When will the College Football Playoff expand?

As fans cry out when their favorite teams are snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee, many are wondering when they will expand the field.

Ever since college football introduced the playoff format, it’s hard to argue that it hasn’t been great for the sport. Even though the only rankings that matter are the ones after conference championship games, they have a special every week as a way of generating discussion. And at least one of those rankings will have some sort of controversy that throws fans into a fit of rage.

This year has been no different. We’ve seen Texas A&M crash the Top Four in the first week, Western Michigan get no higher than 21 just because they’re a Group of Five team, and a number of teams out of the Top Four that deserve to be there every week.

For example, the Big Ten Champion is guaranteed to be a two-loss team, and if the Playoff committee rates conference champions that highly, the winner will be in the Top Four. And seeing them get in would only make the winner of Bedlam mad if they don’t make it.

There have been cases for and against expanding the College Football Playoff. But seeing as how there should be at least one non-conference champion in Ohio State in the Top Four this year, it seems like a matter of time before the Playoff expands. Not to mention, there are 128 FBS teams, and only seeing four compete in a Playoff just seems unfair.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Playoff Committee is open to change. Putting last year’s games on New Year’s Eve was a disaster, and they’ve responded by… putting this year’s games on New Year’s Eve. But that was part of a plan to schedule semifinal games on either Saturday or New Year’s Day. New Year’s Eve just so happens to fall on a Saturday this year. If they were able to look past that oversight, there’s no reason to think they can’t expand the playoff field.

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Seeing a six or eight-team field would only ratchet up the excitement of college football’s bowl season. We could see it happen as early as next season, but it’s more realistic to think it’ll occur within the next five years. Or maybe it’ll be the same year the Big 12 decides to have a championship game. But when it does happen, don’t expect the annual controversy to go away.