12-team College Football Playoff would offer clarity amid chaotic parity
The chaotic College Football Playoff picture in 2022 would have been perfect for the expanded 12-team field coming in a couple of years.
The four-team College Football Playoff hasn’t been the perfect solution for crowing a national champion, but the Top 4 has been more straightforward than not with conference champions claiming the top spots.
So it’s funny that days after a 12-team College Football Playoff got the go-ahead, the worst-case scenario for a four-team field came to life.
USC lost to three-loss Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game, then TCU lost to three-loss Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game. What could have been a simple field with four conference champs, will now include at least two non-conference champions. The debate about who those should be is now on.
The members of the CFP selection committee have to be looking around right now and asking if we couldn’t switch to a 12-team field this year.
A 12-team College Football Playoff would have solved problems in 2022
- Georgia [BYE]*
- Michigan [BYE]*
- Kansas State [BYE]
- Utah [BYE]
- TCU
- Ohio State
- Clemson*
- USC
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- Tulane*
*Assuming conference title game victories
If the CFP was expanded to 12 for this season, half of the debates could be settled on the field. Conference champions would be rewarded with a bye week, making those games meaningful again. And losing a conference title game would have weight, with USC and TCU losing the advantage of a bye week.
Ohio State and Alabama would both get the chance to prove they belong in the playoff by beating the teams in front of them in the playoff. And if they were to lose, they wouldn’t do so while denying other worthy teams a spot.
There would also be room for dark horse teams like Clemson, Tennesee, Penn State and Tulane to have their say.
It’s just a shame that the perfect scenario for a 12-team field has come two years too early. It’ll arrive in 2024.
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