoffs
Expansion of the College Football Playoffs
A very controversial topic in college football today is whether the college football playoffs should be expanded. The first college football playoff games were played in 2014. Before 2014 there were many bowl games played, but never a tournament style playoff to determine who the nation’s best football team was for that year. The nation’s best football team is given a trophy that stands 26.5 inches tall and weighs thirty-five pounds. The college football playoffs consist of four teams, and the games are played from late December through early January. One main reason for the expansion would be to give more teams the opportunity to play for the national championship. Overall, there has been 28 bids given out to the college football playoffs. Of the twenty-eight bids, twenty of them have been held by Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. Not to mention, there have only been 11 different teams competing in the playoffs since its inception in 2014. There are many different viewpoints that need to be considered when discussing the expansion of the football playoffs including the college football playoff committee, the schools, the coaches, and the players.
The college football playoff committee (CFPC) would love to expand the playoffs to 12 or even 16 teams. Their primary reason behind this opinion is due to the financial benefits that it would bring to the CFPC. For example, ESPN signed a twelve-year, seven point three-million-dollar contract to cover the playoff games. Currently there are three games being played. If the tournament was expanded, then ESPN would have to pay even more money to the CFPC to cover the extra games. The CFPC would also benefit by collecting more money for tickets and concessions. The CFPC requires that the games are held at a neutral field to keep one team from having the home field advantage over the other. So, adding more games would just mean more money for the CFPC.
Next, you must look at the schools’ points of view. The schools themselves would like for the college football playoff committee to expand the college football playoffs, so that they will have a better opportunity to make it into the playoffs and potentially compete for a national championship. If you expand the playoffs, then there will be more conferences represented in the games. The individual schools will also benefit financially if the playoffs are expanded. Since the CFPC requires a neutral playing field, they pay each conference $2.63 million dollars to cover the costs of traveling and food. Each conference also gets paid an extra 6 million dollars for each team that is selected into the playoffs. The conferences then pass this money on to the schools actually participating in the playoffs. Therefore, the schools would benefit from the prestige and financial gains of making the playoffs.
Thirdly, you must look at the coach’s perspective. There are mixed feelings from the coaches about their viewpoints on expansion. Some coaches love the idea of expanding the playoffs because their teams would have a better chance of making the playoffs. Also, when their teams make it to the playoffs the coaches are given bonuses. For example, Nick Saban’s maximum bonus is around 700,000 dollars. This is roughly 10% of his 7-million-dollar contract. Each year that Coach Saban makes it to the college football playoffs his max bonus is met for that year. So the coaches stand to gain financially as well as the CFPC and the schools. However, some coaches are against the expansion of the college football playoffs. The main reason for this opinion is concerning the length of the season. If they expand the playoffs, then the football season would be expanded as well. Extending the season would delay the coaches starting recruitment for the next year. This will give an advantage to the teams that do not make the playoffs, because they could get a head start on recruiting while the other schools are still finishing the season. Lastly, coaches are worried that it would decrease the importance of the regular season, making mediocracy acceptable. Two things will come from this expansion: 1) it makes big games during the season less meaningful, and 2) two, three and four loss teams will be accepted into the playoffs. Games such as the SEC championship, Alabama versus Miami, and Georgia versus Clemson would not be worth playing during the regular season. These games are played to increase a school’s strength of schedule and give them a better opportunity to make the 4 team roster for the playoffs. The coaches remain divided on the expansion of the playoff system.
Finally, you must take the player’s perspective into account. The players are against the expansion of the playoffs simply because of what extending the season would entail. Football players report in the summer for weight training and running and then start training camps in early August. When the championship game is held in the beginning of January, these players have been playing football for roughly 7 months. The wear and tear that football takes on your body is damaging to the athletes. No college player should be asked to put their body through even more distress by extending the season. Lastly, these athletes are also students. They have responsibilities to their schoolwork as well as to their sport. The expansion of the playoffs would mean more time taken away from their studies.
I believe that the college football playoff committee should only expand the playoffs to six teams if they are determined to expand it. This would increase the financial gains of the committee, the schools, and the coaches. With this expansion, I would give the first and second place teams a bye for the first round as a reward for their accomplishments throughout the season. This expansion would allow schools that are worthy of being in the playoffs but made a minor mistake during the season to have a chance at the National Championship. This would also bring more money to the conferences, and ultimately give publicity to the schools that deserve it. A bye week for the first and second place teams would keep the importance of regular season games high, if not raise it. Lastly, it would not push the season back drastically, only by a couple of weeks. This solution would take into consideration the desires of many who want to expand the playoffs while still protecting the players.